Diary Sept. 30 At Memorial University

Discussion at MUN was excellent! An audience of really thoughtful people, great questions and a lively discussion.


The audience ran a discussion which was entirely positive. Unfortunately it was mainly an audience of males and only two Muslims were present. At UNB I will change to doing these session on Thurs. in the hope of attracting more participation from the Muslim community.

Summary my Remarks.

I began by tracing the rise of Christianity in roughly the same way as I did at Dalhousie (see Diary Sept. 28 for full text of Dalhousie.) I drew the lesson that Christianity rose to maximal power and influence by the 14th Century approx. but that from that point on it has been methodically suppressed. At its height it had a virtual monopoly control over the public institutions of Europe, namely, government, the law, education and science. But from that time on these have been methodically lost until today the Church has been removed from virtually all public institutions.

I record Christian brutality during the first period and the awful toll which followed the triumph of Christianity. I mention the Crusades (1095 – 1291), the Witch Hunts (1484 – 1750) and the Spanish Inquisition. It was Christian terror on a massive scale, I argue, and it lasted for over a millennium - effectively from 500 CE when Pagans were denied all civil rights and protections.

But the result of the period of decline, from about the 14th Century on, I argue, is the need to distinguish between Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Worship. Freedom of religion is what the Christian church had in the 14th century and what many Islamic nations allow at the moment - a monopoly on the culture. Freedom of worship involves the right only to worship in the place of our choice but not to have power in the public institutions. I argue that Islam can only be offered Freedom of Worship: she must not expect to interfere in government, law making, education and science. Just as we only suppressed Christianity after a long struggle we shall insist that Muslims content themselves with Freedom to Worship. Like other religions in Canada, Islam must see herself as a private Good but a public evil. That is what is required if they are to live in a state in which no religion is given an opportunity to win a monopoly position on power.

I argued that Muslims need to be warned of this reality before they come to Canada. They need to be told that there is not Freedom of Religion in Canada – awkward as it may seem to say that. It just is an important truth about which we need to be upfront.

Second they need to be informed that it is against the law in Canada to preaching the violent ‘defence’ of faith. The violent defenceof any faith has long been illegal in Canada and we will pursue and punish anyone who counsels breaches of the peace in the name of religion.

On a more positive note I propose that we train our own Imams in Canadian Centres of Islamic Studies which the government should support through the presently available or by establishing new institutes set up for the purpose. We need Imams whose first loyalty is to Canada, who will not accept money from sources such as the Wahhabe sect, or any other organizations which encourage violence and Islamic extremism.

Second I proposed that we get money to the various Canadian religious institutions associated with Islam for work in with Islamic women and children. These organizations could then offer aid for those most in need of rescue on account of religious wars, and also for those who are suffering from culturally endorsed abuse. Canada should offer rescue to Muslim women and children from around the world. Such rescue work, involving the bringing of women and children to Canada, will celebrate positive aspects of the Canadian way of life, it will inspire Canadian youth and contribute hugely to the development of the right attitudes towards Muslims in Canada.

Main Points 1) History of Christian Terrorism
2) Freedom of Religion/ Freedom of Worship
3) Christianity as Private Good, Public Evil
4) Islam as also a Private Good, Public Evil
5) Measures for the healthy development of Islam in Canada

Some of the excellent questions and points made during the discussion (personal view):

- Why is the West threatened by Islam?
- Do we realize that many of the problems in Islam originate with the poor education of Imams around the world?
- Consider Indonesia as an interesting study in the struggle for democracy. It is the largest Muslim nation in the world.
- Isn’t ‘suppression’ a poor choice of words?
- Isn’t ‘secularism’ just another religion?
- Most of the Imams in the world (in one speaker’s experience) seem to be moderates.

Many other questions and points were raised, of course, but this gives a taste of the kind of discussion which the audience pursued.

Speaking for myself it was a tremendous learning experience. Notably, this third session passed happily without any problems. One can can hope that the universities will accept the point of the Tour: to show that it is safe to talk about this issue in public, without fear.

Last night was a blow against Islamophobia.

Those who have followed the discussion can see that much has been dropped from the agenda in my presentation. Major sections dropped: Argument re Free Speech, and the discussion of Section 319.1 of the Criminal Code (Hate Propaganda). The first is too large an issue and needs separate treatment, the second was removed based on the arguments from Mark Mercer, among others. There will be an article on Free Speech in the University of new Brunswick Law Journal and that article will raise the relevant points as I see them with respect to both these issues.

My email peter.march@smu.ca is out of action until Monday and I shall respond to emails at that time.

Special thanks to members of the Philosophy Department at Memorial University of Newfoundland and to Jim Bradley, in particular, for his kindness.


Finances for the visit: Revenue from tickets: $ 132


Expenses : $ 290 Flight to St. John’s
: $ 130 Room rental fee
: $ 30 Posters
: $ 150 Insurance

Cost : $ 478

We have lowered the price of entrance - free if someone can’t afford a contribution. That shouldn’t reduce revenues significantly but will improve the audience. All the other universities can be reached by car and that will save a fair bit in future. UNB is next on Thurs. Oct. 12 at 7:00 in the evening.