The Laity Square Blog
News Round-Up (May 2021)
The acceleration across the country of vaccine campaigns against COVID-19 dominated news this past week. With increased volume and stability in shipments from Pfizer and Moderna, the province of Ontario now expects to vaccinate up to 65 percent of adults in the province by the end of May, with the federal government expecting that there will be enough first doses for all wanting one by the nation’s birthday. Read more
The acceleration across the country of vaccine campaigns against COVID-19 dominated news this past week. With increased volume and stability in shipments from Pfizer and Moderna, the province of Ontario now expects to vaccinate up to 65 percent of adults in the province by the end of May, with the federal government expecting that there will be enough first doses for all wanting one by the nation’s birthday. Read more
Toe Which Line?
Last week saw the approval of the first federal budget in two years. It ended up being an uneventful affair. There were no real surprises from what the Fall Economic Statement and more recent commentary anticipated in the budget. The budget’s linchpin is the idea of launching a national child care plan, seeking to halve the cost of child daycare by next year and eventually bring it down to 10 dollars a day, which will require a 30 billion investment over five years. There were two attempts to amend the budget, and both were defeated. Read more
Last week saw the approval of the first federal budget in two years. It ended up being an uneventful affair. There were no real surprises from what the Fall Economic Statement and more recent commentary anticipated in the budget. The budget’s linchpin is the idea of launching a national child care plan, seeking to halve the cost of child daycare by next year and eventually bring it down to 10 dollars a day, which will require a 30 billion investment over five years. There were two attempts to amend the budget, and both were defeated. Read more
A Hume Contradiction
David Hume was a highly influential Scottish Enlightenment philosopher. His broad legacy includes his definition of morality, and the law that bears his name, also known as the is-ought problem. I find the contradiction in these ideas illuminating to understand how laws change when customs do. Read more
David Hume was a highly influential Scottish Enlightenment philosopher. His broad legacy includes his definition of morality, and the law that bears his name, also known as the is-ought problem. I find the contradiction in these ideas illuminating to understand how laws change when customs do. Read more
Why the Debate on Abortion Won’t End
If you hold progressive views, you may ask yourself: why won’t the abortion debate go away? Why is this topic still discussed 33 years after R v Morgentaler? Why won’t social conservatives give up on this? Here’s why I think that’s the case. Read more
If you hold progressive views, you may ask yourself: why won’t the abortion debate go away? Why is this topic still discussed 33 years after R v Morgentaler? Why won’t social conservatives give up on this? Here’s why I think that’s the case. Read more
News Round-up - mid-April 2021
As Ontario’s lockdown gets worse, the news cycle is heating up in Canada and abroad. There’s lots to look into! Today I want to highlight just three pieces that I think matter from a worldview perspective. Read more
As Ontario’s lockdown gets worse, the news cycle is heating up in Canada and abroad. There’s lots to look into! Today I want to highlight just three pieces that I think matter from a worldview perspective. Read more
Naturally
I want to close out on the thread I’ve been running for almost a month now. We’ve been discussing the supernatural: superstition and idolatry, miracles, and more specifically the Resurrection leading into Easter. And today, I want to focus on nature, or the natural, to contrast and complement the previous discussion. Read more
I want to close out on the thread I’ve been running for almost a month now. We’ve been discussing the supernatural: superstition and idolatry, miracles, and more specifically the Resurrection leading into Easter. And today, I want to focus on nature, or the natural, to contrast and complement the previous discussion. Read more
It’s a Miracle! (Part 2)
As I get ready to celebrate Easter long weekend, I ponder what I celebrate – Christianity’s greatest miracle. Do we have the right historical record of the resurrection of Jesus? Is it trustworthy and credible? What do we do with the facts and the evidence around it? Read more
As I get ready to celebrate Easter long weekend, I ponder what I celebrate – Christianity’s greatest miracle. Do we have the right historical record of the resurrection of Jesus? Is it trustworthy and credible? What do we do with the facts and the evidence around it? Read more
It’s a Miracle! (Part 1)
In our last episode, we talked about superstition, an exaggerated focus on supernatural causes for phenomena in an attempt to explain, control and reduce fear of otherwise inexplicable happenings. I mentioned that most people can agree with the tangible or practical benefits of Christianity. However, the non-superstitious supernatural elements of Christianity are a matter of much debate. Read more
In our last episode, we talked about superstition, an exaggerated focus on supernatural causes for phenomena in an attempt to explain, control and reduce fear of otherwise inexplicable happenings. I mentioned that most people can agree with the tangible or practical benefits of Christianity. However, the non-superstitious supernatural elements of Christianity are a matter of much debate. Read more
Episode the Thirteenth
This is Episode 13, Yep! You heard that right. Thirteen. Parts of which are being produced on March 13, 2021. If I were superstitious, I would have skipped this episode number, this date, or both. But I’m not. However, I do realise that superstition is a very interesting topic. It seems to sit at the intersection of culture, psychology, philosophy and even religion. Therefore, fittingly, superstition is the topic of Episode 13. Read more
This is Episode 13, Yep! You heard that right. Thirteen. Parts of which are being produced on March 13, 2021. If I were superstitious, I would have skipped this episode number, this date, or both. But I’m not. However, I do realise that superstition is a very interesting topic. It seems to sit at the intersection of culture, psychology, philosophy and even religion. Therefore, fittingly, superstition is the topic of Episode 13. Read more
The Problem of Evil
Those affected by the Toronto van attack of 2018 had a measure of closure this week, as Ontario’s Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy found the perpetrator guilty of 10 charges of first-degree murder and 16 charges of attempted murder. Human justice was served; but in the minds of some, troubling questions remain. Read more
Those affected by the Toronto van attack of 2018 had a measure of closure this week, as Ontario’s Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy found the perpetrator guilty of 10 charges of first-degree murder and 16 charges of attempted murder. Human justice was served; but in the minds of some, troubling questions remain. Read more