Canada marching away from religion to secularization

[Asher]

Back to the thread topic:

The peril facing Saint-Nom-de-Jésus, or Holy Name of Jesus, is an almost unremarkable occurrence in Montreal and other parts of a province that prays at the altar of secularism. According to one estimate, 340 places of worship in Quebec of all denominations have either closed, undergone conversions or been demolished in the past decade, and the pace of the collapse is picking up each year...

The crumbling state of the churches is a physical embodiment of the state of religious observance – and the phenomenon is hardly limited to Quebec. From British Columbia to Newfoundland, places of worship of all mainstream denominations are falling victim to dwindling attendance, rising land values and maintenance costs too onerous for congregations to bear.

The United Church, the largest Protestant denomination in Canada, closes one church a week, and has shuttered more than 400 in the past decade. The Anglican Church, which said in a report this year it was hemorrhaging members, has seen eight churches close on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, and placed another six on a one-year watch list.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/as-churches-crumble-communities-fear-loss-of-heritage/article1836185/

Oh, happy days.

Ben

[Wezil]

That would be what final paragraphs are for.

"What is the contemporary situation of Canadian religion? On the surface, it is much as it has been for the last century. Although growing numbers disclaim religious affiliation, Christianity still claims the allegiance of the overwhelming majority of Canadians and the major Christian churches still dominate the religious scene. Christian sectarianism also thrives though it has been supplemented recently by more exotic minority faiths. At a deeper level, however, Canadian religion is dramatically different. Though secularization has not entailed its destruction or abandonment, it has "come adrift from its former points of anchorage" and has been transformed from a social institution into a cultural resource in a manner typical of advanced industrial societies (Beckford, 1992: 170-171). In Canada as elsewhere, increasing autonomization of the individual has led to the radical disjunction of the customary link between believing and belonging (Luckmann, 1967; Davie, 1994). Canadians now choose to define the nature and content of their religiosity by drawing from that "reservoir of rites, practices and beliefs" with which they are most familiar "without responding to any institutional prerequisites or their consequences" (Voyé and Dobbelaere, 1993: 95-96). In these circumstances, their religion has generally acquired the fragmentary, syncretic, consumerist character associated with the term "bricolage" (Bibby, 1987; Voyé and Dobbelaere, 1993: 95-97). Widely disregarded as a source of authoritative meaning systems and an arena of total commitment, Canadian religion must now cater increasingly to the specific and highly selective needs of a capricious citizenry. Thus, on the eve of a new millennium, its condition may best be characterized as problematic, precarious and unpredictable."

Baffle them with bull****.

Classic example.

[Cort Haus]

No need for the unused churches to crumble. Turn them into blocks of flats. I live in one - very agreeable place it is too.