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Muslims will triple in Metro Vancouver by 2031
Expect to see more minarets punctuating our West Coast skyline in decades to come. The elegant spires towering above mosques will become more common in Metro Vancouver as Islam strengthens its status...
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‘We are all Hindus now’– Revisited
“We are all Hindus now.” That was the headline of a noted essay that appeared in 2009 in Time Magazine, and it’s well worth reflecting on as Canadians of all backgrounds are increasingly drawn to the...
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Feminist Sikh claims religion ready for women leaders
“Guru Nanak is to me a feminist,” says Sikh scholar Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh. That’s why the Punjabi professor can’t accept how her religion has become so patriarchal; filled with “machismo” and a...
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Vaisakhi primer: How Hindu spirituality dovetails with Western philosophy
There is a philosophical story behind the customary news stories reported each year about the two gigantic Vaisakhi parades that will be held this Saturday morning in Vancouver and next Saturday in...
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Hindu women in a bind: Goddesses or homemakers?
Hindu tradition holds up women as goddesses and vehicles of divine power. Hindu tradition also locks women in subservient roles. What’s a Hindu woman to do? University of B.C. professor emerita...
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Punjabi atheists, agnostics unite in B.C.
Conventional wisdom tends to tag Punjabi Indians as highly religious — mostly as practising Sikhs — the kind of fellows who wear turbans and ceremonial swords and women who wear bright saris while...
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Ethnic churches flourishing
Click here for Feb. 6, 2011, column on how Chinese people in Vancouver are flocking more to Christianity than Buddhism Ethnic churches flourishing: But some Vancouver Christians worry the various...
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Is U.S. “world’s most religiously diverse nation?” Check out Canada.
Americans are famous for their marketing. They often like to say that the U.S., or someone in it, is the “world’s greatest … or most (fill in the blank).’ It’s one of the reasons why skepticism is in...
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Spiritual humour urges: ‘Don’t take yourself too seriously’
I don’t think I’m the only one who finds it funny that one of North America’s most popular Christmas songs, I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas, was written by a Jew. Vancouver Rabbi Dan Moskovitz...
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Will poetry help Canadians face up to Air India flight 182?
There have been two major disasters of the past century involving B.C. Sikhs and other South Asians. One was the Komagata Maru incident. It occurred in 1914 when a boatload of would-be Indian...
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Barj Dhahan: Mover, shaker, spiritual seeker
Canadian. Immigrant. Corporate president. Philanthropist. Punjabi. Sikh. Christian. Certified yoga teacher. Property developer. Gas station owner. Tim Horton’s franchisee. Globe-trotter. Adviser to...
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British Columbia’s 25 most influential spiritual leaders
The spirit really moved her: And she moved British Columbians. Meet “Saint” Rose Prince and 24 more top spiritual figures of the last century. Vancouver Sun ARCHIVES Fri Apr 21 2000 Page: A1 / FRONT...
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B.C. residents embrace both Dalai Lama and Pope Francis: Poll 1
Jesus and Buddha have high approval ratings among British Columbians. The founders of Christianity and Buddhism both receive strongly favourable rankings in B.C. and Metro Vancouver, according to an...
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Standing on guard for liberal democracy in Canada
God keep our land, glorious and free. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. — from the Canadian national anthem Ujjal Dosanjh bears the scars on his skull and the crushed...
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In praise of mixing religions, even when it’s dangerous
Mahatma Gandhi was murdered for it. University of B.C. Sikh studies professor Harjot Oberoi was vilified for it. Religious fundamentalists condemn people to hell for it. There can be a social cost for...
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Dosanjh biography details personal life of anti-extremist
Ujjal Dosanjh, who became famous in 1985 when he was savagely beaten for denouncing Sikh extremists, went on to serve as a provincial NDP cabinet minister, a short-term B.C. premier in 2001 and (much...
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Should we inform on our ethnic or religious group?
“Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” – Elie Weisel, Holocaust survivor “Mmm, that dirty, double-crossin’ rat.” – James...
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Do Sikhs say “Merry Christmas?”
In the name of multiculturalism, many Canadians worry about excluding members of minority religions or atheists by saying things like “Merry Christmas.” These people — who tend to be public officials,...
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Families still suffering 30 years after deadly Air India bombing
Thirty years after the Air India bombing, a large portrait of its mastermind hangs outside a Sikh temple in Surrey. The Punjabi words on the picture of Talwinder Singh Parmar call him a martyr and a...
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MP Wai Young not unusual in bringing Tory politics into evangelical church
Vancouver South Conservative MP Wai Young’s contentious political remarks about Jesus and the Air India bombing are not out of the ordinary in some Canadian churches, says a specialist on evangelicals...
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