Canadian Iconoclast

Archive for September 13th, 2009

Some recent posts by a few Canadian atheist activists have appeared examining the nature of secular activism in Canada. They’ve raised a few questions about the Centre for Inquiry that I’ve been wanting to discuss for a while.

Ian writes a piece on why he thinks CFI should become a democracy. While this is certainly a noble goal, he glosses over most of the facts and ignores the reality behind running secular activist organizations. Joe responds with a few critiques and gets in a little deeper to the issues (and shows us how not to edit photos).

I’ve been known to criticize CFI from time to time and yet I find it has the only effective method of operation and it is usually the only organization that I will consider donating any time or money to. While democratic institutions give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, they don’t function very well if you want things done (check out our House of Commons). Democratically run secular activist organizations operate even less effectively since atheists are all assholes who don’t work very well with each other.

I’ve found that over the last few years, the only way things can ever get done is if the people doing the work make the decisions (or more accurately, the people who do the work ignore their bosses knowing the bosses are too lazy or busy to stop them) which is why people like CFI Canada’s Executive Director Justin Trottier are so successful at promoting the cause, while at the same time amassing a lot of influence and angering those left on the sidelines (especially those who share different political views, i.e. anyone who hates his blog).

CFI: Canada operates like any other corporation. There’s a board of directors that appoints executive directors to run the organization. In our case, it isn’t that simple because the current Canadian board of directors was appointed by CFI:Transnational. But you have to start somewhere, and personally I’d like to see CFI’s critics start proposing solutions rather than just whine about the things they don’t like or understand.

What the critics don’t realize is that CFI needs charitable status if it ever wants to raise any money in Canada, and to do that it will have to form an accountable board of directors according to Canadian laws (which I don’t think CFI: Transnational realizes, or if they do, is why they’ve been really slow trying to get that status). If CFI ever wants its Canadian operations to be self sufficient, it will have to be managed by and accountable to Canadians. Change is coming and it will happen without the need for backstabbing or shameful public attacks on the personal characters of activists who do all the dirty work that most other people are unwilling to do.

But in the meantime, CFI won’t be changing just to appease a few critics. Canada has a much smaller population, and invariably the power will be concentrated in a few areas no matter who’s in charge. More importantly, as I’ve already implicitly suggested, we just don’t have very many activists and there isn’t any money. So, until more people get involved and more money can be raised, it’s likely Justin won’t be going anywhere, nor should he since we don’t yet have anyone with the experience or dedication willing to replace him.

Which leads me to conclude that Canadians who criticize CFI because of its lack of democracy are usually just too full of themselves to work with others. These people think that being on a committee or voting on policies is going to make a difference when what we really need are people to get off their lazy asses and do something productive.

While it would be nice if we could all get along under one organization, atheists are far too diverse and love to spend too much time attacking each other, so it is highly likely that we will always have multiple groups competing with one another. A marketplace of competing ideas is a good thing, as long as the organizations can focus on their strengths and not get tied down trying to represent an entire movement.

For example, if you don’t like CFI, you can join the Freethought Association of Canada and get involved with some of their upcoming projects. It is entirely Canadian, a registered charity,  democratically elected, and independent of CFI, but it is also volunteer run so its capabilities are limited and action doesn’t happen very quickly. The FAC is probably a bad example because it was basically formed to work on projects that don’t interest CFI, so really the two organizations will never compete with each other. And yet CFI’s opponents aren’t gravitating towards the FAC or any other organization which leads me to believe that they want to enjoy all the successes and benefits that CFI provides but they don’t want to acknowledge the organizational methods that make it possible. Hypocrites.

Whatever happens, I’m glad people are finally talking about these issues in public. It’s a sign of maturity and success that we’re finally big enough for competing interests to break out, and it’s encouraging to know that there are more activists out there developing the skills and talents necessary to advance the movement.

EDIT: Katie Kish throws her voice in. I got called an asshole in the second line. It’ll be hard to beat that next time.

I’m actually not very new to blogging but since I haven’t posted anything in a long time I’d like to start fresh again.

I retired from the nasty world of atheist activism a few months ago, moved out of Toronto, and bought a house way out in Mississauga where I now seem to spend all my spare time cleaning and fixing things (which I suppose is inevitable when your new place is five times the size of the old).

Hopefully I can now find the time to post things that interest me and likely piss people off since I’m known for saying things that other people want to say but are unwilling for various different reasons.

I’d like to continue my activist work through other means so let me know if you have any ideas. I think the future of any type of activism lies in the ability of many people doing many things from their own homes so I’ll try to come up with a few different projects I can do in my spare time that don’t require me to go to any meetings or respond to any email lists.

I’ll focus on the issues that concern atheists the most. Activism, politics, ethics and morals, etc. Although I don’t know much about anything, my position has always been that neither does any one else so I might as well just say it.

I’ll be co-hosting the Canadian Atheist podcast once it starts up again soon so that should keep me involved in everything that goes on so keep us both on your readers because there is a lot to discuss.