Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Sunday, December 08, 2013

Atheist Ads Banned In Vancouver

Vancouver's billboards will not play host to an ad promoted by the Centre For Inquiry that endorses an atheist worldview, because the company that owns almost all of the advertising hoardings in the city has refused to run it.

The Centre says that Pattison Outdoor—owned by local businessman Jimmy Pattison—has refused to run ads that feature "parables that replace religious morality with humanist ethical wisdom."

The Centre For Inquiry went to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2009 after its bus ad campaign was refused in several cities, and won its case. Vancouver transit company, TransLink, was then forced to host political ads, which, the court decided, played an important role in public discourse.

Despite that victory, the current campaign has hit a brick wall in Vancouver.

“Pattison provided no clear rationale to support their decision,” said Kevin Smith, CFI President in a press release. “They refused to identify a motive for their rejection or to supply guidelines governing their decision-making process.”

The ad shows a young woman with the words, "Jenn 13:1 Praying Won't Help. Doing Will." And beneath: "Without God, We Are All Good."

The Centre say they will be filing a complaint to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, and are exploring all other available legal options.

“CFI has consistently opposed the use of human rights apparatuses as tools of censorship,” said Smith. “Now we intend to use these mechanisms to protect the right of free speech.”

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca
Author: The Huffington Post, B.C. 

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