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Recent Stats On “Church Arson” in Canada Are Effectively Bullshit But The Religious Far Right/Russia LOVE It

Oct 7, 2024

At Crier Media, we can report on things other people at MSM outlets can’t.

Like Churches being burned to the ground and why. No one else wants to have the conversation, so let’s take this wildly contentious topic for a spin.

Since 2021, 112 places of Christian worship have been vandalized. Roughly 1/4 of those churches were no longer in use, but the rash of Churches spontaneously combusting is problematic. Obviously, but you need to understand some details and context.

The Church burning narrative is an op. Yes, churches (in use or not) are being vandalized, but the religious right is using this as a cudgel. As an op and Russia LOVES this shit. The goal? Drive hatred for Indigenous people while denying the colonial religious effort to wipe them out – with residential schools. To convince white church-going people they are under attack and have to fight back against the “woke mob” that is encouraging this behavior. LOLZ.

While exact numbers vary slightly between sources, the trend is clear. Churches are burning at a magical rate compared to decades previous.

Total Incidents:
– At least 112 Christian churches have been vandalized, burned down, or desecrated since 2021.
– The Catholic Civil Rights League’s database reports at least 85 Catholic churches have been set ablaze or vandalized since May 2021.

Confirmed Arsons:
– A CBC News investigation identified 24 of those 112 incidents were confirmed arsons at Christian churches in Canada between May 2021 and December 2023.
– Other sources report higher numbers, with 33 churches burned to the ground between May 2021 and December 2023, of which 24 were confirmed as deliberately set.

Timeline and Intensity:
– The incidents spiked dramatically in the summer of 2021, with 68 Christian churches vandalized or destroyed by fire between June and July of that year. This was the same year Canadians woke up to a series of stories of mass graves being found at Residential schools. Schools colonial settlers and the Catholic Church used to murder, rape, torture, and re-educate 100’s of thousands of Canada’s Indigenous children.
– While the rate has slowed, church arsons have continued, with 15 suspicious church fires reported in 2023 alone.

Geographic Distribution:
– The burnings have occurred across multiple provinces, including British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia.
Incidents have affected urban and rural areas, with 14/24 fires occurring on reserves and First Nations and 13/24 incidents in small or rural towns.

-While many of these incidents occurred following announcements about potential unmarked graves at former residential schools, investigations into motives are ongoing, and not all cases have been definitively linked to this issue. The vast majority of faith-based vandalism has not been attributed to Indigenous People.

Enter Angus Reid

Angus WAS a legendary Pollster in Canada. He founded the Public Opinion and research company Angus Reid Forum/Institute, Blah blah blah. He’s a devout catholic with profound conservative ties and took significant issue with the burning of the former Notre Dame church in Quebec. It was deconsecrated and sold for real estate scraps to pay off pedophile priest lawsuits and was being renovated into affordable housing units by a real estate developer. Homes under renovation (especially homes being built by shitty developers) can “catch fire” in a variety of ways. Intentional or unintentional. It depends on the builder’s insurance policy and interest rates. None of that information mattered to Angus because he’s a devout Catholic, and those alter boy orgy houses are vital to his identity, so he decided to blame Trudeau and retweet a heavily edited video that made it sound like Justin Trudeau endorsed Indigenous people burning Christians and Catholic churches as a form of payback.

Now, why would Angus further disinformation to frame Indigenous people as church-burning psychopaths endorsed by Justin Trudeau?

He thinks the Genocide, rape, and murder of Indigenous children didn’t happen—his words, not mine. So, he misrepresented all church-related vandalism, putting it ALL on Canada’s First People – the people Catholics and Colonial Canada tried to erase from these lands for 2-3 centuries. And he’s simping for his mob.

(as an aside, the Pope flew here to apologize for all the residential school murders, so I am not sure where Angus was that day)

Enter Dean’s Unpopular Opinion

14 of the 24 Catholic/Christian church burnings happened on Indigenous reservations. You might be cool with telling Indigenous people how to reconcile 200 years of rape, torture, and Genocide at the hands of the Catholic/Christian/Colonial white man, but I won’t. It’s terrible form telling another culture to “get over” two centuries of religious Genocide. My opinion on these Churches being burned on land that doesn’t belong to those churches is I DON’T have an opinion because I’m not fucking entitled to one.

If I zoom out, I look at Churches the same way I look at a post office or any building. Who gives a shit. It’s a building. Buildings burn and mean nothing to me. Churches aren’t exempt from my thinking, so watching weiners like Angus clutch pearls, then lie to justify his radically emotional/colonial perspective is dumb as fuck to me.

Still zooming out, arson is terrible, and you shouldn’t light buildings on fire or vandalize any building; if you get caught, you should be held accountable. However, I’m personally all about religious schadenfreude, so I make a personal exception where derelict and deconsecrated churches used to commit Genocide on Indigenous land are concerned. I’m more of an impartial observer when those go up.

As to ALL of the other fires and vandalism of Christian/Catholic Churches, it’s still wrong, but I get the anger directed at Churches based on the climate extremists from Christian/Catholic faiths and political circles have fomented based on “faith.”

From abortion to LGBTQ rights to Gender Ideology, the Christian and Catholic faith has waged war on everything from identity to body autonomy to sexual preference for decades. So mix some angry LGBTQ/Women’s Rights groups into your church-burning finger-pointing game if you’re an Angus Reid type.

Don’t Vandalize Things/Set Shit On Fire

Ultimately, destroying history, committing arson, and vandalizing things is terrible. Please don’t do it.

I also felt that way about the great Statue debate a few years ago. We need reminders of historical truths around to help fuel progression. It’s also a criminal act, and you will circumcise your life if you get caught burning down/Vandalizing a building. And there are A LOT of good churches that use their facilities as soup kitchens or community outreach centers for people who need company, a warm bed, or a bowl of soup.

And maybe stop taking anything Angus Reid or anyone from Angus Reid says seriously.

Have a great day.

DB

Dean Blundell

Dean Blundell is a Canadian radio personality. Best known as a longtime morning host on CFNY-FM (The Edge) in Toronto, Ontario. In 2015 he was named the new morning host on sports radio station CJCL (Sportsnet 590 The Fan). Dean started his career in radio in 2001 and for nearly 20 years been entertaining the radio audience. Dean’s newest venture is the launch of his site and podcast which is gaining tremendous momentum across North America.

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