I was born an Indian Muslim. Today, I’m a Canadian atheist. I have lived and worked in some of the most war-torn regions of the world. I know what repressive cultures look like, which is why I’m troubled by the political shifts of the past decade. The Canada I grew to love in my youth is regressing into something eerily reminiscent of the cultural climate my parents fled from — one that shuns skepticism, enforces orthodoxy, and imposes rigidly hierarchical thinking.
My family moved from India to Canada in 1975 when I was a small boy. Shortly after we settled in, representatives from the local mosque showed up at our home. They came to tell my father how to be a “good” Muslim, explaining exactly how he was to worship and conduct himself as a member of their community. After a few minutes, I watched in shock as my father unceremoniously showed these religious leaders the door. Once they were gone, he told us no one could dictate what we were supposed to believe — that this was a country where people were free to go their own way. That lesson stuck with me.
h/t DS
