Wilfrid Laurier University
Department of Religion and Culture
RE 205OC: Canadian Religious Controversies
Fall, 2021
Please ensure you follow the two basic rules of conduct on our news page (cf. below, pp. 5-6)
1. Instructor: Alex Damm
(519) 884-0710, ext. 4341
[email protected]
Office hours: Please do write and say hello, any time, if we might clarify anything. There
are no scheduled online office hours in this course; when you write to me, I shall reply
within a day.
2. Course overview
RE 205 introduces us to the abiding phenomenon of controversy or conflict among members of
religious communities in Canada, in past and in present. While we often think of religions as vehicles for
positive transformation (inner and social peace; social harmony; and so on), sociologists and historians
of religion have shown that in practice, religious communities often experience tension within
themselves and with other religious communities. And in Canada, with its rich diversity of religious
traditions (such as indigenous religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and
Confucianism), we find no exception. In RE 205, we aim to understand some underlying patterns and
causes of religious conflict which emerge in the world’s religions as practiced in Canada.
While the course teaches us about religions in Canada, it aims also to teach us skills for the
scholarly study of religion (or most any discipline). These skills include research and reading, analysis,
and communication. Regular discussion responses and a set of reports (i.e., “practice, practice,
practice”), will help us to sharpen these skills.
Finally, this course will encourage us to practice making some calls of judgement based both on
our privilege of being Canadian (i.e., on the rights and responsibilities set out by the United Nations and
by Canada’s Constitution), and on the exercise of our conscience. As voters, neighbors, employees,
volunteers and spouses, we shall have a lifelong engagement with religions in Canada. I very much hope
you will apply your conscience, or deeply intuitive capacity to determine what is good, in ways that
promote fairness, human dignity, and the protection of vulnerable peoples.
