Infidels and the damn churches : irreligion and religion in settler British Columbia

British Columbia Is At The Forefront Of A Secularizing Movement In The English-speaking World. Nearly Half Its Residents Claim No Religious Affiliation, And The Province Has The Highest Unbelief Or Religious Indifference In Canada. Infidels And The Damn Churches Explores The Historical Roots Of This Phenomenon. Lynne Marks Reveals That Class And Racial Tensions Fuelled Irreligion In Frontier Bc, A World Populated By Embattled Ministers, Militant Atheists, Turn-of-the-century New Agers, Rough-living Miners, Asian Immigrants, And Church-going Settlers. This Nuanced Study Of Mobility, Masculinity, And Family In Settler Bc Offers New Insights Into The Beginnings Of What Has Become An Increasingly Dominant Secular Worldview Across Canada.-- A Godless Province? Counting The Infidels And The Indifferent -- Pie In The Sky When You Die : Political And Cultural Challenges To Religion -- Manly White Men, Fuzzy Fidelity, And Practical Christians : Blurred Boundaries Of Belief And Chasms Of Racialized Difference -- Sundays Are So Different Here : Communities In British Columbia, Ontario, And Nova Scotia -- Could Sodom Be Worse? Christianity, Moral Reform, And The Godless Of Vancouver And Victoria -- Under Siege : Non-christians, Racialized Groups, And White Women's Rights -- Subtler And More Dangerous Forms Of Error : Metaphysical Religions. Lynne Marks. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 291-310) And Index. Issued Also In Electronic Format. Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction: Leaving God Behind? 18 1 A Godless Province? Counting the Infidels and the Indifferent 44 2 Pie in the Sky When You Die: Political and Cultural Challenges to Religion 70 3 Manly White Men, Fuzzy Fidelity, and Practical Christians: Blurred Boundaries of Belief and Chasms of Racialized Difference 93 4 Sundays Are So Different Here: Communities in British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia 115 5 Could Sodom Be Worse? Christianity, Moral Reform, and the Godless of Vancouver and Victoria 149 6 Under Siege: Non-Christians, Racialized Groups, and White Women’s Rights 176 7 Subtler and More Dangerous Forms of Error: Metaphysical Religions 201 Conclusion: Godless Past and Present 228 Appendix: Tables 237 Notes 249 Bibliography 306 Index 326 The first major historical study of secularism in Canada, Infidels and the Damn Churches traces the origins of irreligion in BC to the unique character of the region's settler society.