http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-marching-away-from-religion-to-secularization/article1833451/

In a secular country like Canada, I find these finding troubling. Are conservatives following the same path as Congress party in India - exploiting religion to get votes?

Also, for Hindus where the lines between culture and religion are blurred, do we get more religious when we immigrate to Canada as we try hard to embrace our roots? Are temples a mean to socialise with fellow Hindus? As a Hindu, how easy/difficult it is to adapt to Canadian values?

I can comment on the Tamil immigrants in Canada. The typical immigrant from Srilanka the Eezham Tamil keeps his hindu roots intact, builds temple and spends part of earnings on the temple.He/She takes it a rule to spend part of their time/monies to upkeep the temple. They also keep the age old traditions alive by inculcating their kids to participate in all religious ceremonies so that their kids do not miss out any religious aspects which they would learnt/gained if they had lived back home.

The Indian tamil already has lost his religion/belief to the mass invasion of western media and satellite channels. Most of the Indian tamils will not know the meaning of Deepavali or Pongal or even something more basic like Adi Perukku. The reason is that their religious days are wearing good clothes on the religious days and watching a new movie on any of the satellite channels.

Hinduism is DEAD in Tamilnadu and Indian Tamils.

When they already arrive in Canada with half ideas about their religion/belief half of them do not go to temples. The other half have a guilt complexion and hence they go with their families to temples. This ends up as a get together with friends or they get free prasad. When their children ask them questions they just say I'll answer them later which never happens.

The south Indian way of doing stuff can be found in Srilankan temples while there are rarely any Indian - south Indian temples in Canada.

Now you know why many of the children of Indian immigrants have become OBLIVIOUS to hindu religion/belief.

But Secularim does not equal being Non-Religious minded.

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While it is the reverse for Islam.

Even if the Indian immigrant is not so religious minded by the time his/her kid reaches university in GTA there is a strong movement to brain wash the kid with information. Hence we are finding that the children of Islamic immigrants are stronger/religious minded than their parents.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/12/08/16478221.html

Muslim youth in Canada targets for radicalization: Study
By TOM GODFREY, Toronto Sun

Last Updated: December 8, 2010 6:11pm
Email StoryPrintSize A A AReport Typo.Al-Qaida-inspired domestic terrorism by young Muslims poses the largest single threat to Canadian security agencies, a sweeping new study says.

“Canada has been identified repeatedly in al-Qaida propaganda as a legitimate target because of its involvement in Afghanistan,” according to a 250-page report, The Edge of Violence by a group of researchers in the United Kingdom. “The idea of being part of an international jihadi movement can be exhilarating.”

The report, released Wednesday, took researchers Jamie Bartlett, Jonathan Birdwell and Michael King two years to complete and involved interviews with hundreds of Muslims and others in Canada and Europe.

They studied the differences between violent and non-violent Islamic radicals, including the so-called Toronto 18 terror cell, and conducted focus groups in Toronto and Montreal with 70 Muslim youth last year.

One group made up of young men between the ages of 18 and 30 “was unanimous that brainwashing was taking place.”

Young Muslims “had a distrust of government, a hatred for foreign policy and many felt a disconnection from their local community,” the report found.

There “was a high level of distrust towards policing and intelligence agencies.”

Canadian Muslims fare better than their western European counterparts on a number of socio-economic indicators, the report said.

Signs that young Muslims are becoming more radical, the report indicates, include the distribution of jihad videos, clashes with existing mosque authorities and debates between “doers and talkers.”

“The unemployment rate of Canadian Muslims is double the national average,” the study said. “Discrimination, and the perception of discrimination, has been a problem in both Canada and Europe.”

Taha Ghayyur, of DawaNet, a Muslim help group in Mississauga, said Muslims face a hard time getting jobs and moving up in Canadian society.

“There are always members of the community who feel isolated or alienated,” Ghayyur said. “Any level of radicalization being placed on anyone in the community is a big concern for us.”

Khaled Mouammar, national president of the Canadian Arab Federation, said many young people say they don’t have hope or see a future.

“Our young people find many obstacles being placed in their way,” Mouammar said. “Unemployment in our community is twice as high as any other group in Canada.”

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Sunny Leone a true Canadian DESI now back in India !.