Assorted Snowy Day Items

It's too snowy today to travel home for Christmas, so I'm reading a short piece in Time on the success of the Alpha program at Trinity Brompton in London. There is also a photo essay on the drug war in Culiacán. Mexico, and a piece on the Red Cross workers who tend the wounded, which I read as accompaniment to an article in Texas Monthly on the drug violence in Juárez.

The Rebel Jesus

One of my favourite Christmas songs has no holly or silver bells or snow - it's The Rebel Jesus, written by Jackson Browne and included on The Chieftains album The Bells of Dublin.

All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
They'll be gathering around the hearths and tales
Giving thanks for all God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus

Well they call him by the Prince of Peace
And they call him by the Saviour
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavour
As they fill his churches with their pride and gold
And their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worshipped in
From a temple to a robbers' den
In the words of the rebel Jesus

We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why they are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus

But please forgive me if I seem
To take the tone of judgement
For Ive no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
We have need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus.

Coalition Madness

A few more editorials, a lot more blogging, some threats...then the federal government's economic update and the opposition parties' coalition pushed every other issue out of blogs, talk radio, and newspaper front pages. Today Parliament was prorogued, so we have until January 26 for the sense of crisis to dissipate and/or the coalition to fall apart.

Ending the Glare?

Announced today:

At the beginning of this academic year, Queen’s University began a pilot Intergroup Dialogue program as part of its ongoing efforts to foster constructive dialogue between students on difficult issues such as race, religion, sexual orientation and ethnicity.

Over the past week, the pilot program has received extensive media coverage and has generated a great deal of feedback from students, alumni, media and the general public.

We regret that the program has been inaccurately characterized as intrusive and in conflict with the right of freedom of expression. It was not intended to be so, nor in the three months of its operation has any student complained that the program has interfered with individual rights or freedom of speech.

However, in the constructive and self-critical spirit of the program, and in light of the importance of the concerns that have been raised, the University has decided to conduct an early assessment of the program.

A review panel, consisting of the Rector, a senior academic and a member of Queen’s alumni, will be established immediately and will report to me in early January 2009 on the program as it relates to our existing and planned measures to enhance diversity and inclusiveness on campus.

Patrick Deane

Vice-Principal (Academic)

Glare a Bit Less, But Still Bright

The university sent out responses to the (erroneous) news coverage but I haven't seen any printed. There are also more blogs commenting than I can find or list.

Jonathan Kay in National Post
Followup article in the Queen's Journal
University of Western Ontario Gazette
Facebook group with lively discussion

Media Glare Continued...

More action in the lions' den. So far today:

National Post editorial
Globe & Mail editorial
CTV.ca
The Whig Standard
Ottawa Citizen
American Renaissance News
Facebook group

Media Glare

I was interviewed by The National Post and The Globe & Mail yesterday about the Intergroup Dialogue program in Queen's University residences. The articles came out today and misrepresented the program, singling out something the reporters got from an ill-informed editorial in the student-run Queen's Journal. There is a colour picture of me on the Post website and black and white in the print edition, so I'm the new face of the program, and am attracting much vitriolic comment on the newspaper sites and other blogs.

You decide:
The original Journal editorial and cartoon
National Post
The Globe & Mail
Small Dead Animals blog comments
Canadian Press story attempting to clear this up

A Night to Remember

From The New York Times - after the announcement of Barack Obama's victory, First Corinthian Baptist Church, Harlem, New York City

Suit Against God Tossed Out

Associated Press
Updated 3:59 p.m. ET, Wed., Oct. 15, 2008
LINCOLN, Neb. - A judge has thrown out a Nebraska legislator's lawsuit against God, saying the Almighty wasn't properly served, because of his unlisted home address. State Sen. Ernie Chambers filed the lawsuit last year seeking a permanent injunction against God.

He said God has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents in Omaha, inspired fear and caused "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."

On Tuesday, however, Douglas County District Court Judge Marlon Polk ruled that under state law a plaintiff must have access to the defendant for a lawsuit to move forward.

"Given that this court finds that there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant this action will be dismissed with prejudice," Polk wrote.
Chambers, who graduated from law school but never took the bar exam, thinks he's found a hole in the judge's ruling.

"The court itself acknowledges the existence of God," Chambers said Wednesday. "A consequence of that acknowledgment is a recognition of God's omniscience."

Therefore, Chambers said, "Since God knows everything, God has notice of this lawsuit."

Chambers has 30 days to decide whether to appeal. He said he hasn't decided yet.

Don't Say "That's So Gay"

Campaign against my pet peeve - the constant use of "that's so gay/retarded/lame." See http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com.

Curse of the Black Gold

A short documentary about how oil exploration and production has not benefited the people of Nigeria's Niger Delta, but has profited oil companies and corrupt governments.
http://www.slate.com/id/2197041/

Ordinary Radicals

Moved into the residence at Queen's University in Kingston two weeks ago to begin my new position promoting diversity and addressing identity issues.

There is a new documentary premiering today at US locations on Ordinary Radicals - see http://www.theordinaryradicals.com for the trailer and updates - inspired by Shane Claiborne's book (which I read and loved) and the work of Jim Wallis and Sojourners and others. Very important for people who feel that, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, "...the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the (current) century." Amen.

Truth and Freedom

An important article in The New Republic - Richard Just looks at the many recent books on Darfur and asks why, if the truth about genocide in the region is so well known, international action has been so ineffective:
"No genocide has ever been so thoroughly documented while it was taking place. There were certainly no independent film-makers in Auschwitz in 1942, and the best-known Holocaust memoirs did not achieve a wide audience until years after the war. The world more or less looked the other way as genocide unfolded in Cambodia during the 1970s, and the slaughter in Rwanda happened so quickly--a mere hundred days--that by the time the public grasped the extent of the horror, the killing was done. But here is Darfur, whose torments are known to all. The sheer volume of historical, anthropological, and narrative detail available to the public about the genocide is staggering. In the case of the genocide in Darfur, ignorance has never been possible. But the genocide continues. We document what we do not stop. The truth does not set anybody free."
http://tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=36975a7c-224c-438a-9538-130b9e5cdd91

Mandatory Olympics Post

What blog has not mentioned the Beijing Olympics during the past week?

Interesting piece in Slate on Christian evangelism (or the lack thereof) at the Olympic Games and the state of Christianity (particularly the official and underground Protestant churches) in China: http://www.slate.com/id/2196888/. I hadn't come across the idea that the Olympics logo looks like Jesus nailed to a red door.

Religious Conversions

The Economist has an enlightening overview of conversion from one religion to another in liberal and traditional societies (the author's terms).
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11784873

Zimbabwe's Stolen Election

Today's editorial in The New York Times.

"Zimbabwe’s presidential runoff election is still scheduled for Friday. But President Robert Mugabe has already stolen the vote.

For months, Mr. Mugabe’s henchmen have brutalized opposition politicians and voters who dared to imagine an end to the dictatorship. On Sunday, Morgan Tsvangirai — the opposition leader and winner of the first round — withdrew from the runoff. That night, he also took refuge in the Dutch Embassy in Zimbabwe’s capital while police raided his party headquarters.

This cannot continue. The United States, Zimbabwe’s African neighbors and the rest of the international community must immediately press for a postponement of the balloting.

And since Mr. Mugabe appears to have lost all sense — he has now declared that only God, not the voters, can remove him from office — they must pressure the generals who enable his reign of terror to abandon Mr. Mugabe.

Since the first balloting in March, at least 85 people have been killed, thousands beaten — some with iron bars — and thousands driven from their homes. Mr. Tsvangirai was detained five times and his party’s chief strategist is being held on specious treason charges.

Western and African leaders have done little but wring their hands. Finally, late Monday, the United Nations Security Council issued its first condemnation of the violence sweeping Zimbabwe, regretting that the “campaign of violence and the restrictions on the political opposition have made it impossible for a free and fair election to take place on 27 June.”

It was unclear if the council retained an important acknowledgment that was in an early draft: “Until there is a clearly free and fair second round of the presidential election, the only legitimate basis for a government of Zimbabwe is the outcome of the 29 March 2008 election” — which Mr. Tsvangirai won.

We fear it will take more than words to save Zimbabwe. The international community must back that up with serious punishments for Mr. Mugabe’s generals and cronies. Mr. Mugabe bought their loyalty with land and other government largess. Only very personal punishments — freezing their foreign bank accounts and denying visas — will make them recalculate their self-interest.

We are also waiting for South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki, to act. Instead of defending Zimbabwe’s people and their right to democratic change, he has shamefully chosen to protect Mr. Mugabe.

The United States, Europe and African governments must all make clear that if the runoff election is not delayed — so that Mr. Tsvangirai can campaign without the threat of violence — they will no longer recognize Mr. Mugabe or his government and will use all their powers to punish and isolate them."

Down to the Plastic-Shiny Sea

No wine-dark sea anymore, at least in the gigantic (and growing) dead zone of plastic garbage in the Pacific Ocean. I found the Globe & Mail piece today quite disturbing - here are a few excerpts.

"This plastic soup, with billions of tiny shards of the synthetic material floating just below the surface of the water, is estimated to span an area 11/2 times the size of the continental United States.

"The United Nations estimates that each square kilometre of ocean carries 13,000 pieces of debris, but this area in the north Pacific has something like 330,000 pieces per square kilometre.

"Hundreds of myctophids, or lantern fish, were collected during the excursion. All of them had dozens of bits of broken plastic in their stomachs. Some pieces were five millimetres in diameter, much too large to pass through the systems of the tiny creatures.
They are the most plentiful fish in the ocean, making up about 90 per cent of all deep-sea fish. They are a major source of food for larger fish, such as tuna, and other marine creatures, including dolphins, whales and sharks.
With the amount of plastic in that part of the ocean outweighing plankton six to one, the effects have been deadly.

"The United Nations Environment Program says plastic accounts for the deaths of more than a million seabirds and more than 100,000 marine mammals such as whales, dolphins and seals every year. Countless fish, it says, die either from mistakenly eating the plastic or from becoming entangled in it and drowning.
Seabird species also dying in scores include albatrosses and fulmars.
A Dutch study of fulmars in the North Sea found 95 per cent had plastic in their stomachs. More than 1,600 pieces of plastic were found in the stomach of a bird in Belgium.

"Smaller pieces of plastic resemble fish eggs to the birds, while the larger pieces, like toothbrushes and toy soldiers, look like rocks that they often swallow to help grind up their food."

A Watershed Moment?

The Sunday New York Times Magazine was the "green" issue, packed with reading. This was in the "Live" article on lifestyles friendly to Creation:

'For years, Rabbi Julian Sinclair led a double life. He kept his two identities — as a yeshiva-trained Jewish scholar and a self-described economist and policy wonk schooled at Oxford and Harvard — apart. But the increasing portents of climate change convinced Sinclair that a religious response to what he calls “the biggest big-picture policy challenge we face today” is precisely what the world needs now. “The environmental movement has been overwhelmingly secular for 40 years and has achieved amazing things,” he says, “but it hasn’t yet figured out how to move people on a massive scale because it isn’t telling the right story.’ Sinclair says he believes that the “doom-laden apocalyptic narrative” favored by the mainstream environmental movement can paralyze rather than motivate necessary lifestyle adjustments. Conversely, he says religion — which has been “in the behavioral-change business for 3,000 years” — offers a distinct message of hope and boasts an impressive track record of moral persuasion: “There have been watershed moments when religion has barged into public life, blown away the windbaggery of politics-as-usual and declared with irresistible force, ‘This must change now!’ ” Following the lead of the popular “What Would Jesus Drive?” campaign from the Evangelical Environmental Network and Jewish sustainability organizations like Hazon (“Vision”), Sinclair helped found the Jewish Climate Initiative. He is also the author of the forthcoming book “The Green God,” in which he consults the world’s spiritual traditions for teachings about how humans can confront climate change. Regarding his own religion, Sinclair says Judaism regularly expresses spirituality through “mundane deeds that awaken deeper consciousness.” “If going to the bathroom can be a religiously meaningful act (there’s a blessing said after doing so), then switching to C.F.L. light bulbs can be, too,” he says. Still, the economist in him urges first things first: “Shifts in consciousness can take decades that we don’t have. Trade in the S.U.V. — then let’s talk about the sacredness of the earth.”'

And after reading this, I was taken out for a ride in a Dodge Viper convertible - not the most fuel-efficient car on the road...But I love the line that religion has been in the behavioural-change business for 3000 years.

Murder in Oaxaca

MONTREAL, April 9 /CNW Telbec/ - Reporters Without Borders is deeply
shocked by the fatal shooting on 7 April in Putla de Guerrero, in the southern
state of Oaxaca, of Teresa Bautista Flores, 24, and Felicitas Martinez, 20,
two women journalists working for La Voz que Rompe el Silencio ("The Voice
that Breaks the Silence"), a community radio station serving the Trique
indigenous community.
"Although there is so far no evidence that these two women were killed
because of their work as journalists, their murders will be traumatic for all
of Latin America's many community radio stations, which are too often ignored
or despised by the rest of the media and by governments," Reporters Without
Borders said.
"We are conscious of the risks run by the press in Oaxaca state, where
the political climate continues to be tense, where two journalists were killed
in 2006 at the height of a period of social unrest, and where other community
media have been attacked," the press freedom organisation continued. "We hope
the investigators quickly establish the circumstances and motives for this
double murder and catch those responsible. And we join their community in
paying tribute to the two victims."
La Voz que Rompe el Silencio was launched by the Trique indigenous
community in San Juan Copala (in the west of Oaxaca state) on 20 January, a
year after the locality was granted administrative autonomy. The community
appointed Bautista Flores and Martinez to manage and present the radio
station, which is dedicated to promoting indigenous culture.
The two young women were returning from doing a report in the
municipality of Llano Juarez in the early afternoon when they were ambushed
and, after being threatened with abduction, were finally shot with 7.62
calibre bullets of the kind used in AK-47 assault rifles, Reporters Without
Borders was told by CACTUS, an organisation that supports indigenous
communities. Investigators found 20 bullet casings at the scene. Three other
people were wounded in the shooting - Jaciel Vazquez, aged 3, and his parents.
"We are convinced the Oaxaca government was behind all this, with the
intention of dismantling municipal autonomy," a community spokesman told
CACTUS, which has called on the federal authorities to intervene.
The Mexican branch of the World Association of Community Radio
Broadcasters (AMARC) said there have been acts of violence against other small
radio stations belonging to indigenous groups in Oaxaca, such as Radio Nandia
in 2006 and Radio Calenda in 2007.
Two journalists were murdered in Oaxaca during a major wave of protests
against state governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz in 2006. They were independent
Indymedia cameraman Bradley Will, shot on 27 October 2006, and Raul Marcial
Pérez, a indigenous community leader and columnist for the regional daily El
Grafico, who was shot on 8 December 2006.
No one was brought to justice for either of these murders, in which the
authorities curiously ruled out any possibility of their being linked to the
victims' work as journalists.


For further information: Katherine Borlongan, secretary general,
Reporters Without Borders, (514) 521-4111, rsfcanada@rsf.org

Nobody Expects the...

...Spanish Inquisition! A true Monty Python gem.

Chapman: Trouble at mill.
Cleveland: Oh no - what kind of trouble?
Chapman: One on't cross beams gone owt askew on treadle.
Cleveland: Pardon?
Chapman: One on't cross beams gone owt askew on treadle.
Cleveland: I don't understand what you're saying.
Chapman: [slightly irritatedly and with exaggeratedly clear accent] One of the cross beams has gone out askew on the treadle.
Cleveland: Well what on earth does that mean?
Chapman: *I* don't know - Mr Wentworth just told me to come in here and say that there was trouble at the mill, that's all - I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition.

[JARRING CHORD]
[The door flies open and Cardinal Ximinez of Spain [Palin] enters, flanked by two junior cardinals. Cardinal Biggles [Jones] has goggles pushed over his forehead. Cardinal Fang [Gilliam] is just Cardinal Fang]

Ximinez: NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again.

[The Inquisition exits]

Chapman: I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition.

[JARRING CHORD]
[The cardinals burst in]

Ximinez: NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms - Oh damn!
[To Cardinal Biggles] I can't say it - you'll have to say it.
Biggles: What?
Ximinez: You'll have to say the bit about 'Our chief weapons are ...'
Biggles: [rather horrified]: I couldn't do that...

[Ximinez bundles the cardinals outside again]

Chapman: I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition.

[JARRING CHORD]

[The cardinals enter]

Biggles: Er.... Nobody...um....
Ximinez: Expects...
Biggles: Expects... Nobody expects the...um...the Spanish...um...
Ximinez: Inquisition.
Biggles: I know, I know! Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition. In fact, those who do expect -
Ximinez: Our chief weapons are...
Biggles: Our chief weapons are...um...er...
Ximinez: Surprise...
Biggles: Surprise and --
Ximinez: Okay, stop. Stop. Stop there - stop there. Stop. Phew! Ah! ... our chief weapons are surprise...blah blah blah. Cardinal, read the charges.
Fang: You are hereby charged that you did on diverse dates commit heresy against the Holy Church. 'My old man said follow the--'
Biggles: That's enough.
[To Cleveland] Now, how do you plead?
Clevelnd: We're innocent.
Ximinez: Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

[DIABOLICAL LAUGHTER]

Biggles: We'll soon change your mind about that!

[DIABOLICAL ACTING]

Ximinez: Fear, surprise, and a most ruthless-- [controls himself with a supreme effort] Ooooh! Now, Cardinal -- the rack!

[Biggles produces a plastic-coated dish-drying rack. Ximinez looks at it and clenches his teeth in an effort not to lose control. He hums heavily to cover his anger]

Ximinez: You....Right! Tie her down.

[Fang and Biggles make a pathetic attempt to tie her on to the drying rack]

Ximinez:Right! How do you plead?
Clevelnd: Innocent.
Ximinez: Ha! Right! Cardinal, give the rack [oh dear] give the rack a turn.

[Biggles stands their awkwardly and shrugs his shoulders]

Biggles: I....
Ximinez: [gritting his teeth] I *know*, I know you can't. I didn't want to say anything. I just wanted to try and ignore your crass mistake.
Biggles: I...
Ximinez: It makes it all seem so stupid.
Biggles: Shall I...?
Ximinez: No, just pretend for God's sake. Ha! Ha! Ha!

[Biggles turns an imaginary handle on the side of the dish-rack]

[Cut to them torturing a dear old lady, Marjorie Wilde]

Ximinez: Now, old woman -- you are accused of heresy on three counts -- heresy by thought, heresy by word, heresy by deed, and heresy by action -- *four* counts. Do you confess?
Wilde: I don't understand what I'm accused of.
Ximinez: Ha! Then we'll make you understand! Biggles! Fetch...THE CUSHIONS!

[JARRING CHORD]

[Biggles holds out two ordinary modern household cushions]

Biggles: Here they are, lord.
Ximinez: Now, old lady -- you have one last chance. Confess the heinous sin of heresy, reject the works of the ungodly -- *two* last chances. And you shall be free -- *three* last chances. You have three last chances, the nature of which I have divulged in my previous utterance.
Wilde: I don't know what you're talking about.
Ximinez: Right! If that's the way you want it -- Cardinal! Poke her with the soft cushions!

[Biggles carries out this rather pathetic torture]

Ximinez: Confess! Confess! Confess!
Biggles: It doesn't seem to be hurting her, lord.
Ximinez: Have you got all the stuffing up one end?
Biggles: Yes, lord.
Ximinez [angrily hurling away the cushions]: Hm! She is made of harder stuff! Cardinal Fang! Fetch...THE COMFY CHAIR!

[JARRING CHORD]

[Zoom into Fang's horrified face]

Fang [terrified]: The...Comfy Chair?

[Biggles pushes in a comfy chair -- a really plush one]

Ximinez: So you think you are strong because you can survive the soft cushions. Well, we shall see. Biggles! Put her in the Comfy Chair!

[They roughly push her into the Comfy Chair]

Ximinez [with a cruel leer]: Now -- you will stay in the Comfy Chair until lunch time, with only a cup of coffee at eleven. [aside, to Biggles] Is that really all it is?
Biggles: Yes, lord.
Ximinez: I see. I suppose we make it worse by shouting a lot, do we? Confess, woman. Confess! Confess! Confess! Confess
Biggles: I confess!
Ximinez: Not you!