Well, not me personally this time...The review panel for the intergroup dialogue program has reported, and the University accepted its recommendation to terminate the program (while recognizing that there were never any complaints about the work of the facilitators). The misrepresentation of the program made the atmosphere too poisonous to continue the pilot in its present form, although there will certainly be a continued focus on diversity in residences.
Queen's University statement
Review panel report
The Queen's Journal
Op-ed in The Queen's Journal
The National Post
The Globe & Mail
I haven't been blogging lately - it seems easier to post to Facebook!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Friday, January 09, 2009
Richard J. Neuhaus
The Rev. Richard J. Neuhaus died yesterday. I didn't agree with him on everything - reading the journal First Things, often it seemed that I didn't agree with him on much - but I was always interested in what he wrote. Here is his obituary from the New York Times.
January 9, 2009
Rev. R. J. Neuhaus, Political Theologian, Dies at 72
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, a theologian who transformed himself from a liberal Lutheran leader of the civil rights and antiwar struggles in the 1960s to a Roman Catholic beacon of the neoconservative movement of today, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 72 and lived in Manhattan.
He learned that he had cancer in November and recently developed a systemic infection that doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center say led to his death, said Joseph Bottum, editor of First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion, Culture and Public Life. Father Neuhaus founded the journal and served as editor in chief.
Father Neuhaus’s best-known book, “The Naked Public Square,” argued that American democracy must not be stripped of religious morality. Published in 1984, it provoked a debate about the role of religion in affairs of state and was embraced by the growing Christian conservative movement.
In the last 20 years, Father Neuhaus helped give evangelical Protestants and Catholics a theological framework for joining forces in the nation’s culture wars.
With Charles Colson, the former Watergate felon who became a born-again leader of American evangelicals, Father Neuhaus convened a group that in 1994 produced “Evangelicals and Catholics Together.” It was a widely distributed manifesto that initially came under fire by critics, who accused the two men of diluting theological differences for political expediency. But the document was ultimately credited with helping to cement the alliance, which has reshaped American politics.
“Richard’s Protestant background gave him a unique brokerage position,” George Weigel, a Catholic commentator and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Mr. Weigel likened Father Neuhaus to the Rev. John Courtney Murray, the Jesuit theologian who was often called on to navigate the relationship between religion and American government in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.
Mr. Weigel said of Father Neuhaus, “He was a philosopher and theologian of American democracy, and that is the bright line that links all” the stages of his life.
Father Neuhaus underwent several conversions in his life. He was born in Pembroke, Ontario, and emigrated to the United States, which he came to love fervently. He was a Lutheran minister, like his father, but at the age of 54 was ordained a Roman Catholic priest. Politically, he evolved from a liberal Democrat and admirer of Senator Eugene J. McCarthy to a conservative and occasional adviser to President Bush.
No matter which side he was on, Father Neuhaus was always a leader. The Rev. Max L. Stackhouse, a professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary, said he first glimpsed Pastor Neuhaus marching in Selma, Ala., in a row of clergy members flanking the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“He thought that somebody ought to be out front carrying the ball, and he designated himself, and he was pretty good at it,” Dr. Stackhouse said. “He was not poverty-stricken when it came to confidence, and he did a lot of his homework and made judgments and felt very secure in them. He did enjoy controversy.”
In the 1960s, he was pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church, a predominantly black and Hispanic Lutheran congregation in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was arrested at a sit-in at the New York City Board of Education headquarters, demanding integration of the public schools.
With the war in Vietnam raging, he and other prominent members of the clergy, like Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, founded Clergy and Laity Concerned About Vietnam, an advocacy group. This contact with Jewish and Catholic leaders seeded his passion for interfaith dialogue.
In 1968, Pastor Neuhaus was a delegate for Senator McCarthy to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. When the Chicago police clashed with demonstrators, he was among those arrested and tried for disorderly conduct.
Two years later, he made an unsuccessful bid to become the Democratic candidate for the Congressional seat representing the 14th District, in Brooklyn.
By the mid-1970s his ideas about the relationship between religion and politics were evolving. He helped write a theological statement criticizing churches for speaking out on secular social issues without sufficient attention to faith and spirituality.
He joined conservative clergy members in a campaign against the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, accusing the organizations of a taking a leftist approach to international affairs and cozying up to Marxist governments. He wrote the founding manifesto for the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a group that challenges mainline Protestant denominations it considers too liberal.
In 1990, after years of uneasiness in the Lutheran church, Father Neuhaus was accepted into the Catholic Church by Cardinal John O’Connor of New York in the chapel of the cardinal’s residence on Madison Avenue. A year later the cardinal ordained him a priest. Father Neuhaus insisted that his conversion was not so much political as theological. He said the goal of Martin Luther’s Reformation had always been a united Christian church.
“I have long believed that the Roman Catholic Church is the fullest expression of the church of Christ through time,” he said in an interview then.
His survivors include his sisters, Mildred Schwich of East Wenatchee, Wash., and Johanna Speckhard of Valparaiso, Ind.; and his brothers, Clemens, of Redlands, Calif.; George, of Seeshaupt, Germany; Joseph, of Stone Mountain, Ga.; and Thomas, of St. Hippolyte, Quebec.
Father Neuhaus wrote and edited nearly 30 books, among them “The Catholic Moment: The Paradox of the Church in the Postmodern World,” “Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus From the Cross,” and “As I Lay Dying: Meditations Upon Returning,” about his near-death experience during an early bout with colon cancer.
He advised President Bush and the White House on issues like stem cell research and gay marriage. On Thursday, President and Mrs. Bush issued a statement praising “his wise counsel and guidance.” When Time magazine published a list of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America in 2005, Father Neuhaus, despite his Roman Catholic affiliation, was on it.
In First Things, the journal he founded, he maintained a column of caustic commentary on political, social and religious developments until he fell ill last year.
Father Neuhaus’s last book was “American Babylon,” to be published in March by Basic Books. In it, he depicts America as a nation defined by consumerism and decadence and argues that Christians must learn to live there as if they are in exile from the promised land.
January 9, 2009
Rev. R. J. Neuhaus, Political Theologian, Dies at 72
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, a theologian who transformed himself from a liberal Lutheran leader of the civil rights and antiwar struggles in the 1960s to a Roman Catholic beacon of the neoconservative movement of today, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 72 and lived in Manhattan.
He learned that he had cancer in November and recently developed a systemic infection that doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center say led to his death, said Joseph Bottum, editor of First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion, Culture and Public Life. Father Neuhaus founded the journal and served as editor in chief.
Father Neuhaus’s best-known book, “The Naked Public Square,” argued that American democracy must not be stripped of religious morality. Published in 1984, it provoked a debate about the role of religion in affairs of state and was embraced by the growing Christian conservative movement.
In the last 20 years, Father Neuhaus helped give evangelical Protestants and Catholics a theological framework for joining forces in the nation’s culture wars.
With Charles Colson, the former Watergate felon who became a born-again leader of American evangelicals, Father Neuhaus convened a group that in 1994 produced “Evangelicals and Catholics Together.” It was a widely distributed manifesto that initially came under fire by critics, who accused the two men of diluting theological differences for political expediency. But the document was ultimately credited with helping to cement the alliance, which has reshaped American politics.
“Richard’s Protestant background gave him a unique brokerage position,” George Weigel, a Catholic commentator and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Mr. Weigel likened Father Neuhaus to the Rev. John Courtney Murray, the Jesuit theologian who was often called on to navigate the relationship between religion and American government in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.
Mr. Weigel said of Father Neuhaus, “He was a philosopher and theologian of American democracy, and that is the bright line that links all” the stages of his life.
Father Neuhaus underwent several conversions in his life. He was born in Pembroke, Ontario, and emigrated to the United States, which he came to love fervently. He was a Lutheran minister, like his father, but at the age of 54 was ordained a Roman Catholic priest. Politically, he evolved from a liberal Democrat and admirer of Senator Eugene J. McCarthy to a conservative and occasional adviser to President Bush.
No matter which side he was on, Father Neuhaus was always a leader. The Rev. Max L. Stackhouse, a professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary, said he first glimpsed Pastor Neuhaus marching in Selma, Ala., in a row of clergy members flanking the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“He thought that somebody ought to be out front carrying the ball, and he designated himself, and he was pretty good at it,” Dr. Stackhouse said. “He was not poverty-stricken when it came to confidence, and he did a lot of his homework and made judgments and felt very secure in them. He did enjoy controversy.”
In the 1960s, he was pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church, a predominantly black and Hispanic Lutheran congregation in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was arrested at a sit-in at the New York City Board of Education headquarters, demanding integration of the public schools.
With the war in Vietnam raging, he and other prominent members of the clergy, like Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, founded Clergy and Laity Concerned About Vietnam, an advocacy group. This contact with Jewish and Catholic leaders seeded his passion for interfaith dialogue.
In 1968, Pastor Neuhaus was a delegate for Senator McCarthy to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. When the Chicago police clashed with demonstrators, he was among those arrested and tried for disorderly conduct.
Two years later, he made an unsuccessful bid to become the Democratic candidate for the Congressional seat representing the 14th District, in Brooklyn.
By the mid-1970s his ideas about the relationship between religion and politics were evolving. He helped write a theological statement criticizing churches for speaking out on secular social issues without sufficient attention to faith and spirituality.
He joined conservative clergy members in a campaign against the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, accusing the organizations of a taking a leftist approach to international affairs and cozying up to Marxist governments. He wrote the founding manifesto for the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a group that challenges mainline Protestant denominations it considers too liberal.
In 1990, after years of uneasiness in the Lutheran church, Father Neuhaus was accepted into the Catholic Church by Cardinal John O’Connor of New York in the chapel of the cardinal’s residence on Madison Avenue. A year later the cardinal ordained him a priest. Father Neuhaus insisted that his conversion was not so much political as theological. He said the goal of Martin Luther’s Reformation had always been a united Christian church.
“I have long believed that the Roman Catholic Church is the fullest expression of the church of Christ through time,” he said in an interview then.
His survivors include his sisters, Mildred Schwich of East Wenatchee, Wash., and Johanna Speckhard of Valparaiso, Ind.; and his brothers, Clemens, of Redlands, Calif.; George, of Seeshaupt, Germany; Joseph, of Stone Mountain, Ga.; and Thomas, of St. Hippolyte, Quebec.
Father Neuhaus wrote and edited nearly 30 books, among them “The Catholic Moment: The Paradox of the Church in the Postmodern World,” “Death on a Friday Afternoon: Meditations on the Last Words of Jesus From the Cross,” and “As I Lay Dying: Meditations Upon Returning,” about his near-death experience during an early bout with colon cancer.
He advised President Bush and the White House on issues like stem cell research and gay marriage. On Thursday, President and Mrs. Bush issued a statement praising “his wise counsel and guidance.” When Time magazine published a list of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America in 2005, Father Neuhaus, despite his Roman Catholic affiliation, was on it.
In First Things, the journal he founded, he maintained a column of caustic commentary on political, social and religious developments until he fell ill last year.
Father Neuhaus’s last book was “American Babylon,” to be published in March by Basic Books. In it, he depicts America as a nation defined by consumerism and decadence and argues that Christians must learn to live there as if they are in exile from the promised land.
John Wesley's Covenant Prayer for the New Year
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, would hold Watch Night services on New Year's Eve and have his Methodist communities renew their covenant with God in preparation for the New Year. Here is the prayer he used - appropriate for us as we face a new year with challenges for peace and prosperity.
I am no longer my own, but yours, O God.
Tell me what you want me to do, and I will do it.
Tell me who you want me to work with, and I will join them gladly.
If you want me to work, I will work.
If you want me to wait, I will wait.
Let me be raised up or put down for you, let me have many things or nothing.
I offer all that I have and all that I am to you, glorious and blessed God.
Help me to live each day to your glory.
And this covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
I am no longer my own, but yours, O God.
Tell me what you want me to do, and I will do it.
Tell me who you want me to work with, and I will join them gladly.
If you want me to work, I will work.
If you want me to wait, I will wait.
Let me be raised up or put down for you, let me have many things or nothing.
I offer all that I have and all that I am to you, glorious and blessed God.
Help me to live each day to your glory.
And this covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
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.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
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.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
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)
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)
Saturday, November 22, 2008
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
Jonathan Kay in National Post
Followup article in the Queen's Journal
University of Western Ontario Gazette
Facebook group with lively discussion
Thursday, November 20, 2008
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
National Post editorial
Globe & Mail editorial
CTV.ca
The Whig Standard
Ottawa Citizen
American Renaissance News
Facebook group
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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
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
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
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
Thursday, October 16, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
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.
Friday, September 05, 2008
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/
http://www.slate.com/id/2197041/
Thursday, September 04, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
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
"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
Thursday, August 07, 2008
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.
Friday, July 25, 2008
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
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11784873
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
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."
"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."
Monday, May 19, 2008
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."
"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."
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