Culture

  • Less Power, More Flourishing

    Charlie Brown always thinks he's going to kick the ball, but Charlie Brown always ends up falling on his back. He's never really out of the game, and he's always keen to try again—but each time he falls. Canadian unions are always up for another try. However, like Charlie Brown, there is a sense of predetermination, of inevitability in each try.

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  • Candid Discussions Worth Having

    "Cardus is hosting an event with Mark Carney?" We look forward to both events advancing Cardus's mission of renewing social architecture.

    "Cardus is hosting an event with Conrad Black?"

    "Cardus is hosting an event with Mark Carney?"

    "Yes," we are delighted to answer our interlocutors. Many Cardus followers last week received invitations to two forthcoming events in the Hill Fami...

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  • The Connorian Oeuvre: A Tribute to Stompin' Tom

    In my files I have a letter from Stompin' Tom himself for a piece I wrote in the Calgary Herald arguing strenuously that the "Connorian oeuvre" should be properly recognized as authentic folk poetry, and recognized as far more meaningful to Canadians than any dot or dash Margaret Atwood ever put to paper.

    Long before "The Hockey Song" propelled him to Canadian earworm status, I was an apostle of Stompin' Tom Connors and a fierce advocate of the late, great Prince Edward Islander's elevation to poet laureate.

    In my files I have a letter from Stompin' T...

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  • Green Shoots of Humanity

    But, death is an awful thing, even if the departed is a machismo thug whose policies hollowed out a , dismantled its , and left its poor with little long-term stability or resources. Jesus grieved; in fact, Jesus wept. He wept because he knew that death was not the way it was meant to be. To grieve over the loss of good and life is not only human; it is a reflection of God—even if the rest of your life does not reflect this.

    I have very little love for Hugo Chavez, and even less love for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's embattled president.

    But, death is an awful thing, even if the departed is a machismo thug whose policies hollowed out a

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  • Places of Worship Protected in City Core

    The changes, which emerged out of a series of consultations and research spearheaded by Cardus will, according to the city staff report, "enhance the Center City Plan by acknowledging the impact that faith-based institiutions make in the Centre City’s build and social environments." The report notes that "while many community and cultural groups and organizations have been included within the Centre City Plan, there is very little mention of faith based institutions."

    The City of Calgary’s Municipal Planning Commission unanimously passed a series of amendments to the Calgary Centre City Plan on Thursday, clearing ...

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  • In Defence of Star Gazing

    About half of those urbanites will live in, or adjacent to, the nation's six largest cities of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa. Now, there is much to be said in favour of urban life. It is in a great many ways a softer life, filled with bright lights and entertainment and other people. “Buzz” is everywhere. Jobs are more commonly found without the disruption of relocation and usually there is a plethora of coffee shops, pubs, restaurants, and gathering places. Cities are filled with surprises and delights. I am open to the idea that this is simply another manifestation of my inner contrarian; that if the herd is moving in a certain direction I am instinctively driven to separate myself from it and trot off—ever so cheerfully—to another pasture even if this proves to be a disadvantage. No doubt there's something to that theory.

    Eighty per cent of Canadians will, according to The Sustainability Report, live in urban areas within two years—the exact opposite of the nation's structure shortly after Confederation.

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  • Limits on Our Excess

    At the beginning, you're just trying to sneak in an episode before dinner, and before you know it you're on a bender—clocking over ten hours in a span of only two days, full seasons watched from start to finish. I've been there, and it is a dark time. I shamefully admit that my Netflix and I are so well acquainted, it has filtered in an entire category of "things I might like" titled "Eighteenth Century Period Dramas with a Strong Female Lead."

    Much like any addiction, it starts slowly and builds gradually. It gains momentum and eventually consumes you until you're trapped, completely beholden to the power of the screen, with no strength or desire to resist the "next episode playing in 10 seconds"...

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  • This is Ultra-Tolerance

    Puff-chested pontificators could empty their bloated egos into front-page stories about what a deputy minister said to a sub-committee. But the real temper of the times was in the two paragraphs of advice Ann and Abby gave their millions of readers. Newspapers are a shredded simulacrum of what they once were, of course, yet their readers still—you may insert the word 'inexplicably' here if you wish—look to them for advice on matters great and small.

    In the gilded age of newspapers, the best understanding of the politics of the day came from reading Ann Landers or Dear Abby.

    Puff-chested pontificators could empty their bloated egos into front-page stories about what a deputy minister said to a su...

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  • Progressing Backwards

    Such was the case last week when a regular correspondent of mine, a Mr. P.A. George, set out in five easy steps the recipe that activists cooking up all manner of "social progress" have used in Canada during the past 40 years: If I were to suggest any addition to this stellar summary, it would be to expand point four to include professional associations beyond just teachers.

    Sometimes, someone chances past who brilliantly captures in a handful of words what others spend whole careers trying to express.

    Such was the case last week when a regular correspondent of mine, a Mr. P.A. George, set out in five easy steps the reci...

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  • Learning to Speak of Beliefs

    The suburban Canada I grew up in contained people from many different backgrounds—German, Ukrainian, Italian, Scottish, Irish, Greek for instance—but was almost entirely white. In terms of belief, we were all either Roman Catholics (Habs fans) or Protestants (Leafs fans) although I was aware of a few Jewish kids here and there and couple of Chinese heritage families. Regardless, almost all of us came from a Judeo-Christian, European cultural context. The only major fracture in our country was that elsewhere in it, people spoke another language, which made Canada into an officially bilingual country founded by English-speaking people whose origins were in Britain and French-speaking people whose origins were in France.

    Recent shifts in language use and demography make it clear that Christians will have to broaden their understanding of other faiths or risk being isolated in their own cultural catacombs.

    The suburban Canada I grew up in contained people from many di...

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  • Window Taps

    This is especially so later in the evenings around Christmas when the white noise of the city softens and the temperature falls. Then, the smack of sticks on ice and the ricochet of frozen rubber discs zipping off the boards rattle around my brain like flash card memories of high school girlfriends that—unsolicited and about which we may not speak—refuse to disappear from the subconscious.

    Sometimes when it's quiet the sounds from the outdoor rink over by the Catholic school carry across the snow after dark and tap on the window outside my bedroom.

    This is especially so later in the evenings around Christmas when the white noise of the...

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  • Competing Religions, Competing Rights, and a Court Getting it Right

    N.S., the appellant, alleged that her uncle and nephew sexually assaulted her when she was a child. She reported this to her family and to the police years later. At the preliminary inquiry (the court procedure to determine if there is enough evidence to proceed to trial), N.S. sought to wear her niqab. The two accused argued that the niqab prevented them from having a fair trial. The judge at the preliminary inquiry ruled that N.S. must testify without her niqab as her religious belief was "not that strong." This was based on the fact that she did not wear a niqab on her driver's licence photo although N.S. argued that a female photographer took the picture.

    It was another day of reckoning for religious Canadians. On a small stage, Paula Celani was back in court this morning fighting a fine for an "illegal" Catholic Mass in Montreal (first discussed ...

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  • Royal Confusion

    That doesn't mean my loyalty is defined by a willingness to line the streets when the royals come to town to swoon at the passage of their limousine. Nor do I share the compulsion that seeks to stamp "royal" on everything as if that magically transforms it into something meaningful and of value. Thus, the official confirmation, brought about the Dutchess of Cambridge's hospitalization for morning sickness, of a royal pregnancy which, if all goes well, will alter the line of royal succession for the Windsor family is worthy of our attention.

    I am a monarchist.

    That doesn't mean my loyalty is defined by a willingness to line the streets when the royals come to town to swoon at the passage of their limousine. Nor do I share the compulsion that seeks to stamp "royal" on everything as if tha...

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  • The Ordeal of Civility

    Last week a late night radio show host in Quebec informed a caller that it was fortunate she could remain anonymous, else she wouldn't have been able to call the Holocaust "the most beautiful thing that could happen in history." The host, Jacques Fabi, lamented that it was a pain not being able to say what one really believes, except of course in media that allow for anonymity. The caller's anonymity on the telephone seems to have taken a lesson from social media. There is no accountability when one can espouse beliefs behind screen names and telephone lines. It is now de rigueur to speak rudely, disrespectfully, thoughtlessly throughout the public square.

    Social media gave us anonymity, and it has opened the door to incivility throughout the public square.

    Last week a late night radio show host in Quebec ...

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  • Grade Eight Debate

    By which I mean that I began to notice the baser tribal instincts that emerge within people in junior high school and articulate themselves in various forms of bullying and denigration of others in order to enhance one's own position and status within the clan do not disappear or, for that matter, even dissipate.

    Perhaps the great disappointment of my life has been the realization, at the age of 40 or so, that adulthood did not bring with it an abandonment of childish default behaviours.

    By which I mean that I began to notice the baser tribal instincts that e...

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  • Battlefield: University

    This rankles the student government of Queen's, and is currently the subject of a student grievance. Argues a spokeswoman, "The inclusion of a civility clause, especially when it threatens a student's academic standing, would actively discourage the exchange of critical inquiry and free speech which are foundational to a quality undergraduate education."

    There's a big fuss this week about a Queen's university professor inserting a "civility clause" into her course syllabus. The clau...

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  • Paying Attention to the Courts

    All three branches have powerful ways of impacting us, yet the profile of the players on the judicial side of things is minimal. Part of this, of course, is due to the supposed objectiveness of legal process. "Better a good case than a good lawyer" goes the quip, where the weight of evidence, precedent, and argument are supposed to elevate the decisions beyond preferences of the decision-maker. Yet theory aside, most of us understand that the personal beliefs and values of our lawyers and judges do end up having an impact on the shape of our democracy.

    Back in high school civics class we learned that government has three branches—executive, legislative and judicial. Our media help us pay no shortage of attention to our cabinet and our parliament. But do we study our judges enough?

    All three branche...

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  • From Sea to Sea

    Christianity's birth pangs; junior hockey's dangerous life; the death of the great liberal, Peter Lougheed

    Constantine & the Church

    October 2012 marked our first anniversary of the launch of Convivium, an important milestone in the history of the relationship between faith and our common life. Another anniversary also fell in October 2012—a rat...

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  • Intuition Trumps Strategy

    In the October 2012 issue of Policy Options, NDP insider Anne McGrath and Conservative strategist Stephen Carter provide their assessment regarding the application of Haidt's thesis to the Canadian context. McGrath equivocates, suggesting that Haidt's appeal for civility is a bit of a "naïve distaste for acrimony," and doesn't adequately account for the mobilization that divisive momentums such as the Occupy Movement have created through history.

    A recent book by American psychologist Jonathan Haidt (a self-described liberal) has provoked interesting conversation among the political intelligentsia. In ...

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  • You May Not Govern Me

    In what promises to be the most bizarre and intriguing thing you will read this autumn, the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench recently set the record straight on the relationship between the justice system, and some constituents who seek to resist the authority of the court over them. Taking the "consent of the governed" and social contract theory to the extreme, various movements known as Freemen, Detaxers, and Sovereign Citizens (among other names) assert that statute law does not apply to them unless they specifically consent. As Justice Rooke said, "they will only honour state, regulatory, contractual, fiduciary, family, equitable and criminal obligations if they feel like it. And typically, they don't."

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  • Strength Isn't What it Seems

    Fans, it seems, would've felt better and had their jilted scratches itched had the Blue Jays punished Farrell and made him sit out the year. This would have made the Blue Jays appear strong, viable, and ready to attract top talent.

    This week, Toronto sports talk radio is dominated by baseball fans, foaming at the ...

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  • The Challenge to Triviality

    The Dark Knight Rises plot was a hybrid of Robin Hood, the Bolshevik Revolution, a Twilight Zone episode, and some biblical allegory. But did anybody notice connections? The plot themes predictably explored the nature of wealth, hegemony, power, and what happens when the structures of society break down into anarchy. And of course, the blurry line of stealing from the rich (or in modern sensibilities, the emasculation of the wealthy) is presented as a radical solution to complex problems.

    Recently—late, I know—I went to see The Dark Knight Rises. Sure, it was a wonderfully entertaining and a frivolous way to spend a couple of hours of my life . . . but this is not a movie review. This film has been analyzed to death everywhere, includ...

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  • The Commons Truth

    If it only were so straightforward. Voters crave plain-talk from our leaders. They rarely receive it. "Not fair," complained the NDP. "It's not something that's dignified, and Stephen Harper, if he has an ounce of ethics on these things, will call his MPs to account and tell them to stop lying." . .

    "Will the honourable minister simply answer the question—yes or no?"

    If it only were so straightforward. Voters crave plain-talk from our leaders. They rarely receive it.

    This week saw Question Period resume in our federal parlia...

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