Justice

  • Public Wastelands

    Public Wastelands

    Brian Dijkema

    October 18, 2012

    This, sadly, was the picture that came to my mind as I read John McKay's excellent article this week on the state of parliament after the defeat of Motion C-312. McKay writes, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The most dangerous place to be in World War 1 was no-man's land. No-man's land was a treacherous place, filled with mud, mines, rotting bodies and limbs, craters, pits, and poison. Nobody wanted to go there, because if you did, you were likely to die. Canad...

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  • Anti-Bullying and Over-Correcting

    Anti-Bullying and Over-Correcting

    Ray Pennings

    October 17, 2012

    But bullying is a subject on which platitudes come too easily. Anti-bullying, motherhood, apple pie . . . the right and wrong of the matter seems so obvious. But the road to overcoming bullying must be navigated with care if the ditches on both sides are to be avoided.

    The death of B.C. teen Amanda Todd has sparked a raft of publicity and public action against bullying. Extensive news coverage and ...

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  • A Bit of Perspective

    A Bit of Perspective

    Brian Dijkema

    October 4, 2012

    But they need to be understood for what they are: a tool to help us understand the mess of life. As with most of life, the events of labour relations are as likely to slop all over the sides of buckets and make a big mess on the floor as they are to stay in the bucket. How messy can it get? Well, recent labour strife in the Lonmin platinum mines in South Africa give us some indication .

    A couple weeks back I set out some criteria to help discern whether a strike is justified or not. These lists provide helpful buckets into which we can place events before evaluating them.

    ...

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  • Malthus, Darwin, Rand, and Social Conservatives

    Malthus, Darwin, Rand, and Social Conservatives

    Diane Weber Bederman

    September 21, 2012

    I fear that social conservatives are falling into an ideological abyss that has somehow attached itself to an 18th century evolutionary idea: the doctrine of the survival of the fittest, which began with Malthus. According to Jacques Barzun, who wrote Darwin, Marx, Wagner: Critique of a Heritage in 1940, Malthus taught that one need not worry about overpopulation.

    We have recently heard the views of Mitt Romney in a newly released video where he says that 47% of the American population think of themselves as victims, entitled to government care like food, housing, and shelter. And he claims this same 47% of the popul...

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  • Labour Storms

    Labour Storms

    Brian Dijkema

    September 14, 2012

    It's hard to think critically and carefully about strikes. Typically, the response to a strike is rather simple: are you for it, or against it? And, it's often personal: are you with us, or against us? But how would one even go about deciding if you are for or against a strike?

    Teacher strikes in Chicago, work-a...

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  • A Smart Pre-Emptive Move

    A Smart Pre-Emptive Move

    Janet Epp Buckingham

    September 13, 2012

    It has been an interesting week, watching this drama unfold. Last Friday, I was copied on the press release from Minister Baird's office that Iranian Embassy staff were being expelled. "Canada's position on the regime in Iran is well known. Canada views the Government of Iran as the most significant threat to global peace and security in the world today." At the same time, Canada closed its embassy in Iran, citing fears for safety and security. Canada thereby cut diplomatic relations. Groups came out supporting and denouncing Canada's unilateral action. The Raging Grannies protested the embassy closure on Monday. They are always up for a good protest. Meanwhile the Canadian Friends of a Diplomatic Iran held banners at the Lester B. Pearson Building in support of the move. In a subsequent press release, they basically said, "It's about time." They focused on Camps Asharaf and Liberty, and President Ahmadinejad's abysmal human rights record. The Canadian Friends also hinted that the Iranian Embassy in Canada threatened Iranian ex-pats in Canada. Having watched people in the embassy taking photos of protesters, this seems to me like a very real threat. There are about 120,000 people in Canada of Iranian origin.

    The flag is down at the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa. I know this because I work across the street.

    It has been an interesting week, watching this drama unfold. Last Friday, I was copied on the press release from Minister Baird's office t...

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  • Limits on Scripture

    Limits on Scripture

    Brian Dijkema

    August 30, 2012

    The greatest moment of American public life in the 20th century—and one of the finest examples of public speech in history—contains a quote from Isaiah. Yes. One of the greatest speeches ever made, in one of the greatest political communities our fair planet has ever seen, was lifted straight from the pages of a book that is thousands of years old and written in the Middle East. And the speech contains not just one quote. This great example of goodness and power is shot through with quotes and references to Scripture. It is a speech in which Scripture is the foundation, the wellspring of the great dream that changed American life and helped to overcome its original sin.

    I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord s...

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  • Evil Explained Away

    Evil Explained Away

    Ray Pennings

    August 29, 2012

    In fact, these rootless dances with understanding may move us from away from truth.

    Murders of every kind, but especially mass murders, rarely have their motives adequately explained. Poverty, abuse, religion, ideology . . . lawyers and pundits may try these "explanations," but the irrationality of such acts mostly defy labels.

    In f...

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  • Citizen Bossy Boots

    Citizen Bossy Boots

    Peter Stockland

    August 22, 2012

    Here, the key query to be decided on September 4 is how much long-established native French-speaking Quebecers are willing to let the State boss other people around. Madame Marois, as is her wont, immediately heightened the absurdity by insisting that Quebec's ancient symbols of religious patrimony such as public-space Christmas trees—a 19th-century import from Prussian Protestants popularized by the British Royal Family—and the Cross in the provincial legislature would be exempt from her proposed "secularization" initiative.

    The question underlying contemporary elections is how much a free citizenry is willing to the let the State boss them around. Well, all except Quebec elections.

    Here, the key query to be decided on ...

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  • Opting for Moral Relativity

    Opting for Moral Relativity

    John Sikkema

    August 9, 2012

    Should we care?

    In its report released last month, the Global Commission on HIV and the Law called for the decriminalization of personal narcotics use, "voluntary sex work", and non-disclosure of HIV-positive status to sexual partners.

    Should we care?...

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  • The Chickens are Restless

    The Chickens are Restless

    Robert Joustra

    July 12, 2012

    The task force of Ontario Provincial Police surrounded the house of my sister's neighbours, lights blinking, sirens wailing, scouring barns and residence, terrifying the locals, cuffing the father while wife and children wailed, turning over every table, chair, and bookshelf in the house in search of nefarious goods.

    ...

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  • The Olympics: A Religious Conundrum

    The Olympics: A Religious Conundrum

    Richelle Wiseman

    July 9, 2012

    The London 2012 Olympics may prove to be the venue not just for competition between the world's greatest athletes, but also for an even more interesting contest: an epic church/state battle. The Occupy movement has gone fairly silent since it seemingly petered out in March, but it has by no means gone away. Instead, it is making preparations for major protest activities in London. Occupy Olympics will draw attention to the extraordinary expense of the games to Londoners, to Great Britain, and to the many British people who have suffered dramatically from the austerity measures. They will also complain about the extravagant amounts of money that have been poured into the Olympics by controversial corporate donors such as Dow Chemicals, and about Olympic merchandise made by child labour.

    ...

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  • Wisdom Cries Out in the Streets

    Wisdom Cries Out in the Streets

    Brian Dijkema

    July 4, 2012

    But despite the cognitive and visual dissonance, the young lady above—whether consciously or not, and even fractionally—does exhibit wisdom on the streets. And, insofar as she is participating in that great mob of disaffected Quebec youth, there might be more wisdom in these street protests than one might imagine at first glance.

    [caption id="attachment_1210" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Photo: Peter Stockland"] ...

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  • From Sea to Sea

    From Sea to Sea

    Raymond J. de Souza

    July 1, 2012

    Father Raymond J. de Souza finds Quebec students going forward to the past.

    Marching Backwards

    Given sufficient patience, it would be possible to float down the St. Lawrence River from my home on Wolfe Island to the Island of Montreal. This spring, though, the short trip by train in early May seemed like a passage to ...

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  • Full Circle In Utero

    Full Circle In Utero

    John Sikkema

    June 20, 2012

    Many have written the motion off as just another roundabout way to introduce anti-abortion laws, but it deserves more credit. Our chattering classes and our nation's leaders would do well to give careful thought to the precise legal questions to which Woodworth has drawn our attention. . . . . . . .

    "You're obviously talking about limiting, if not outlawing, abortion, are you not?" was the first question Don Martin, host of the CTV's PowerPlay, asked M.P. Stephen Woodworth on the show in January, shortly after Woodworth had written about the nee...

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  • Debating the end of debate

    Debating the end of debate

    Peter Stockland

    June 12, 2012

    Like most Canadians, I long ago wearied of the intractable abortion debate as a debate. For example, there is currently something called the "New Abortion Caravan" crossing the country seeking to persuade a majority that Canada's absence of any legislation governing abortion is unacceptable. The old debate is new again, it seems. The new initiative has reportedly even prompted the Canadian Auto Workers to threaten to mount counter protests everywhere the CCBR's wheels come to a stop.

    ...

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  • Religious rights are not human rights?

    Religious rights are not human rights?

    Peter Stockland

    June 5, 2012

    The key to the video is not the demonstrators protesting legislation that will use the State's monopoly on deadly force to tell Catholic schools how to name their anti-bullying clubs. It is not even just the presence of a lone counter-demonstrator who heckles the main group of protestors as she holds a juvenile sign announcing "Jesus had two dads and he turned out fine".

    As Bill 13 was being passed in the Ontario legislature today, a parent's rights group was circulating the following video: "You Deserve to be Bullied".

    The key to the video is not the demonstrators protesting legislation that will use ...

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  • Life Lessons in Cultural Engagement

    Life Lessons in Cultural Engagement

    John Sikkema

    May 25, 2012

    At least in Canada, this is how I sometimes feel about Christians in this post-Christian or, perhaps more truthfully, pagan society. Most are like salamanders, wanting to be left undiscovered and alone, as long as their quiet, secure space under a rock remains undisturbed. Few Christians are like the zoologists and cinematographers, at least making the effort to see that a survivable habitat is maintained for their salamander friends.

    Think of a nature special you come across on TV featuring an endangered species of which you know nothing, and about which you care little—the Hellbender salamander, say. I learned of it recently in just this way. Z...

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  • Plus ca change

    Plus ca change

    Peter Stockland

    May 22, 2012

    Citing former Laval University professor and labour relations specialist Rejean Breton, Martineau renders Quebecers as infantile, self-obsessed fantasists suckling upon the Nanny State. Martineau himself uses equally harsh vocabulary. He notes students will be massing to again disrupt Montreal's city centre this afternoon just as the Charbonneau commission begins hearings on construction industry corruption.

    On today's 100th day of protests by Quebec students, Journal de Montreal columnist Richard Martineau offers a scabrous depiction of his province.

    Citing for...

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  • Broken Union

    Broken Union

    Josh Reinders

    May 18, 2012

    On the surface, a student protest is impractical, by definition. How do students have leverage over a government, especially enough to paralyze that government into making concessions to them? They aren't employees bringing a valuable skill to an employer, so how do they effect change? And their form of protest is . . . skipping class? I do that too, but usually I do it with the knowledge that I'm losing valuable learning time and paying the university to not teach me. I'm not hurting the university by playing hooky, I'm hurting myself.

    When the Quebec student protests started, my earliest feelings were of sympathy. These were fellow student, with whom I felt a kinship. Finally someone had taken up arms against ever-increasing tuition prices!

    On the surface, a student protest is imp...

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  • Beware of the Cross Police . . . or, Let's Make Crosses Mandatory for Christians

    Beware of the Cross Police . . . or, Let's Make Crosses Mandatory for Christians

    Richelle Wiseman

    May 14, 2012

    In particular, it is the symbol of choice for the "Goth" movement, adherents of which wear jet black hair and clothing, chains, tattoos, and sport crosses, skulls, insects, and dragons. They also carry purses and backpacks in the shapes of coffins with crosses on the lids.

    In 1984, British rock star Madonna took to the stage to perform "Like a Virgin" sporting a very large cross on a chain around her neck. The song was a major hit. So was the cross. Suddenly everyone was wearing large crosses on chains, and the cross has rema...

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  • A Convivial Culture

    A Convivial Culture

    Ray Pennings

    May 9, 2012

    Convivium might just have been Father Richard's favourite word. There are other candidates—winsome and egregious come to mind—but he loved that word, convivium. He was the only one I knew who used it in ordinary conversation but, of course, his conversations were rarely ordinary. "Convivium" strictly means "to live together," but it connotes a banquet or feast, indicating that a certain supply of rich food and fine wine are, if not required, at least desired.

    The second issue of Cardus's newest publication enterprise, Convivium, is off the press and Father de Souza's "Sea to Sea" column includes an account of a conversation he had with the late Father Rich...

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  • Wiebo's War

    Wiebo's War

    Robert Joustra

    May 3, 2012

    Wiebo Ludwig, a Christian Reformed minister from Ontario, may not have shared MacIntyre's nascent Aristotelian-Thomism, but he more than shared his feelings of unease. Unlike MacIntyre, more in fact like Wendell Berry, Wiebo retreated with his family and others to the remote tundra of northern Alberta. There they forestalled the powers of a modern age, clinging to their blue Psalters, and to a more rural, agrarian way of life. "Our true religion" writes Wendell Berry, "is a sort of autistic industrialism." Wiebo's work was the recovery of another, true religion.

    At the end of After Virtue, after a long argument about the cultural state of modern society, Alisdair MacIntyre says we are waiting for a new—albeit very different—kind of St. Benedict. Modernity and its institutions have ushered in a new dark age f...

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  • Conrad Black deserves trumpets

    Conrad Black deserves trumpets

    Peter Stockland

    May 2, 2012

    It's a pity. He deserves them. And more. Much, much more. Yes, Conrad Black was forced by former Prime Minister Jean Chretien's virulent act of vindictiveness to relinquish his Canadian citizenship more than a decade ago. Yes, he was obliged to become a British citizen in order to accept the honour of being named to the House of Lords.

    Doubtless Conrad Black would prefer to forego the brass band and welcoming speeches on the tarmac when he comes back to Canada, a free man, in a few days.

    It's a pity. He deserves them. And more. Much, much more.

    What he does not deserve is ni...

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