Post 45--:
Wonderful Summer Weather
It’s been and still is a wonderful summer here on Canada’s West Coast, though it was unusually slow in starting. I have loved it and spent a fair amount of time—weeks in fact—away from my desk and, hence, away from this blog. Visiting our kids and families in WA and near SF in CA with days of RV-“camping” in between. Since then, “backyard” RVing in southern BC—with more to come. If you like a moderate climate without extremes of heat and cold, then BC’s south-west coast and much of Vancouver Island is the place to be. So a bit of a lull, but one you can understand, I believe. But, while it’s still great summer stuff in the middle of September, here I am, once again slogging/blogging it out. Welcome to Fall.
The Passing of Jack Layton
While my wife and I were enjoying it out there in the sunshine with children and grandchildren and, not to forget, the 20-foot RV, not everyone was so blessed. In fact, most of my cohabitants in Canada and, indeed, the world, were either working hard, which really is a blessing, or they were suffering in any of a thousand ways. One of these was Jack Layton, the leader of the opposition in the Canadian Parliament. Layton succumbed to cancer at the relatively young age of 61.
Though I am interested in politics, I have not followed Layton very much in his activities or speeches and am hardly enamoured with his party, while my concern for the poor and marginalized is no less than was his. But everyone one liked and respected “Jack” as he now is popularly called, personally, even his political opponents. He was honoured with a state funeral. Maclean’s, Canada’s premier news magazine, published “A Special Tribute” about him.
Jack and Religion
I don’t know whether Jack himself or others would consider him religious. Admittedly, I have read little about him, even during these days of national mourning, but I get the impression that religion was not one of his focal points. I have not read any references to such a phase of his life, except that I did read that he was deeply influenced by Charles Taylor, one of Canada’s premier philosophers and an overt Christian.
Jack's Dictum
Be that as it may, among other things, Jack left behind him a statement that has suddenly become very popular. Not only is it featured on the Maclean’s cover (Sept. 12, 2001), but parts appear on T-shirt and on all kinds of popular trinkets. The entire statement reads:
“Love is better than anger.
Hope is better than fear.
Optimism is better than despair.”
There is, of course, nothing new about these sentiments; the Bible is full of them throughout. Was Jack intentionally summarizing Biblical teachings or was he merely expressing common platitudes that few would disagree with but understand in a secular framework? I don’t know. Probably only his closest associates know.
The Dictum's Popularity
My question is why this has become such a popular quotation in Canadian culture. Why do I see it all around me in Vancouver’s secular downtown? I suspect it is because it strikes a common chord in the minds of my fellow citizens. Many of them are plague by anger, fear and despair. Jack knew his countrymen well and was aware of the negative climate blanketing the nation. Canada has never been cited by the polls that measure degrees of happiness. A country as wretched as Nigeria has made it more than once near to the top of such happiness polls, but Canada has never come close. Vancouver as the best place in the world to live? Polls have often concluded that, but the happiest? Apparently, even living in the best city in the world is no recipe for happiness.
If a Christian preacher were to make such a pronouncement publicly, few Canadians would pay attention. Most would regard it as just so much Christian humbug, but when Jack Layton, a popular politician who just died, says it, it touches a deep chord in the hearts of the people of the status of the Dalai Lama.
Why the Popularity
I believe Jack was aware of the blanket of anger, fear and despair over the nation and wanted to leave a positive message to them, a way to overcome those negative features with love, hope and optimism. I appreciate his words of encouragement. But why are these sentiments not common place among us, when they have been in the Bible all along and are being preached from Christian pulpits for centuries? And why do people listen to it now, from Jack? My answer would be that there is a general anger, fear and despair among the people that is directed towards Christianity and the church. It is the same when the Dalai Lama comes to town and makes pronouncements very similar to what the church has been preaching all along without being heard.
I would urge you, my readers, to think about Jack’s words of encouragement and seek to deepen your understanding. There is no place like the Bible for you to find that. That’s what it is all about.
Thank you, Jack. May your words resonate in our hearts deeper and deeper and lead us from anger, fear and despair to love, hope and optimism, the genuine article, the one found in the Bible.
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Visible and the Invisible
Post 44--:
Hypocritical UN Accusations
Maclean’s Magazine triggered something within me with Alex Derry’s article “Political Correctness Gone Mad?” (Aug 5, 2011). The subtitle goes “The UN upbraids Canada for its use of the term ‘visible minority.’ The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is challenging Canada’s use of the term as being out of step with the aims of this UN committee. My initial and instinctive reaction is the malign thought that, in view of this UN challenge, there must be something good in Canada’s approach to merit such attention. Though I favour the existence of the UN, I am often very skeptical of the work of its departments and committees. The member nations represented on these committees are often blatantly guilty of the challenges they hurl at Western nations, often much more so in fact. I sometimes wonder whether these challenges are not the result of these members being offended at, in this case, Canada’s behaviour, because the contrast exposes them and puts them to shame. Rather than correct their own, it is easier to cook up some Western misbehaviour and yell loud enough to cover up theirs.
Today's Canada Racist?
The term “invisible minority” is a racist expression, according to the UN committee. It is said to “somehow indicate that whiteness was the standard, all others differing from that being visible.” Racism? Canada accused by a UN body of racism? People who have read my books know how embarrassed I am about Western imperialism in all its forms and how ashamed I am about Christian participation in it. It is a major theme in my writings and has been ever since my doctoral research during the 1970s opened my eyes to it. I am not one to defend the West, though Canada, being of young age and small in population, is thereby also one of the “smaller sinners.” But to accuse Canada of racism?! And that by members of the UN whose countries are rife with the stuff, whether it is racism or tribalism? Get off the pot!
Canada's Open Doors
That there is a high degree of racism in Canada I do not deny. But which country has and continues to invite people of all races more than Canada is doing presently? Oh, of course, there is Canada’s vested interest in immigration. It does not all come out of a national heart bubbling over with generosity. China, India, Nigeria—just name any non-Western country. Not to speak of that jewel of modern development, Japan, one of the worst when it comes to racism. Which of them have opened their doors more widely to people of other races than has Canada?
Racism among the "Visibles"
Again, Canadian Caucasians, of which I am one, can be faulted of racism, but let me tell you that Canada has imported more racists than you can shake a stick at it. We have more racism and tribalism in Canada now more than ever! And most of it is imported. Just ask any Korean what they think of Blacks! That’s racism. And just get two Nigerians, an Ibo and a Hausa man, living in Canada, to work together—only if they have discovered a common enemy and only in so far as that enemy affects them. That’s tribalism, complicated and made worse by religion.
"Reverse" Racism
For Canada to be accused of racism because of her use of the term “visible minority” causes me to laugh with derision. Well, yes, there is an element of racism in the concept. It is applied to me, a Caucasian immigrant, and when I think of it being applied to me I do more than laugh: I am now offended. It is racism. Living in the Vancouver downtown, I often feel like a minority, what with all the people from every Asian country around me, not to speak of Eastern Europeans, Latinos and Blacks from everywhere. In restaurants, on the bus, along the sidewalk, lined up at some counter, I definitely experience minority status. That does not bother me, for I got accustomed to it during my 30 years in Nigeria. But what is so invisible about me? I am as visible as anyone else. And I am discriminated against. Let any Caucasian try taxi driving. He is not likely to get in: Indians have sowed it up for themselves. Same for the trucking industry. Or let any Black chef try to break into the Asian-dominated restaurant industry. Now it’s “visible” vs “visible.” The term does not prevent discrimination, for the prevention of which, I understand, it was coined in the first place.
Challenge to the Visibles
And so I end up agreeing with this UN committee after all. Let’s get rid of the term along with the notion behind it. Regardless of the past—and there was that past—Canadian Caucasians can hardly be accused of racism today, unless all my Asiatic neighbours have the finger pointed at them first and work at their governments opening their doors to others the way Canada has to them. Japanese-Canadians, are you listening? Chinese-Canadians? Indian-Canadians? African-Canadians?
But regardless of all this, welcome to Canada. Many of you “visibles”, unlike my “invisible” self, were born here. Thanks for letting me in!
Hypocritical UN Accusations
Maclean’s Magazine triggered something within me with Alex Derry’s article “Political Correctness Gone Mad?” (Aug 5, 2011). The subtitle goes “The UN upbraids Canada for its use of the term ‘visible minority.’ The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is challenging Canada’s use of the term as being out of step with the aims of this UN committee. My initial and instinctive reaction is the malign thought that, in view of this UN challenge, there must be something good in Canada’s approach to merit such attention. Though I favour the existence of the UN, I am often very skeptical of the work of its departments and committees. The member nations represented on these committees are often blatantly guilty of the challenges they hurl at Western nations, often much more so in fact. I sometimes wonder whether these challenges are not the result of these members being offended at, in this case, Canada’s behaviour, because the contrast exposes them and puts them to shame. Rather than correct their own, it is easier to cook up some Western misbehaviour and yell loud enough to cover up theirs.
Today's Canada Racist?
The term “invisible minority” is a racist expression, according to the UN committee. It is said to “somehow indicate that whiteness was the standard, all others differing from that being visible.” Racism? Canada accused by a UN body of racism? People who have read my books know how embarrassed I am about Western imperialism in all its forms and how ashamed I am about Christian participation in it. It is a major theme in my writings and has been ever since my doctoral research during the 1970s opened my eyes to it. I am not one to defend the West, though Canada, being of young age and small in population, is thereby also one of the “smaller sinners.” But to accuse Canada of racism?! And that by members of the UN whose countries are rife with the stuff, whether it is racism or tribalism? Get off the pot!
Canada's Open Doors
That there is a high degree of racism in Canada I do not deny. But which country has and continues to invite people of all races more than Canada is doing presently? Oh, of course, there is Canada’s vested interest in immigration. It does not all come out of a national heart bubbling over with generosity. China, India, Nigeria—just name any non-Western country. Not to speak of that jewel of modern development, Japan, one of the worst when it comes to racism. Which of them have opened their doors more widely to people of other races than has Canada?
Racism among the "Visibles"
Again, Canadian Caucasians, of which I am one, can be faulted of racism, but let me tell you that Canada has imported more racists than you can shake a stick at it. We have more racism and tribalism in Canada now more than ever! And most of it is imported. Just ask any Korean what they think of Blacks! That’s racism. And just get two Nigerians, an Ibo and a Hausa man, living in Canada, to work together—only if they have discovered a common enemy and only in so far as that enemy affects them. That’s tribalism, complicated and made worse by religion.
"Reverse" Racism
For Canada to be accused of racism because of her use of the term “visible minority” causes me to laugh with derision. Well, yes, there is an element of racism in the concept. It is applied to me, a Caucasian immigrant, and when I think of it being applied to me I do more than laugh: I am now offended. It is racism. Living in the Vancouver downtown, I often feel like a minority, what with all the people from every Asian country around me, not to speak of Eastern Europeans, Latinos and Blacks from everywhere. In restaurants, on the bus, along the sidewalk, lined up at some counter, I definitely experience minority status. That does not bother me, for I got accustomed to it during my 30 years in Nigeria. But what is so invisible about me? I am as visible as anyone else. And I am discriminated against. Let any Caucasian try taxi driving. He is not likely to get in: Indians have sowed it up for themselves. Same for the trucking industry. Or let any Black chef try to break into the Asian-dominated restaurant industry. Now it’s “visible” vs “visible.” The term does not prevent discrimination, for the prevention of which, I understand, it was coined in the first place.
Challenge to the Visibles
And so I end up agreeing with this UN committee after all. Let’s get rid of the term along with the notion behind it. Regardless of the past—and there was that past—Canadian Caucasians can hardly be accused of racism today, unless all my Asiatic neighbours have the finger pointed at them first and work at their governments opening their doors to others the way Canada has to them. Japanese-Canadians, are you listening? Chinese-Canadians? Indian-Canadians? African-Canadians?
But regardless of all this, welcome to Canada. Many of you “visibles”, unlike my “invisible” self, were born here. Thanks for letting me in!
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