Humanist Perspectives: issue 167, Winter 2009
Issue 167, Winter 2009
Editorial
- The Obama Factor
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Beissel's argument is best summarized in his claim that "the election of Barack Obama . . .
has ushered in a new era of politics in which the [American] nation, if he has his way, will return
to live by the just and righteous values which the Founding Fathers proclaimed and enshrined in its
Constitution." The mixed white and black background, and the complex paths of his life have made Barack the
ideal president for our time. But Beissel warns us not to underestimate the formidable forces gathered
against him, determined to prevent him from turning America into a land of true social justice and freedom.
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features
- Rain Dances Won't Save us
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The burden of Ayala's argument is the hypocrisy and brutality of religious institutions, and their interference in the lives of people who don't share their superstitions. She presents the case against Ontario Municipal Councils that continue to open their official meetings with the "Lord's Prayer", though the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that the practice is illegal. She demonstrates that religious authorities not only trample on people's rights, but, at the other extreme, they do not shy away from murdering those who transgress against their superstitions, as is the case with Islam and Sharia "law".
Read article online | Download as PDF - The Idea of Progress and the First Nations
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This is Chpt. 10 of Doucet's Urban Meltdown: Cities, Climate Change and Politics as Usual. (New Society, 2007), a lucid and hard-hitting look at the dilemma of our cities in the age of Global Warming and a creative proposition for their future. Here Doucet shows that for First Nations "the land, animals, plants, water and minerals are not consumer commodities" but gifts to be cared for and shared among all people, and that if we don't take that route we will end up with "nothing but the wrecks of communities, peoples and ecosystems, all extinguished in the service of relentless, carnivorous, consumer competition".
Download as PDF - Canada's Policy of Mass Immigration
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Weld is president of the Population Institute of Canada, and her concern is that over-population will eventually destroy our way of life, result in perpetual famine and lead to horrendous wars of survival. She argues that Canada's immigration policy is in part based on the fallacy that "we're a big country" and need immigrants. The fact is that much of Canada is uninhabitable and the current levels of immigration have far outstripped the infrastructure of our cities and has adversely affected our standard of living. "Per capita, Canada takes in more immigrants than any other Western country", and this development is largely driven, under a variety of pretexts, by political parties ravenous for "the ethnic vote".
Download as PDF - A Poet's Voice
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Five poems by the 2008 winner of British Columbia Lt. Governor's Award for Literary Excellence, Gary Geddes. They were inspired by an ancient Chinese scroll painting Geddes acquired by the Yangtse River on a research trip for his fascinating book, Kingdom of Ten Thousand Things. The scroll depicts daily life in the ancient city of Bialing. Geddes recreates the ordinary life of long-ago times in these stunningly imagined poems which may become part of a new collection, Ginger Swimmer.
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film Review
Telling the Truth about Torturel -
Goldberg is a veteran film columnist who won the Western Magazine Award for 2008. Her review article focuses on "five of the best and most important 'War on Terror' exposés: Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Standard Operating Procedure, Taxi to the Dark Side", Rendition, and Waltz With Bashir. She discusses with great insight the techniques and the perspectives of the different film makers in their efforts to expose the often brutal human rights abuses, and the disturbing implications these films present the audience with. The Israeli film maker Ari Folman goes so far as to draw "chilling" parallels "between "the Nazi/Jewish and Israeli/Palestinian narrative." Goldberg agrees with the position all these film makers urge on us, namely that "every member of a society engaged in a war of aggression bears some responsibility" for the inhumanities committed.
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book Review
Understanding and Challenging the New World Order -
Peter R. Smith reviews Corporate rule: Understanding and Challenging the New World Order by David Model. Smith spells out Model's argument about the undemocratic nature of any government, such as our own, that is financed by millions of dollars of corporate money and the fact that the Canadian people have lost control over theirs.
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In addition, Humanist Perspectives, offers a lively "Letters-to-the-Editor" section as wells as news from "Humanism Around the World" compiled by Paul Pfalzner.
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