Yet another red letter day
Today marks the first anniversary of the last post on the winsome Mr. Brian Dijkema's exceedingly sporadic blog.
31 March 2006
Ignatieff in the race
We've all seen it coming: Ignatieff all but declares leadership bid. Here is his speech, Canada and the World, delivered yesterday at the University of Ottawa. In light of Michael Ignatieff's unofficial bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party, this seems a good time to republish immediately below a column I wrote for Christian Courier, in the issue dated 23 January, the very day of the federal election:
Although at one point in his life the Greek philosopher Plato thought that philosophers should become kings, in the real world few intellectuals gravitate towards the life of practical politics. To be sure, during his tenure as prime minister, Pierre Trudeau was often called a philosopher-king – a label as often as not used in disparaging fashion. Yet few political leaders come to their offices from the academy. Thus I was somewhat surprised to hear that Prof. Michael Ignatieff would be standing in today’s election for the Liberals in Toronto’s Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding, with his eye eventually on Paul Martin’s job.
Ignatieff was born into an old Russian aristocratic family, which fled the Bolshevik Revolution and settled in Canada. Michael’s father George (1913-1989) was a respected diplomat, Chancellor of the University of Toronto and recipient of the Order of Canada. Michael’s maternal cousin was the late George Parkin Grant (1918-1988), whose conservative vision of Canadian nationhood was deeply antipathetic to the liberal individualism Michael has come to champion. Much of his life has been spent in Britain and the United States, and he most recently taught human rights at Harvard.
Now he has returned to take up a position at the University of Toronto and has seized the opportunity presented by the defeat of Martin’s government to make a bid for a seat in the Commons. What sort of political leader would he be?
While I found much to like in his 1984 book, The Needs of Strangers, in which he qualified his liberal individualism with an appreciation for community, his more recent works show him to have made a potentially troubling change in direction. The turning point seems to have been his work on the television series and companion volume, both titled Blood and Belonging: Journeys into the New Nationalism. His recognition of the dangers of nationalism appears to have made him wary of the claims of community in general.
Thus in his Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry, Ignatieff argues that “Rights are meaningful only if they confer entitlements and immunities on individuals; they are worth having only if they can be enforced against institutions like the family, the state, and the church.” Furthermore, in The Rights Revolution, presented as the 2000 CBC Massey Lectures, he asserts that communities have value only insofar as they help individuals to achieve their own goals and aspirations.
So what happens if the claims of individual and community come into conflict? What if, say, a church institution disciplines one of its members for being unfaithful to her husband or one of its clergy for preaching heresy from the pulpit? What if the Salvation Army “discriminates” against an otherwise qualified unbelieving prospective employee and hires a confessing Christian more obviously agreeing with the organization’s vision? Where does justice lie in these potential disputes?
For Ignatieff the answer is simple: “Group rights – to language, culture, religious expression, and land – are valuable to the degree that they enhance the freedom of individuals. This suggests that when group rights and individual rights conflict, individual rights should prevail.” Period.
While Ignatieff manifests a proper concern for individual liberties, it would be difficult to imagine an approach less conducive to the doing of justice to the full complexity of human social life in God's world. Rather than hearing and weighing carefully the conflicting claims in the political arena, Ignatieff has already made up his mind before the claims have even been made. Someone less charitable than I might well see fit to label this prejudice.
Prime Minister Ignatieff? We’ll pass on that, thank you.
We've all seen it coming: Ignatieff all but declares leadership bid. Here is his speech, Canada and the World, delivered yesterday at the University of Ottawa. In light of Michael Ignatieff's unofficial bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party, this seems a good time to republish immediately below a column I wrote for Christian Courier, in the issue dated 23 January, the very day of the federal election:
Although at one point in his life the Greek philosopher Plato thought that philosophers should become kings, in the real world few intellectuals gravitate towards the life of practical politics. To be sure, during his tenure as prime minister, Pierre Trudeau was often called a philosopher-king – a label as often as not used in disparaging fashion. Yet few political leaders come to their offices from the academy. Thus I was somewhat surprised to hear that Prof. Michael Ignatieff would be standing in today’s election for the Liberals in Toronto’s Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding, with his eye eventually on Paul Martin’s job.
Ignatieff was born into an old Russian aristocratic family, which fled the Bolshevik Revolution and settled in Canada. Michael’s father George (1913-1989) was a respected diplomat, Chancellor of the University of Toronto and recipient of the Order of Canada. Michael’s maternal cousin was the late George Parkin Grant (1918-1988), whose conservative vision of Canadian nationhood was deeply antipathetic to the liberal individualism Michael has come to champion. Much of his life has been spent in Britain and the United States, and he most recently taught human rights at Harvard.
Now he has returned to take up a position at the University of Toronto and has seized the opportunity presented by the defeat of Martin’s government to make a bid for a seat in the Commons. What sort of political leader would he be?
While I found much to like in his 1984 book, The Needs of Strangers, in which he qualified his liberal individualism with an appreciation for community, his more recent works show him to have made a potentially troubling change in direction. The turning point seems to have been his work on the television series and companion volume, both titled Blood and Belonging: Journeys into the New Nationalism. His recognition of the dangers of nationalism appears to have made him wary of the claims of community in general.
Thus in his Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry, Ignatieff argues that “Rights are meaningful only if they confer entitlements and immunities on individuals; they are worth having only if they can be enforced against institutions like the family, the state, and the church.” Furthermore, in The Rights Revolution, presented as the 2000 CBC Massey Lectures, he asserts that communities have value only insofar as they help individuals to achieve their own goals and aspirations.
So what happens if the claims of individual and community come into conflict? What if, say, a church institution disciplines one of its members for being unfaithful to her husband or one of its clergy for preaching heresy from the pulpit? What if the Salvation Army “discriminates” against an otherwise qualified unbelieving prospective employee and hires a confessing Christian more obviously agreeing with the organization’s vision? Where does justice lie in these potential disputes?
For Ignatieff the answer is simple: “Group rights – to language, culture, religious expression, and land – are valuable to the degree that they enhance the freedom of individuals. This suggests that when group rights and individual rights conflict, individual rights should prevail.” Period.
While Ignatieff manifests a proper concern for individual liberties, it would be difficult to imagine an approach less conducive to the doing of justice to the full complexity of human social life in God's world. Rather than hearing and weighing carefully the conflicting claims in the political arena, Ignatieff has already made up his mind before the claims have even been made. Someone less charitable than I might well see fit to label this prejudice.
Prime Minister Ignatieff? We’ll pass on that, thank you.
30 March 2006
Many happy returns of the day
Birthday greetings are due to my good friend Eric Hogeterp of Ottawa. May God bless him and his family today and always. Incidentally, Eric shares his birthday with a certain obscure Upper Canadian professor of politics who has known him for just short of 18 years.
Birthday greetings are due to my good friend Eric Hogeterp of Ottawa. May God bless him and his family today and always. Incidentally, Eric shares his birthday with a certain obscure Upper Canadian professor of politics who has known him for just short of 18 years.
29 March 2006
Seasonal music
On the first nice spring day I love to listen to Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major, a personal favourite. I've observed this ritual virtually every year since 1973, when I was in my final year of high school, and I did so again today. This is one of two piano concertos created by the great French composer (1875-1937), the other being the single-movement Concerto for the Left Hand. Although they were written virtually simultaneously in 1929-31, their respective moods could hardly be more contrasting. Given that it was written for Paul Wittgenstein (philosopher Ludwig's brother), who had lost his right arm in the Great War, the Left Hand Concerto is sombre and dramatic.
By contrast, the G Major Concerto is lively and even daring. The first movement, Allegramente, opens with what sounds like the crack of a whip and the release of horses onto a parade ground. The middle movement, Adagio assai, is quiet and reflective, bearing some resemblance to Erik Satie's Gymnopédies. The final movement, Presto, is frenetic in its pace, with obvious jazz influence. This time the horses appear to be in a race, slowing not in the least even to show off for the crowds, as they did in the first movement.
The G Major Concerto is a wonderful piece richly deserving repeated listenings — and not only in spring.
On the first nice spring day I love to listen to Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major, a personal favourite. I've observed this ritual virtually every year since 1973, when I was in my final year of high school, and I did so again today. This is one of two piano concertos created by the great French composer (1875-1937), the other being the single-movement Concerto for the Left Hand. Although they were written virtually simultaneously in 1929-31, their respective moods could hardly be more contrasting. Given that it was written for Paul Wittgenstein (philosopher Ludwig's brother), who had lost his right arm in the Great War, the Left Hand Concerto is sombre and dramatic.
By contrast, the G Major Concerto is lively and even daring. The first movement, Allegramente, opens with what sounds like the crack of a whip and the release of horses onto a parade ground. The middle movement, Adagio assai, is quiet and reflective, bearing some resemblance to Erik Satie's Gymnopédies. The final movement, Presto, is frenetic in its pace, with obvious jazz influence. This time the horses appear to be in a race, slowing not in the least even to show off for the crowds, as they did in the first movement.
The G Major Concerto is a wonderful piece richly deserving repeated listenings — and not only in spring.
27 March 2006
Canada's (third-)world-class postal system
Sending a package from Chicago to Hamilton via Priority Mail seems to be the kiss of death, judging from Canada Post's performance. Today I finally received something sent in this way from the Windy City on tuesday, 14 March — two weeks ago tomorrow! Imagine if it had been sent by conventional mail. It might have been months. This is not the first time either. If I lodge a complaint from my end, I am told that only the sender can do this. But if the sender does so, the US Postal Service employee tells him it will do no good. The complaint will drop into an abyss on this side of the border and never see the light of day. It seems I'm not the only one to experience frustrations with Canada Post. This country deserves better.
Sending a package from Chicago to Hamilton via Priority Mail seems to be the kiss of death, judging from Canada Post's performance. Today I finally received something sent in this way from the Windy City on tuesday, 14 March — two weeks ago tomorrow! Imagine if it had been sent by conventional mail. It might have been months. This is not the first time either. If I lodge a complaint from my end, I am told that only the sender can do this. But if the sender does so, the US Postal Service employee tells him it will do no good. The complaint will drop into an abyss on this side of the border and never see the light of day. It seems I'm not the only one to experience frustrations with Canada Post. This country deserves better.
Maltese tribute to unborn
Here's an uplifting report on a beautiful spring morning: Malta President unveils National Pro-Life monument. It's difficult to imagine this taking place here in Canada. Good for Malta.
Here's an uplifting report on a beautiful spring morning: Malta President unveils National Pro-Life monument. It's difficult to imagine this taking place here in Canada. Good for Malta.
26 March 2006
Religious freedom and Islam
Western pressure has apparently succeeded in persuading Afghanistan to free Abdul Rahman, who had been under a death sentence for converting to Christianity. But what of future such converts? Will religious freedom take hold in that troubled country or is the very notion incompatible with Islam? Here is one analysis of the situation: Facing down a culture where they talk like crazies. As usual, Mark Steyn does not mince words, saying openly what others are thinking.
Western pressure has apparently succeeded in persuading Afghanistan to free Abdul Rahman, who had been under a death sentence for converting to Christianity. But what of future such converts? Will religious freedom take hold in that troubled country or is the very notion incompatible with Islam? Here is one analysis of the situation: Facing down a culture where they talk like crazies. As usual, Mark Steyn does not mince words, saying openly what others are thinking.
25 March 2006
Divorce at last?
After being together for 45 years, the Canadian Auto Workers and the New Democratic Party are ending their partnership. This follows the latter's shattering discovery that the former was exchanging flirtatious glances with Canada's natural governing party. Perhaps a marriage counsellor is in order.
After being together for 45 years, the Canadian Auto Workers and the New Democratic Party are ending their partnership. This follows the latter's shattering discovery that the former was exchanging flirtatious glances with Canada's natural governing party. Perhaps a marriage counsellor is in order.
Peacemakers' rescue: aftermath
There is perhaps some irony in the three peacemakers having been liberated by soldiers fighting a war that they oppose. Are they ungrateful to their rescuers? Their sponsoring organization says no.
There is perhaps some irony in the three peacemakers having been liberated by soldiers fighting a war that they oppose. Are they ungrateful to their rescuers? Their sponsoring organization says no.
Russia aided Saddam?
If the following story is true, it does not bode well for Russian-American relations, including US support for fighting terrorism on Russian soil: Russians Told Iraqi Regime of U.S. Troop Movements. Moscow is denying the charges.
If the following story is true, it does not bode well for Russian-American relations, including US support for fighting terrorism on Russian soil: Russians Told Iraqi Regime of U.S. Troop Movements. Moscow is denying the charges.
24 March 2006
Tim's conquers North America
Quick, call your broker — and then order a double-double: Tim Hortons shares begin trading with big gains.
Quick, call your broker — and then order a double-double: Tim Hortons shares begin trading with big gains.
Misnomer?
Why is this contraption I'm typing on known as a computer? I do very little computing on it, except for occasionally pulling up the calculator listed under accessories. Perhaps it's time for a global campaign to rename it a communicator, which seems to be a more accurate description of its primary use for most people.
Why is this contraption I'm typing on known as a computer? I do very little computing on it, except for occasionally pulling up the calculator listed under accessories. Perhaps it's time for a global campaign to rename it a communicator, which seems to be a more accurate description of its primary use for most people.
Catholic Democrats' statement flawed
Fr. Thomas Williams does not think much of the Statement of Principles By Fifty-Five Catholic Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although it claims to express a commitment to the dignity of life and the belief that government has a moral purpose, Fr. Williams finds it to be weak in defending the unborn. According the statement's authors, "In all these issues, we seek the Church's guidance and assistance but believe also in the primacy of conscience."
A comment and a question are in order. First, the primacy of conscience sounds more Quaker than Catholic to me. I doubt that the signatories ran this by their bishops to see whether it passed doctrinal muster. Second, to whom is this statement addressed and why? Catholic voters? Fellow members of Congress? The Catholic Church? Are they presuming to set themselves up as an alternative magisterium? Just curious.
Fr. Thomas Williams does not think much of the Statement of Principles By Fifty-Five Catholic Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although it claims to express a commitment to the dignity of life and the belief that government has a moral purpose, Fr. Williams finds it to be weak in defending the unborn. According the statement's authors, "In all these issues, we seek the Church's guidance and assistance but believe also in the primacy of conscience."
A comment and a question are in order. First, the primacy of conscience sounds more Quaker than Catholic to me. I doubt that the signatories ran this by their bishops to see whether it passed doctrinal muster. Second, to whom is this statement addressed and why? Catholic voters? Fellow members of Congress? The Catholic Church? Are they presuming to set themselves up as an alternative magisterium? Just curious.
Princeton Seminary opening
Now that Max Stackhouse is retiring as the de Vries Professor of Reformed Theology and Public Life at Princeton Seminary, the position is now being advertised. Off hand, while I can immediately call to mind dozens of neocalvinist scholars in the social sciences, humanities and even the natural sciences, I am hard pressed to think of many neocalvinist theologians who would appropriately fill such a vacancy. Have we been neglecting this discipline?
Now that Max Stackhouse is retiring as the de Vries Professor of Reformed Theology and Public Life at Princeton Seminary, the position is now being advertised. Off hand, while I can immediately call to mind dozens of neocalvinist scholars in the social sciences, humanities and even the natural sciences, I am hard pressed to think of many neocalvinist theologians who would appropriately fill such a vacancy. Have we been neglecting this discipline?
23 March 2006
Miraculous deliverance
Thank God for answering the prayers of so many: Canadian hostages in Iraq rescued.
Thank God for answering the prayers of so many: Canadian hostages in Iraq rescued.
22 March 2006
Visions and Illusions in Illinois
Scroll down the webpage of this young undergraduate and see which book he is currently reading. My guess is that David Van Heemst is assigning it to his students at Olivet Nazarene University south of Chicago.
Scroll down the webpage of this young undergraduate and see which book he is currently reading. My guess is that David Van Heemst is assigning it to his students at Olivet Nazarene University south of Chicago.
Defending 'justice' in Afghanistan?
Could Canadian and American troops really be defending a régime in which this could happen: Christian convert faces execution in Afghanistan? Now prosecutors think Abdul Rahman must be mad: "He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person." Scripture concurs: "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (I Corinthians 1:18).
Could Canadian and American troops really be defending a régime in which this could happen: Christian convert faces execution in Afghanistan? Now prosecutors think Abdul Rahman must be mad: "He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person." Scripture concurs: "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (I Corinthians 1:18).
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