I’ve been teaching about Canada’s 2008 apology for residential schools for some time. In discussing the topic, I point out that this isn’t only a Canadian issue. Australia has apologized to its Indigenous peoples, and New Zealand continues to make progress in its reconciliation process. Quite often, I hear these questions from my students: “What…
Confronting the horrors of our past and trying to make things right isn’t an easy task but a peace comes from doing the right thing
It seems that everywhere we turn we find a new scandal, some memory from the past that haunts us. Though virtually every state and institution has something to hide, there’s something liberating in speaking the truth. While his tenure hasn’t been without controversy, many around the world have been relieved to see the openness and…
Basketball player Jeremy Lin believes you can be the bigger person and still tell someone that their words and actions are unacceptable
Jeremy Lin is probably best known to basketball fans for “Linsanity,” the amazing streak of clutch and dramatic moments he had with the New York Knicks in 2012. Many Canadians know Lin for the spark he brought to the court when the Toronto Raptors won the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship in 2019. Lin recently…
How can a Christian support politics and economics that result in a world where over 700 million people live on less than $2 a day?
Larry Richards is a friend of mine from high school who has become a very popular speaker among conservative Catholics in North America. I watched one of his social media posts recently and he made a point that few would disagree with, but it’s a message many may not like. Larry pointed out that according…
And leads to extremism
Censorship is a slippery slope, especially when there are no clear guidelines. The idea of cancel culture, where one is ostracized because of a stance on an issue determined as taboo by current cultural trends, is very dangerous. One is judged in the popular media and the conversation is over. And while people on the…
Teaching critical thinking skills is vital in promoting honest and respectful dialogue. Yet schools are underfunded
Early-20th-century electrical engineer Charles Proteus Steinmetz said, “There are no foolish questions and no man becomes a fool until he stops asking questions.” Steinmetz is right. Asking questions is vital in seeking truth and finding wisdom. Many things are happening in the world where the narrative perpetrated simply doesn’t make sense. We’re told, for example,…
Declaring what China is doing to Uighurs genocide is a good first step. But will Canada follow through?
Canadian Parliament recently took a stand on a human rights issue as courageous as Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney’s opposition to South African apartheid in the 1980s and Stephen Harper’s apology for residential schools in 2008. On Feb. 22, by a vote of 266 to zero, the House of Commons voted to recognize China’s treatment…
Racism is pointless and will inevitably fail, as it did in baseball. But it is part of our history
My earliest memories of baseball revolve around the 1969 Chicago Cubs. Enthusiasm just resonated off Wrigley Field as the great Ernie Banks chimed, “Let’s play two!” Regardless of the disastrous finish to that season for the Cubbies, a love for the game was planted in my soul as a seven-year-old. These heroes were larger than…
Imagine what the Nazis would have done if they had access to today’s social media platforms
I recently showed Steven Spielberg’s classic film about the Holocaust, Schindler’s List, to a group of students. Watching Nazi soldiers terrorizing and murdering Jewish people, I thought to myself that on some level they had to have known that what they were doing was wrong. Yet they seemed to be unaffected. Were they impacted at…
Choosing to walk instead of drive is good for your body and mind, benefits the environment and ultimately helps the economy
I’ve asked myself this question every day for much of my adult life, and I now realize it’s one of the keys to my happiness and good health: Do I really need to drive to work today? I first began asking myself this question almost out of necessity when living in an overcrowded tropical city…
Failure to accept responsibility, especially by those in government, will create polarization and resentment
While most people agree that those who attacked the American Capitol buildings on Jan. 6 should be arrested and charged for their crimes, some say the politicians who may have been behind the attack shouldn’t even be investigated. Their argument is that there’s already enough polarization in the United States and this would make the…
Movements always endure if they embrace equality, justice, pursuit of truth, and a deep respect for each person with no exceptions
My favourite textbook in university was entitled Marxism, an American Christian Perspective. Other students would hear me talk about it and ask, “Aren’t those two perspectives diametrically opposed? Didn’t Marx call religion ‘the opiate of the people’? Aren’t the Christian churches opposed to Marxism?” The most fundamental disagreement between the two schools of thought is…
Good leaders respect themselves and others, listen, celebrate differences of opinion and understand that winning means creating circumstances where everyone benefits
Many people have criticized Donald Trump’s actions in recent months, yet he still received more votes than any losing presidential candidate in American history. Many clearly think he’s a great leader. Perhaps Trump is the Vince Lombardi of presidents. The legendary football coach is known for having said, “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”…
Our 21st-century reliance on tech giants to supply us with information has resulted in fake news, clickbait and polarized societies
It’s not news to say that our consumption of media has changed dramatically in the 21st century. Perhaps it’s time to take a step back and look objectively at the impact of these changes and begin thinking about how our media can be improved. For most of the 20th century, the media was controlled by…
There’s a correlation between social activism and happiness. But which comes first?
American educator and philosopher Cornel West said, “If you are always trying to do something for a cause bigger than you – connected with serving others – then it’s hard to be guilty.” I can’t listen to West without feeling inspired and joyful, yet he’s not a man who compromises the truth when he speaks.…