There is this bizarre perception in our society that we are somehow in a great conflict between forces of emotionalism and rationalism. The idea here seems to be that going too far into the side of emotionalism is bad, destructive and leads to irration…
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Progressive Proselytizing: 2011 Ontario Election: Religion in the Riding of Parkdale Highpark
Religion usually isn’t a dominant issue in Canadian politics. While there is certainly a general correlation with higher levels of Christian religiosity among conservatives, prominent debates over religion as the key polarizing issue is quite rare. Dur…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: On Political Correctness
I am always somewhat bemused that in today’s usage the expression ‘political correctness’ is overwhelmingly considered a pejorative. One might accuse somebody else of being racist or sexist, but one would hardly accuse them of the crime of political in…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Mandatory Sentences Really Mean Mandatory
Canada’s top legal group, the Canadian Bar Association, was not exactly kind to Harper’s approach to crime in its recent annual conference. It identified many issues from overcrowding to the rates of mentally ill in the prison system. But the issue tha…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: What Global Warming And Abortion Have In Common
When trying to understand the political landscape it is often useful to figure out the various couplings and interdependencies between superficially disparate political positions. Politics divides itself into widespread factions, or parties, where ea…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Religion’s Changing Domain of Knowledge
Religion has long claimed ultimate Truth in two differing domains of knowledge: what is, and what ought to be; descriptive and normative; knowledge about the nature of the universe and knowledge of the morality of the universe. But these claims to know…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Oslo vs Tuscan: Asymmetric Reactions
When Jared Loughner shot dead six people in Tuscan in an attempted murder of congresswoman Gabby Giffords, there was several interesting reactions outside of the obviously deserved expressions of sympathy and horror at the tragedy. It is worth comparin…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Marriage Equality, Obama, Jurisdiction
Which of these sounds like a true leader, a president one can get behind: the man who strongly and emphatically declares what he thinks is morally right and acts accordingly, or the man who tries to make enough small improvements in the right direction…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Hate Speech, Religious Freedoms, and Islamophobia
Competing with the concurrent LGBT Pride parade in Toronto, a local imam took it upon himself to very publicly condemn homosexuality, referencing how Islamic law instructs us to execute those caught in the act. Sigh, it really would be so much easier d…
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Austerity Leads to Suicide Rate Increase
Friday’s Vancouver Sun had a short item that you might have missed, “Suicides up, road deaths down due to recession.” It’s in the bottom corner of page B5: Suicides rates rose sharply in Europe in 2007 to 2009 as the financial crisis drove unemployment up and squeezed incomes, with the worst hit countries like Greece […]
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Bridge Builders: Cultural Survival in Bosnia
This is as close to a eulogy and an ode as I can write for a place with which I struggle every day. As I write this, a now yearly procession is making its way to the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The remains of hundreds of men of all ages are making their way […]
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: On the Canucks Riot, Protest, and Division
I was saddened and disappointed to watch Vancouver burn last night. Disappointed because the Canucks played so poorly and lost a game that they didn’t deserve to win, saddened to watch how the people in the streets ‘reacted’ to the game and went on a rampage, and I’m disappointed and saddened to watch the online–and […]
Continue readingExponential Book: Free agent professor
If you’re a college or university teacher, whom do you work for ?” Thus begins Stanley Fish‘s latest New York Times editorial on the subject of academia. Here are a few excerpts: “Academics […] want […] to work in an organizatio…
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Social Determinants of Health
(Note: This post contains a portion of the talk that I gave last month at the 16th International Conference of the Association of Psychology and Psychiatry for Adults and Children in Athens). Research has now clearly established that economic, and social variables – more than individual or family behavior – are the most salient factors […]
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: SlutWalk and Sluts
The fact that SlutWalk has rapidly ballooned into a multinational protest movement from an ill-spoken comment by a Toronto policeman represents a distinct and poignant feeling latent in our societies. Namely, the idea that provocative dressing or actio…
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Nestlé’s War on Breastfeeding Mothers Takes Shameful New Turn
Infant formula is a medical necessity for those who are unable to breastfeed their infants. There are a host of medically sound reasons why a mother, in conjunction with her physician would choose to utilize infant formula in lieu of breast milk. The regulated manufacturing of infant feeding products has come a long way in […]
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Tonight, Live-Blogging COPE’s Re:Imagine Schools
I’ve already written about how much I’m looking forward to COPE’s Re:Imagine Schools event tonight. I’ll be live-blogging the event as well. You can scroll down to watch or participate in the live-blog! The COPE Education Committee Presents: Re:Imagine Schools – Defending the Potential of Public Education Imagine a chance to take a step back […]
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Our reactions to homeless people
It is quite natural to feel some sense of revulsion towards homeless people. They may be smelly, unclean, imposing on our presence and saying strange things; this kind of appearance and place in society is diametrically opposed to the ideals most of us…
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Landslide Election Victory That Isn’t
I initially had a vague plan for this post but have decided to go with whatever comes to mind to create an election commentary medley of sorts. Actually, it more resembles a rather large balloon filled with statistics and cynicism and it keeps growing! The Conservatives have won a majority government and this ensures their […]
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Masturgate: The Little Scandal That Couldn’t
It’s election time and everyone is abuzz with the ostensibly shocking allegation that Jack Layton might have, possibly, received a happy ending at a rub-and-tug 15 years ago. Let’s let that sink in for a moment: The man might have, possibly, received a handy J from someone other than his wife a decade and a […]
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