A Chinese writer once observed that living in “interesting times” was a curse. He could have been referring to times like this.
For instance, it is common now to see characterized as ‘haters’ those people who are against a foreign policy of illegal and disastrous wars, and their perpetrators. Get this: killing and maiming the old, children and other civilians, displacing millions and destroying countries on the basis of false and contrived premises isn't ‘hating.’ Objecting strongly to it, is. Now, that's interesting.
Raj Sherman has been castigated by at least one columnist because he hasn't offered proof of his allegations that the health care system has been deliberately compromised. Proof is difficult because if he is correct those paid-off health care professionals have compromised themselves and aren't likely to come forward. But, surprise: claims made by Dr. Ciaran McNamee seem to support Dr. Sherman. Dr. McNamee, like Dr. Sherman, stood to be discredited by unfounded insinuations concerning his ‘mental fitness,’ according to a statement of claim that has yet to be proved in court. This doesn't reflect well on health care and even less so on our pretensions to being ‘democratic.’
In Ottawa, Speaker of the House Peter Milliken has found Harper's government in possible contempt of Parliament because of less-than-honest behaviour. This in addition to a previous litany of undemocratic actions by the government that promised to deliver to the country ethical, democratic and responsible government.
Locally, we have an issue that has attracted national attention: a school district is forcing the influence of a religion onto children who, in the main, do not belong to that religion. Some advise objectors simply to take up their tents and leave. A former student claims that for her, immersion in a religion-dominated classroom provided a lesson in tolerance.
Well, I attended Catholic school many years ago and, in my opinion, religious “permeation” had a negative and biased effect on history and other subjects. We were taught for instance, that Queen Mary — that would be, Bloody Queen Mary Tudor — was a better queen than Elizabeth I, “who certainly wasn't the virgin her name implied.” And that was the important thing — not her peaceful, arts-supportive reign. And presumably, ‘bloody’ didn't refer to Mary's strong predilection to torture and burn Protestants at the stake either.
We were introduced to an equally skewed view of the 1936 fascist takeover of Spain by Catholic Franco, which was justified because of the communist nature of the freely elected republican government. And those hundreds of thousands who were rounded up, tortured and killed because they wanted freedom and a secular state — counted for nothing.
During my school years, ethics, morals and even beliefs were overcast with the very real possibility of eternal torment. I didn't buy this even as a child as it seemed to me, then as now, that anything worth doing or not shouldn't need such drastic and external enforcement, especially without any evidence whatsoever. These days we are expected to be tolerant of ideas and situations we strongly don't agree with and believe to be harmful even when they are undemocratically foisted on children. Up is down, black is white, wrong is right. Let's hope it doesn't get much more ‘interesting.’
Doris Wrench Eisler, St. Albert
