Life doesn't always go well for those who challenge the powerful
American intellectual and longtime social activist Noam Chomsky has been described by a term that’s deeply offensive: a self-hating Jew. There’s nothing hateful about Chomsky. He’s a sojourner of truth and a voice of reason. In a recent interview, Chomsky talked about the roots of his activism. He was brought up in an educated Jewish…
Trump poured gasoline on the flames of misogyny and racism and put the lives of millions of people at risk
Amer Zahr, a teacher of Islamic law, points out that while eating pork is forbidden, it’s allowed out of necessity in cases of extreme hunger. Zahr is also a Palestinian-American comedian, and in a recent monologue, he stated that in the 2020 presidential election he chose ham over starvation. He has a point. Much of…
Someone said, ‘Greed is good’ and we repeated it. But the only thing that matters when you die is your legacy
I have to apologize to the youth of the world for the state we find ourselves in. Yes, great things have happened in my lifetime. We watched the fall of the Berlin Wall and we have taken some steps in the progress of human rights. But the legacy of the baby boomer generation leaves little…
Given that infections don’t by a long shot equal hospitalizations, civil libertarians are rightly sounding warning bells
On Sept. 18, Israel became the first developed country to launch a second COVID-19 lockdown. It came four months after the first lockdown – instituted in March – ended. How Israeli citizens have reacted to the unsustainable nature of renewed lockdowns is instructive for the Canadian jurisdictions that have increased a rhetoric of fear about…
What message do we send dictators and the people who live under their tyranny if we don’t have the courage to live up to our own ideals?
It’s very rare to hear Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson and scholar Noam Chomsky agree on anything but a largely underreported topic brings both ends of the political spectrum together: the Julian Assange affair. In a recent interview, Carlson’s guest Glenn Greenwald pointed out that efforts to silence Assange go back to the administration of…
Deception and dishonesty aren’t new. When sending his disciples out into the world 2,000 years ago, Jesus gave the following advice: “I am sending you like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” People have always told lies to promote their agendas and to protect their economic interests.…
Canada needs an eyes-wide-open approach to China to see the country as it is and not how corporate lobbyists would like it to be
When campaigning to become prime minister in 2015, Justin Trudeau was asked what country he most admired in the world. The people in attendance looked on in disbelief when he stated that he most admired China. His reason? Trudeau believed China’s “basic dictatorship” allowed their government to move swiftly to implement their agenda. Trudeau’s obsession…
Just before Parliament adjourned in June 2008 for summer break, the Religious Liberty Commission (RLC) of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada released a report called Broken Promises: The Protestant Experience with Religious Freedom in China in Advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. I was the chair of the commission and was present when the…
In order to promote respect for others, and to encourage reflection and dialogue, the museum needs to clean up its own house
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights has made news around the world for all the wrong reasons. It has been derelict in its mission and mandate. The museum has been accused of maintaining a poisoned work environment that practices racism, discrimination, a lack of gender equity and inclusion. In November 2007, I was selected by…
No prime minister in Canadian history has used identity politics more than Justin Trudeau
In a famous 60 Minutes interview in 2012, Mike Wallace asked actor Morgan Freeman how to get rid of racism. Freeman instantly responds by saying it’s easy: stop referring to him as a Black man and he will stop referring to Wallace as a white man. Freeman says only by removing racist labels will we…