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12
Sep
2018
On my last visit to Vancouver, I took a walk along False Creek.
Vancouver's waterfront is open to everyone, regardless of age, ethnic origins, or income.
And the Parks Board has thoughtfully placed benches along the way, where passers-by can sit, catch their breath, enjoy the view, or just meditate.
Most of the benches have small bronze plaques attached -- memorials to a family member or friend. I read them, casually, as I strolled along. Until I got to one that offended me.
It eulogized a child who had died. It described how wonderful she was. And the last line said, “Jesus always picks the finest flowers first.”
And I found myself instantly angry.
Categories: Soft Edges
Tags: Jesus, Vancouver, False Creek, park bench, plaque, friend
25
Jul
Some arrived by sea, some by land. Wherever they arrived, they established footholds among the local population. They settled in. They built networks.
As time passed, they began to impose the values and standards of their culture on the existing population. Eventually, they became the dominant group. Their values, their standards, became the law of the land.
Like a giant vacuum cleaner, they sucked up other religions, other faiths, and other cultures, and homogenized them in their own image.
You thought I was describing the European settlement of the Americas, didn’t you?
Nope. I was talking about the colonization of the Mediterranean basin by the followers of Jesus.
Tags: Jesus, Christian, Mediterranean, colonies, laws
26
Jun
2017
If you want to invest in a growth industry, consider hate crimes. London police report a five-fold increase in attacks on Muslims – particularly Muslim women – since the terrorist attacks on London Bridge, the Westminster parliament, and the Manchester concert.
But the increase is not limited to Britain, where the reaction might be understandable. Here in Canada, Statistics Canada indicates that attacks on Muslims more than tripled over three years, from 45 in 2012 to 159 in 2015. During 2015 alone, according to a CBC report, hate crimes against Muslims soared by 60 per cent.
No doubt attacks on Muslims are a form of retaliation for acts attributed to Islamic extremists. But if so, why single out women? Not one of those acts was committed by a woman.
Or are women simply easier to identify by their head scarves?
Categories: Sharp Edges
Tags: Jesus, Muslims, Islam, Darren Osburne, Kinsbury mosque, Golden Rule
Apr
As Easter nears, I think about two men – one who died, and one who didn’t. Jesus died; Barabbas didn’t. Or maybe it’s the other way around, in the long term.
By a cruel irony, when governor Pontius Pilate offers to free Jesus as a goodwill gesture for the Jewish Passover, an angry crowd demands that he release, instead, a thief and murderer named “Barabbas.” Barabbas -- “the son of the father”.
And so the man who said “The Father and I are one” was executed on a trumped-up charge of claiming to be King of the Jews, while the man named “Son of the Father” was set free.
The coincidence is so keen, it almost demands further exploration.
Tags: resurrection, Jesus, Barabbas, Pilate, crucifixion
22
Mar
Composer Johannes Brahms had an inferiority complex, Tom Allan explained on CBC Radio one afternoon. Apparently Brahms idolized Beethoven. Beethoven set music on a new course; Brahms felt that his best efforts could never measure up to Beethoven’s standard.
Of course, Beethoven may have felt the same about Mozart, the genius who preceded him. And perhaps Mozart drew inspiration from Bach. And Bach -- who knows? Perhaps Vivaldi or Telemann. And they in turn looked back to Corelli or Buxtehude…
But none of them gave up composing music because they feared they couldn’t compare with their predecessors.
The same holds true in every human endeavour I can think of -- with one exception: religion.
Tags: Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, Einstein, Newton, Bohr, Curie, Planck, Shakespeare, Milton