The ‘Real’ Vancouver?

24 hours ago the city of Vancouver looked like a warzone.  Today post-mortems abound which try to explain the senseless violence of yesterday night.  One common narrative being told today is that the events of last night were perpetrated by a small group of anarchists and not “true” fans and therefore do not represent the “real” Vancouver. 

To me it seems quite clear that what lies beneath this interpretation of the events is a desire on the part of proud Vancouverites and/or Canucks fans to differentiate themselves from the rioters—“that’s not what our city is really like” the story goes.  I certainly sympathize with this sentiment; after all as a resident of Greater Vancouver I abhor the thought that today the impression lingering in the minds of many North Americans about our fair-city more closely resembles the apocalypse rather than a West-coast utopia.  The feelings of Canucks fans who don’t want to be lumped together with their drunker, violent, counter-parts is also quite understandable—after all the majority of fans simply went home last night—dejected and disappointed yes but certainly not violent and wrathful.

That being said it remains at best misleading and worst dangerous to conclude that the events of last night do not reflect that actions of real fans or real Vancouverites.  The only criterion I can see by which we can judge what makes a Vancouverite authentic is where they live and likewise the only standard by which a fan can be judged is by their vested emotional interest in the team.  Sadly this means that the actions of last night were in fact perpetrated by real, Vancouverite, Canucks fans.  The video on TV and the photos in the Newspaper did not show a group of balaclava-wearing, anarchists (though it seems there were likely some) but rather a group of rather normal-looking, jersey-wearing, hockey fans.  The rioters were more related to the soccer hooligans of Europe who work their 9-5 in the day and trample and fight other fans at night than to the G20 or Olympic protestors.  I think this is something we need to come to terms with as Vancouverites before the problem can be adequately addressed.  It’s easy to blame the seedy underbelly—it’s much harder to blame your co-workers, friends, or children…

I also believe that there is danger in speaking of the rioters as a small group.  To be sure the group represented a fraction of the fans who amassed downtown to watch their beloved team fight for the Cup; however the group was not mere dozens but rather likely hundreds in terms of actual participants—and the number is in the thousands of those who were complicit in the acts by hanging around snapping pictures, cheering the looters on, and otherwise disrupting/preventing the police from doing their job.

So what does this all mean?  Well I’d like to suggest that the real Vancouver is a place where this happens:

Canadians show their pride

And this:

Vancouver Riots

And this:

Vancouverites apologize

The real Vancouver is comprised of mostly respectful, decent people who are proud of their city.  However the real Vancouver also has a group of people who set cars on fire, loot stores, and antagonize the police as well as a significantly sized group which gets their entertainment from watching the rioters engage in those actions even if they do not participate themselves.

So what do we do?  I think our instinct to differentiate ourselves from the rioters is a good one.  We need to show that they are a minority and that most Vancouverites are peaceful and kind—the clean-up downtown project was probably the best way to start this process.  However we need to be careful not to differentiate ourselves too much.  We need to recognize that these people are a part of our society and our city—they are not some faceless “other”.  These are people who share our city and love the same sport that we do.  If we recognize this factor we will realize that the problem is not a matter of determining authenticity but rather is a problem within our society itself.  We need to realize that there are far too many people in our city who see violence and destruction as a form of entertainment.  Let’s own that problem and not deflect it.  That’s what the real Vancouver would do!

Easter Sunday:

An appropriate poem to meditate on this Easter:

Death be not proud, though some have callèd thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better than thy stroake; why swell’st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more, death, thou shalt die.

–John Donne

Holy Saturday

Here’s an image to reflect on during your Holy Saturday.  The artist is Hans Holbein the younger…

Click on the image to make it larger…

Derrida’s Profundity

Due to the intense demands of this semester I’ve been absent from this blog for a little too long.  With the end of the semester drawing nigh however, I do plan to return to blogging in the space much more frequently in the near future.

For the last little why I’ve been making my way through Jacques Derrida’s perplexing and brilliant Of Grammatology.  While the journey through this work has at times been so frustrating that the prospect of watching Rebbeca Black’s Friday on loop seems like a more edifying way to spend my time, there have also been a surprisingly great deal of moments of profundity in my reading as well…

In the future I hope to blog a little bit more about Derrida and Of Grammatology in particular.  For now I leave you with this quote in which Derrida both summarizes and reflects on the work of Rousseau…

In the experience of suffering as the suffering of the other, the imagination, as it opens us to a certain nonpresence within presence, is indispensable:  the suffering of others is lived by comparison as our nonpresent, past, or future suffering.  Pity [i..e. compassion] would be impossible outside of this structure, which links imagination, time, and the other as one and the same opening into nonpresence:  [Rousseau:] “To pity another’s woes we must indeed know them, but we need not feel them.  When we have suffered, when we are in fear of suffering, we pity those who suffer; but when we suffer ourselves, we pity none but ourselves”

Emergent Church Article

The good folks at Direction have posted the article co-authored by yours truly and Nick Toews  on their website.  This article is an assessment of what we see as the good qualities and deficiencies of the Emergent Church movement which includes such notable characters as Brian McLaren and Tony Jones.  The article was completed around a year ago and is the first work I have had published.  You can find said article by clicking here.

I cannot help but think that the decline of attention paid to the Emergent movement in church circles today makes our thesis even more valid now than it was a year ago…

Enjoy!

Bigger is Better?

Every now and again I come across news that surprises me (although it probably shouldn’t) about the North American consumer’s thought that bigger is better.  The latest is courtesy of Starbucks new “Trenta” size for iced coffee drinks.  This graphic, courtesy of the National Post, I think says it all…

Mennonite Takeover?

My friend Jen sent me an article (found by clicking here) by Mark Tooley that caught my attention.  The article argues that Anabaptist groups are starting to push their beliefs such as pacifism and pseudo-isolationism on the rest of America.  Unlike traditional Anabaptist groups, Tooley argues, many new Anabaptists are not content with holding on to their beliefs such as pacifism in isolation but now demand that “all Christians, and society, including the state, bend to pacifism”. 

The part of the article that I want to respond to is to Tooley’s argument that an Anabaptist attempt to influence culture at large betrays the foundational Anabaptist principle of isolationism.  In other words, Tooley is saying that Anabaptists’ behaviour is contradictory the way a woman committed to a life of silence would be if she tried to convince others of the benefits of her lifestyle through use of speech.

Tooley’s remarks are not without some merit.  There certainly are many Anabaptist groups whose separation from society is a part of their fundamental character.  Groups like the Amish and the old-colony Mennonites certainly fit this description.  It is likely that us mainstream people view would not view such folk as quaint if they spent their time trying to convince us that we would be better served to adopt their lifestyle.  Yet while such Anabaptsist groups are important, they remain a minority and so should not be seen as representative of Anabaptism as a whole.  The largest two Anabaptist groups in Canada are the Mennonite Brethren and Mennonite Church Canada.  Both groups are involved in domestic and foreign politics and actively engage in trying to make society more just.  An excellent example of such engagement is found in the work done by Mennonite Central Committee, an organization which I have had the privilege of working for and have blogged about here. 

It is important to understand that when Mennonite groups engage with culture they are not behaving in a way that contradicts any of their fundamental principles.  This is because isolationism is not an ultimate goal of Anabaptism but is rather, in my opinion, a by-product of the heavy persecution which the founders of Anabaptism faced combined with the Anabaptist understanding of separation of church and state.  At the time of the Reformation, Anabaptists originally attempted to reform from within the church but were pushed out by the various powers.  Upon being removed they formed their own communities in which they tried to live according to the principles of Scripture.  Unfortunately the church was not content with merely removing them from the church as they saw these Anabaptists as a threat to their political and church structures and so they were killed.  Persecution of course, has the effect of causing communities to clam up and look inward for the purpose of survival. 

In regards to the separation of church and state, Anabaptists believe that they are citizens in two separate societies:  the church and civil society (i.e. the state).  Early Anabaptists believed that the realm of state exists in order to provide order and stability.  Menno Simons (the founder of “Mennonites”) argued that the leader of the state ought to be free to use any force (short of death) to maintain law.  In this way, the state for Mennonites functions as sort of a lowest common denominator of morality.  It is supposed to meet the basic needs of its people but is not where Mennonites stake their ultimate identity.  For Mennonites the church is a group of people who believe in Jesus and wish to follow the ethics he laid out.  It is in the context of this community, therefore, that Mennonites act out their virtues.

Menno Simons

Fast forward to the present North American context and you can see how these factors inform the current practice of Anabaptist groups.  Thankfully persecution no longer exists meaning Anabaptists are free to practice their religious beliefs in their community.  Also the powers of the state are no longer “religious” but secular.  This means that the state does not try to meet the needs of any one “special interest group” (Christian, atheist, Jewish, etc) at the expense of others but rather appeals to meet the most basic needs of all.  Thus people who belong to specific religious groups—including Anabaptists—are able to participate in the state but do so not to further the particular goals of their special interest group per se but rather to promote the “lowest common denominator” goals of the state.  However it is also true that there are issues in which an overlap between the concerns of society and the concerns of a particular religious group may exist.  In the case of Mennonite Anabaptists, issues of social justice such as universal health care, foreign aid, and sustainable development fall under this category and so explain why on they tend to be noticeably involved in such issues.  However Mennonites tend to shy away from issues which other Christian groups get involved in like Christian prayer in public schools because they see it as a confusion of the two categories of church and state.

One of many "water projects" completed by MCC

What this means is that it is misleading to describe Anabaptists as isolationist.  Anabaptist groups such as the Mennonites remain committed to participation in the state through their understanding of church and state.  Mark Tooley and others need not worry, there is no Mennonite takeover in the works, no conspiracy, or secret agenda.  We Mennonites are just doing what we always wanted to be able to do:  behave in the ways appropriate to the church in the context of the church and in ways appropriate to the state in the context of the state.

Why I (often) Prefer Women Teachers

It is with much fear and trembling that I wade into ‘troubled waters’ of gender by commenting on why I (often) prefer women teachers.  By now I most certainly have lost about half of you to what appears to be an insane generalisation while the other half of you read nervously wondering how I can possibly navigate my way unscathed through this minefield I have created.

My inspiration for this blog comes from my reflections on the Laing lectures at Regent College given by Susan Wise Bauer (check out the link to her website on my blog roll).  While in a future post I hope to address the brilliant and inspiring lectures she gave on how words are used in the digital age, for now I wish to reflect more generally on a trend I have noticed in my own life.

although not a professional teacher, my grandmother "mam" is quite possibly the best teacher I've ever had.

 I am not saying that women are inherently better teachers than men, that all my female teachers have been great, and I am certainly not saying that none of the male teachers I have had were equally as capable as the women of whom I speak.  It is rather a statement of my personal perspective:  when I look back on my 6 years as a student most of the best teachers I have had are women.

As I thought more about what it is about these gifted pedagogues that have distinguished them as excellent I realized that a lot of it has to do with the fact that they have communicated, often implicitly, that they understand what is most important in life and structure their lives accordingly.  Three primary priorities stick out to me that characterise their teaching–in descending order they are:  life is primarily about God’s love for us and our love for him, life is about family, friends, and other important relationships, and that knowledge is not power but rather knowledge is empowerment.

Lest I be misunderstood please hear me out in what I am not saying in this statement.  I am not saying that the disposition towards a more relational outlook of life means that women have not made sacrifices to their personal lives for the advancement of their academic career.  As someone who has been a student for 6 years I know the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into academic work and I am equally aware that serious academic work means cancelling some dates—maybe even holidays, spending weekends in the library, and evenings alone with books for companions.  I am also not saying that these women do not enjoy the study.  Anyone who has spent time in the academic world knows that you have to really love what you are studying if you wish to survive.  Finally I am not saying that the relational outlook on life means that the quality of their academic work is inferior to men.

me, nick--the greatest friend of all time, and Gay Lynn Voth one of the best teachers I have had

What I am saying is that women often communicate why academics are so important.  For them academics are not something separated from life but are rather integrated seamlessly into their lives.  For example Susan Wise Bauer last night remarked that her interest in examining how the internet changes how we use words came from the realisation that her teenage sons were using the internet and she wanted to think of a way to help them use the internet well.  In my opinion this is how the best ideas are formed—not in a detached Cartesian way that prizes the abstract and universal but rather with an impetus of particular faces of people you are in relationship with.  In my experience women do this well.  Another thing that I am saying is that I have had an easier time seeing women instructors as “real people”.  It is easy to view teachers as mere instructors—as if when class is not in session they spend the rest of their time in their office reading (come on, which of you didn’t think that your teachers lived at the school when you were young?).  The women who have taught me, however, have always made it obvious that their self-understanding is not primarily as “teacher” but rather teachers/wives/mothers/friends/etc.  These roles define them, in my point of view, in all situations.  Although, like most of us, they wisely separate their professional and personal lives, I have always got the feeling that there is no hesitation in allowing their personal roles to bleed over into their teaching role when it is appropriate.  In this way women have modelled that learning is about more than a collection of facts.  It is life-changing stuff that affects the everyday people that you engage with:  your spouse, children, parents, and friends.  For this lesson and the many others the wise women in my life have taught me I say thank you!

Youtube Classics.

A couple videos for your enjoyment which I cannot seem to get enough of…

Get Down! On a knee.
We’ll bust thee a righteous decree,
Pour out a 40 for the glorious G.O.D.

Say yes, be blessed, and rock V.I.P
Drinking juice with Jehovah, and gin with J.C.

You’ll pay the price if you give into vice, so think twice,
You better tomahawk this mother-lovin’ oop from Christ.

Matthew one-six, colon, one-eight doc,
he can’t build you a church unless you pass him the rock.

We’re on a mission to christen,
We’re spittin’ acts of contrition,
We’re fishin’ out opposition ,
With biblical ammunition.
No dismissin’ tradition,
No transitioning positions,
You call that Christian, you trippin,
Don’t make us go inquisition.

And a second helpful video for those who always wished they could summarize the Bible in a minute…

Justice for the Oppressed: The Plight of the Falun Gong

An article in the front page of the Vancouver Sun this week says that the Falun Gong are going to be allowed to rebuild their protest booth on Granville Street.  Although I rejoice that the court has decided to give a public voice back to those who stand up for the injustice being inflicted on their fellow religious adherents, I cannot help at the same time to be saddened when I think about why this booth was ordered to be disassembled in the first place.

The timing appears to be more than a little suspicious.  Those familiar with Vancouver will know that the protest booth has been a part of the landscape in the fair city since August 2001.  To be sure the city has wanted to get rid of the protest booth for quite some time now—Vancouver’s former fearless leader Sam Sullivan started the process in 2006.  These efforts met no success until last year when Vancouver was granted an injunction which required the booth to be removed.  Fast forward one year and the BC Court of Appeal unanimously decides that the original judge who granted the injunction made an error.

I cannot help but find the timing of these events to be more than a little suspicious.  Despite the victory of the Falun Gong in the Court of Appeal, the process ensured that the booth would be removed between 2009 and late 2010.  Perhaps there was some sort of highly publicized event occurring in the ‘Greatest City on Earth’ in this time period that made the authorities want to make the Falung Gong go away—at least for a little while? 

Of course the irony in this should not be lost.  It has been said that the Olympics were Canada’s coming out party.  It was a time where patriotism wasn’t hid underneath a shell of Canadian politeness but rather where we shouted “we’re Canadian and we’re proud of it”.  In my opinion national pride is something this country has been missing for a long time.  Healthy patriotism can be a sign that a country is maturing and are shoring up a sense of identity—a sense of who they are.

Unfortunately it is precisely this factor that still seems to be lacking in the Canadian psyche.  Sure we are proud of our geography, diversity, and clean streets but what of our character?  What is it about who we are that makes us gush with pride?  It is my hope that as country we take on an identity that goes beyond politeness—surely this must not be the primary virtue!  I dream of a country that stands up for justice whose citizens rail against the violation of basic human rights no matter how financially significant the abusers are.  It’s time for politeness with a backbone.

 “OK”, you may be thinking “I get what you’re saying but aren’t you making a little bit much out of an eye-sore protest booth in our otherwise beautiful city that nobody cares about anyway.  Besides it’s not like the booth is saving any lives”.  It’s true the Falun Gong booth has not likely saved any lives from the totalitarian government in China.  However the cold reality is that the protest booth is one of the few public voices this oppressed group has. Unless the civic leaders were to publicly condemn the actions of the Communist Party of China or provide some other voice for this religious group their actions say that the murdering of thousands, harvesting of organs, and exile of hundreds of thousands to Chinese Gulag-style work camps (called Laogai) does not matter.

I understand that in the time of recession increasing trade with the emerging market of China is being heralded as our great escape and the road back to prosperity.  However no matter how tempting and insistent is the Siren’s call there is a voice that is even harder to ignore.  The blood of the murdered cries out from the ground—it’s so loud, it’s deafening….