July 28 - The wait for this to download and run was well worth it although the interview itself was unsettling because it punches into what is so difficult about this new war: Re: Al Gordon interviewed on 570 News Radio (with many thanks to John for the link.)

Gordon's interview and the Irshad Manji essay cited below seem to be two sides of the proverbial coin, hard questions that need to be asked both from within and without.

I guess I'd count myself among those who understood why Muslim communities would tend to close ranks when the result of Sept. 11 was a declaration of war. I hoped (and still believe) that the questions Gordon and Manji pose would be asked within those communities but that it wouldn't happen overnight and recognized that finding solutions would be painful for those who chose to address the problems.

We can't avoid a defensive climate altogether, though, because Muslim communities are on the spot because terror attacks are proclaimed to be conducted in the name of Islam. It isn't up to Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, or the believers of anything else to counter the claims of the Islamists but Muslims themselves, and however badly I may feel that so many Muslims have been put in this horrible position it doesn't change the objective reality that this is a religion in crisis and reclaiming the principles of that religion and its ability to coexist with those of other faiths is absolutely necessary.

Does it need to be stated yet again? September 11 was the crossing of the Rubicon, the point of no return, the last and final straw. Patience should not be confused with suicidal tendencies, and the lines that have been drawn are rarely spoken about explicitly because we already know they are there. Those of al Qaeda and their like who counselled war have it. Period.

If moderate Islam is the solution to extremist Islamism, this excerpt from the mission statement of the Canadian Coalition for Democracies succinctly states what I believe is the unifying principle which separates those of us who support freedom and those who pay it only lip service:

Founded in 2003, the Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD) is a non-partisan, multi-ethnic, multi-denominational organization of concerned Canadians dedicated to the protection and promotion of democracy at home and abroad. CCD will influence the Canadian political process and public opinion to achieve a more pro-democracy foreign policy.

Senior members of CCD include Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Copts, Assyrians, Buddhists, secularists, and everything in between. The uniting principle is democracy, not religion or ethnicity. (Bolding added)

A social studies teacher long ago said that America was less a melting pot and more of a stew. Chunks of beef, carrot, onion, potato and celery were put into one pot and, although each retained its individual flavour, the combination made for a hearty meal. That goes for Canada too.

The problem with multi-culturalism is that it shouldn't be a problem; there are many things which unite those who move to - and live in - Western countries, and the willingness to take the risk and act upon the desire for freedom and it's offspring, pursuing one's dreams, is the tie that binds. That is an aspect of our way of life that we should trumpet and celebrate rather than apologize for.

It's who we are and what we strive to maintain.

Let freedom ring!

Posted by: Debbye at 06:00 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 606 words, total size 4 kb.

1 Here, here! (or is it "hear, hear"?) And welcome back!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at July 28, 2005 10:03 PM (0ovgk)

2 Let Freedom ring, exactly. A Tourist comes to Canada and has numerous ethnic flavours to enjoy, all without crossing any borders or waitng in lines to produce passports. You can visit Newfoundlanders. Unique in the world. No other people exactly like the plucky *Newfie*. Then visit *New France* in Quebec and many towns where no English is spoken. Onward through Celtic Cape Breton, Acaidian Moncton New Brunswick, Cosmo Montreal, Yuppy Toronto, fishing paradise, Kenora, Lake of the Woods and all these could be separate nations. Winnipeg and the Chezks feed you the best cabbage rolls and perogies only matched by Hunky Bill's in Edmonton. The beauty of Saskathewan, unmatched anywhere at sunset and onward to the rodeo wild west of Calgary, the foothills of Cochran, the Swiss alps of Jasper and Banff and finally to the newest new world mix of Vancouver. Not all seperate worlds of Canada were mentioned. There are many ethnic China towns, Eastern nation districts like Surrey B.C. and too many others to list. In fact there are a number of places on Vancouver Island totally different from any other place in Canada. This whole picture is the world's best example of real FREEDOM. Borders around Quebec or Alberta seem like a flippant thing to us who live here, but any borders within Canada would be a crushingly sad thing for millions of people who dream of coming here to enjoy our *freedom*. Europe created the EU and the Euro- dollar attempting to instill a little freedom between all those borders and customs agents. Borders are friction zones. The fewer the better. 73s TG

Posted by: TonyGuitar at July 31, 2005 01:47 PM (rmMzv)

3 Oops... not exactly on target. I certainly do agree though, Democracy is a uniting force. Well it is related after all. Europe is democratic, and with EU moves, one can see the tendency to pull together. Wishing for the same tendency to take hold in Iraq, Isreal and the Middle East seems to be a worthy aim. 73s TG

Posted by: TonyGuitar at July 31, 2005 05:30 PM (rmMzv)

4 Multi-culti?? As a friend said lately.. Canadian multi-culturism is like a salad compared to the US style stew melting pot. In a salad, all ingredients retain their individual flavours while in a melting pot things tend to blend and form a single dish. I replied that a salad is great UNLESS there are just too many darned tomatoes and the flavour is overwhelmed. Add some hot peppers determined to push other ingredients into the background and you have that old single dish thing happening except, it may not be to your taste. Hmmmmm.

Posted by: Katherine at August 03, 2005 03:02 PM (YvCwz)

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