ANDREWKOOMAN.COM » the growing curriculum

Sudan’s President Charged with Genocide

ak — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:53:36 +0000

FINALLY!

International Criminal Court filed genocide charges Monday against Sudan’s president…

putting the "Jireh" back in Jehovah

ak — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 06:11:55 +0000

A recent article from Time touched an area of my life that is presently already smudged up with heavy strokes of yellow highlighter. In Who owns that prayer?, David van Biema discusses pious art, intellectual property, and royalties. Biema notes that huge royalty fees demanded by those holding the copyright of pious art by deceased artists can prevent the message of their work from reaching as wide an audience as they intended.

For me the article opens up questions about what motivates artists and people of faith, and, who we consider to be our provider. Those questions can go really deep. Cash is often king, and huge amounts of the greenbacks (accompanied by any sort of “legit” worldly success) leave most people with the impression that God’s giving the divine thumbs up. And I think that often financial security can be easily substituted or confused as spiritual security. Remember the disciples’ surprise at Christ’s statement about how difficult it is for the rich to be saved? Who than can be saved!

How can an artisan eat? is already a profound riddle to address. Almost as befuddling as how a rich man can be saved. And what about how to create dynamic art that matters? Perhaps the answer to these questions is always already the same. By God’s grace.

I imagine community where Christ, not creativity (or self, ideas, or cash), is king, and where people understand why they have value; but one that is productive and engaged, not lazy and self-absorbed, rather on the cutting edge all things. Such vital faith “awakened or sustained …can be at odds with free market economics.”

I think it is with courage that teeters on the verge of both freedom and despair that we need to ask God to strip us of our agendas so we can at once be saved from our own egos and in the same stroke not fail to live up to our potential as sons and daughters of God.

Steve in Kenya with A Better World

ak — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:42:26 +0000

My friend, Steve Neufeld is in Kenya right now doing work with Eric Rajah of A Better World. Carpet Colour Centre in Red Deer and HJ Cody, a High School in Sylvan Lake where Steve works, funded some work to build classrooms for a school.

Eric Rajah is documenting their journey on his blog.

McGill ethicist refused OC because she was 'too controversial'

ak — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:28:05 +0000

I think these articles and the continuing discussion in mainstream press are worth attention.

Read the article by Henry Aubin of The Montreal Gazette, about “Margaret Somerville, the McGill University ethicist and …the intellectual climate in the country’s top court and scholarly bastions.”

(Thanks Luke)

If you have trouble with the link (which I seem to be), read the full article below:

McGill ethicist refused OC because she was ‘too controversial’

Margaret Somerville, who is opposed to abortion and gay marriage, was left off list

Henry Aubin
The Gazette

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

The appointment to the Order of Canada last week of Henry Morgentaler, the highest profile proponent of one side of Canada’s most divisive social, religious and political issue of the last generation, is raising important questions about the Order.

Has the Order taken on a special political agenda? If so, what role does such a bias play when the Order decides which candidates to admit into its august ranks and which to reject?

In dealing with these questions, let’s put aside our personal opinions on abortion and other sensitive issues. Those views are irrelevant to this discussion. The point is to understand what makes the Order tick. It’s the business of you and me and all Canadians to know the answer because the Order is acting on our behalf in choosing – and refusing – to honour certain individuals for their contributions to society.

The Order’s receptiveness to new, taboo-breaking social mores was evident well before the Morgentaler appointment. The Order last year approved the candidacy of Brent Hawkes, a Toronto cleric who performed Canada’s first same-sex marriage. Also last year, the Order appointed writer Jane Vance Rule, lauding her specifically for “populating her novels with homosexual as well as heterosexual characters.” And when it honoured Jean Chrétien, the Order put a curious emphasis on his support for same-sex unions.

Few people, even critics of gay rights, made a fuss. I think most Canadians thought the Order was making an effort to reflect a significant current of public opinion. It’s hard to be against broad-mindedness.

Now, however, it suddenly turns out that the Order is not so broad-minded after all. It has refused admission to Margaret Somerville, the McGill University ethicist who is a leading critic of the social views that the Order welcomes.

An objective observer would say Somerville has unusually strong Order-worthy credentials. She breaks out of the ivory tower at every opportunity to contribute to legal and ethical debates over such issues as stem- cell research, euthanasia, biotechnology, animal research, nuclear-waste management and so on. Whether or not you agree with her, there’s no denying that her calm and logical approach helps sharpen public debate.

Somerville did not, of course, apply for membership – no one ever does – but was nominated two years ago by a faculty member of the Toronto School of Theology, Carol Finlay. Finlay says the Order told her it had turned Somerville down because she’s controversial.

That’s hilarious. Morgentaler is many times more controversial.

It’s hard to know who else the Order might have rebuffed since it keeps names of failed candidates confidential. And the rejection of one person does not make a trend. Still, the Somerville case says a lot about the Order’s tastes. She has been critical of both abortion and gay marriage. In 2006, when the Order was weighing her candidacy, some 15 Ryerson University faculty members turned their backs to her when their school gave her an honourary degree.

“Political correctness operates by shutting down non-politically correct people’s freedom of speech,” she said in a speech in Vancouver in June. “Anyone who challenges the politically correct stance is automatically labelled as intolerant, a bigot or hatemonger.” Or simply barred at the door, as this case suggests.

The contrasting treatments that the Order has accorded Morgentaler and Somerville reflects on more than the intellectual climate in that little organization. It hints at a far broader climate. The Order’s 10-member advisory council, the body that screens candidates and makes recommendations to the governor-general for rubberstamping, is headed by Supreme Court Justice Beverley McLachlin. The Globe and Mail reports she “drove” Morgentaler’s candidacy.

Other members include the acting chair of the Canada Council, the chair of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and the head of the Royal Society of Canada’s academies of arts, humanities and sciences. These are the country’s cultural gatekeepers.

Don’t feel sad for Somerville. She has earned tons of honours around the world and doesn’t need another one. Save your concern for the tarnished prestige of the Order itself. And think about what this says about the intellectual climate in the country’s top court and scholarly bastions.

Read readers’ comments on Henry Morgentaler’s appointment at montrealgazette.com/soundoff

Hot New Release – E for E at Movie Gallery!

ak — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:08:46 +0000

E for Everyone: The Mouse and the Elephant is now available at all Movie Gallery locations in Red Deer for rental.

You can also buy your own copy online or, for a limited time, at Chapters in Red Deer.

weekend, oui

ak — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:51:28 +0000

- wake early to get wimbeldon fix
- spend some time clicking
- starbuck it with chris and shana, shoot breeze
- connive and conspire with matt about upcoming bachelor party
- wake early for wimbeldon fix, skip church for one of greatest matches in history
- (miss out on final set!)
- hit the road, jack, with parental units and bride and groom to be
- visit glorious mountain-view location of upcoming nuptials
- ditty here and there for other wedding-related things
- meet up with cousin dave for coffee at infamous cochrane coffee shop
- head to calgary for a riverwalk
- all roads lead to shawarma
- head home, shawarma burping
- a cup of tim’s in airdrie

Father Raymond J. de Souza Weighs in on Morgentaler OC Scandal

ak — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:46:21 +0000

Morgentaler’s shallow victory

Father Raymond J. de Souza, National Post Published: Monday, July 07, 2008

Excerpt:

It turns out that abortion is not quite the settled issue it was supposed to be. Awarding the Order of Canada to Henry Morgentaler was intended to confer just that, a sense of settled legitimacy to the publicly funded unlimited abortion license. After all, if the old abortionist could be thrown in the mix with french fry magnates and heraldic experts and promoters of amateur sports and a smattering of superannuated politicians, well then it would seem that abortion is just another one of those soothing things that Canadian officialdom smiles upon, like producing documentary films or preserving indigenous languages.

[Read the full article]

unbelievable!

ak — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:20:22 +0000

a match to remember!

if you missed the last set (like i did, due to the rain delay and a trip out of town) you can watch the final set, in its entirety on nbc.com:

Ingrid Betancourt freed after held hostage for 6 years in Columbia

ak — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:31:23 +0000

If you haven’t been following the story, read the article from the New York Times. Incredible:

An Excerpt from the article “Betancourt, in France, Details Her Captivity” by STEVEN ERLANGER and ALAN COWELL:

…her captors had chained her day and night for the first three years, but that she was sustained by her Roman Catholic faith and thoughts of her family. “I was in chains all the time, 24 hours a day, for three years,” she said. “I tried to wear those chains with dignity, even if I felt that it was unbearable.”

Asked if she had been tortured, she said, “Yes, yes,” and said her captors had fallen into “diabolical behavior,” adding: “It was so monstrous I think they themselves were disgusted.” She called her rescue “a miracle of the Virgin Mary” and said: “You need tremendous spirituality to stop yourself falling into the abyss.” She had made herself a wooden rosary in the jungle, she said.

[Read the full article here]

Bulgogi!

ak — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:54:55 +0000

my noona (older korean sister) lak hee, one of my favourite people on the planet, taught me how to make bulgogi while i lived in south east asia. it’s a delightful korean marinade with sumptuous beef.

tonight we dine!

get her suggested marinade below.

Bulgogi

Thinly slice good beef steak.

Add beef to the following marinade:

- green pepper (or red)

- carrots, crushed pineapple and pear (options… try it, supposed to be really good)

- garlic

- soy sauce

- mushrooms

- beef stock

- brown sugar

- white onions

Mix beef into marinade by hand. Stir-fry. Enjoy!