Pondering Thomas Pain on Religion

While I do not agree with all his ideas, I share some of Thomas Pains' skepticism about organized religion. Pain is not my favourite enlightenment philosopher but there is something appealing about his defiant, skeptical, even cynical approach to what he calls the “tyranny of religion.” It is estimated that eighty percent of all human conflicts throughout history have some links (direct or indirect) with religion. Whether religious beliefs are the roots of war or simply a contributory factor, you’ve got to admit that much pain and suffering have resulted from religious dogma. Unlike Karl Marx who dismisses religion as the “opium of the people,” Thomas Pain's approach to religion is more nuanced and engaged. His keen questioning deserves attention if not agreement.

Is it not a species of blasphemy to call the New Testament revealed religion, when we see in it such contradictions and absurdities? -- Thomas Paine

Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst. -- Thomas Paine

That God cannot lie, is no advantage to your argument, because it is no proof that priests cannot, or that the Bible does not. -- Thomas Paine

Pondering Thomas Pain on Religion

8/28/2010 03:49:00 PM religion, war and peace

John Humphrey: The man behind the UDHR

A bullied "one-armed youngster" drafted a world-changing document ...

A central figure in the development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a Canadian. John Peters Humphrey, a professor of law at McGill University was instrumental in bringing human rights to international attention in the 20th century.

In 1946, he was appointed as the first Director of the Human Rights Division in the United Nations Secretariat, where he was a principal drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Together with a small group gathered in Eleanor Roosevelt's New York City apartment, Humphrey set about drafting a world-changing document. But until recently, his role in crafting the UDHR remained unrecognized. Thankfully the new Canadian Museum of Human Rights is doing much to draw attention to the extraordinary life and work of John Humphrey.

An interesting aspect of John Humphrey’s life story is his early life experience which was to become the foundation of his moral and ethical conviction. Personal tragedy influenced Humphrey's outlook on life. He lost his left arm at age six and was orphaned by 11, all the while victimized by bullies at school. These experiences forged within him a deep sympathy for human suffering and a commitment to protecting the vulnerable. As Humphrey himself put it in an interview in 1988:

“It was pretty tough as a youngster having only one arm. Other kids used to taunt me… and I’d lose my cool and get into fights. It’s tough for a youngster who is incapacitated. Children can be cruel. But I survived the fights and these early experiences taught me about injustices and the need for Human Rights.”

I have always believed that personal experiences of suffering and discrimination have a way of instilling in one, a sense of empathy towards the suffering of others. John Humphrey’s life is an eloquent testimony to this fact.

Humphrey requested that he be buried in a rural cemetery in Hampton, New Brunswick, Canada where he was born. Nelson Mandela heralded him as, "the father of the modern human rights system." (Thanks for the information, B. Lynch)

John Humphrey: The man behind the UDHR

8/23/2010 06:00:00 PM history, human rights, Tributes, world

Schools and Genocide: Hate in the Classroom

I have just finished reading an interesting and compelling essay by a graduate student on the link between the challenges in public education and the prospects for reconstruction in post-conflict societies. Focusing on post-genocide Rwanda, the essay sought to answer questions about the causes of identity-based violence, the role of historical narratives in producing identities, and the role that schooling can play in mitigating the power of divisive identities and narratives in post-conflict societies. The student argues that exposure to multiple historical narratives and the teaching of critical thinking skills is essential to mitigating the power of any single historical narrative. One part of the essay in particular caught my eye:

Schools have been sites for the dissemination of propaganda, for the cementing of divisive identities and politics, for the repression of dissent and for the carrying out of atrocities. Before the 1994 Rwandan genocide, for example, it was common for students to learn about ethnic divisions from their teachers. Many children arrived at school not knowing their ethnicity, but, because the government collected data on this through the schools, children were required to know and state their ethnicity in front of the class: “The teacher told us we were not the same: he compared our heights and noses. Then our class was divided: long noses on one side, flat noses on the other. We had not been aware of our ethnic identity... but after this incident we no longer played together with banana leaf footballs” (in Hodgkin, “Reconciliation in Rwanda: Education, History and the Stat,” Journal of International Affairs, p.201).

It is, for me, a reminder that schools and institutions of learning have historically been complicit in genocides and mass murderer. The more reasons why we much all pay to close attention not only to school curricula but also to the agendas and orientations of those who teach in our schools.

Schools and Genocide: Hate in the Classroom

8/22/2010 06:33:00 PM africa, human rights, politics, war and peace

Human Rights in Canada: Promises, Failures and Prospects

Keynote Presentation at the Amnesty International Conference, Hamilton, Canada, June 2010 (click to link)

Human Rights in Canada: Promises, Failures and Prospects

8/10/2010 01:17:00 PM education, human rights, politics

Global Treaty Bans the use of Cluster Bombs

After decades of campaign and advocacy the Convention on Cluster Munitions finally takes effect today (August 1, 2010). The international treaty prohibits the use of cluster bomb – a weapon containing multiple – often hundreds – of small explosive submunitions or bomblets. Countries that ratify the convention will be obliged never under

any circumstances to use cluster munitions, develop or stockpile them.

Because they are scattered over large land masses, cluster bombs kill and maim innocent victims long after war is over. They explode in the hands of children who pick them up to play with thinking they are toys. They make roads, farmlands and playground unusable.

Like the 1997 Ottawa Treaty to ban landmines, the Convention on Cluster Munitions is the product of the hardwork and dedication of thousands of citizen activists and NGOs around the world who have campaigned tirelessly to abolish this inhuman and devastating weapon of warfare.

Kudos to two organizations in particular that have been at the forefront of the campaign to ban cluster bombs:

Stop Cluster Munitions

Ceasefire

But while we celebrate this success, let us remember that there is still much work to be done. Although 38 countries have ratified the Convention and another 70 have signed but not yet ratified it (as at August 1, 2010), there are a few countries that have chosen not to do the right thing and sign this treaty. The campaign must continue to name and shame the leaders of these recalcitrant countries into signing the Convention.

Here is the list of shame -- 8 countries that are major producers or users of cluster bombs that have not yet signed the Convention.

United States

Russia

China

India

Israel

Pakistan

Brazil

Global Treaty Bans the use of Cluster Bombs

8/01/2010 12:57:00 PM war and peace, world