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Sep 1, 2004

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Collective Representation: A Conservative Defense

For eleven years, when asked my occupation I responded “Union Representative.” This usually made my conservative political friends and business acquaintances squirm uncomfortably. They knew me well enough to know I advocated a different type of labour relations than the stereotypical adversarial relations that are associated with contemporary unionism.

Sep 1, 2004

Turning dollars into dignity: Teaching a small town how to trade

The connection between fair trade, as a response to the excesses of global capitalism, and the Christian faith is natural, given a solid theology of work and the imperative to open our ears to the cries of the poor. In today’s global political and economic climate, individual disadvantages result from worldwide structures of trade.

Sep 1, 2004

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Westernization or clash of civilizations?

As the Cold War was coming to an end in 1989, Francis Fukuyama, then an official with the US State Department, published a ground-breaking article, “The End of History”. Fukuyama’s thesis is only the most recent manifestation of the general belief that history not only has a purposeful character, but at some point will reach its final consummation, a notion owing much to Christian eschatology, albeit in secularized form.

Sep 1, 2004

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Life’s Big Questions: What’s Wrong with the World?

One of the most popular questions I have come across on campus from both struggling Christians and skeptical non-Christians is why does a good and all-powerful God allow so much evil and suffering in the world? The very fact that the question is posed shows the almost universal consensus that something is very wrong with the world and that evil and suffering is somehow not the way it is supposed to be.

Aug 1, 2004

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Of Presidents and Public Faith

The recent death of Ronald Reagan and the publication of Bill Clinton’s memoirs provide occasion to consider the relationship between faith and public life. Both of these men, though vastly different, had notable similarities. Perhaps the most interesting similarity with contrast is the fact that both men had a very private, interior faith.

Aug 1, 2004

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New Wine into Old Skins

In my last article, I said guilds could be the vanguard of a new civil society. Valiant words, but there are significant obstacles to overcome before we see any progress. Moreover, all the examples of functioning guilds that I have used so far have one thing in common: they are not in Canada. The question then arises, can guilds can ever take hold in Canada? If so, how?

Aug 1, 2004

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Life’s Big Questions: Where Am I?

In 1967, historian Lynn White Jr. published a provocative article titled, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis” (Science, 155, March 10, 1967), which suggested that Christianity, especially the command in Genesis 1:28, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth,” (NRSV) was responsible for our current environmental crisis.

Jun 1, 2004

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A New Ethos of Craft and Beauty?

Last month, I examined the first of two recently published books heralding a major shift in our economy and culture: Virginia Postrel’s The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness (HarperCollins, 2003). This month, the spotlight is on Richard Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class and How it’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life.