So ya, as the title states, my search for summer employment has ended because yesterday (July 4th/06) , I found out that I was accepted to be hired as a social research assistant for the Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) association for Community Living Starting Next Tuesday, July 11th at 8:30a.m til 4/ 4:30 p.m!
Also on another note, I did some chores around the house: taking and putting up clothes on the line, going to Home Depot with my mom to renovate our gate to the backyard,etc...
In case you want to know, the NL association for Community Living is an advocacy group for people with mental and/or physical disabilities. It fulfills this goal on three levels:
1. It researches government funding programs focused on people with disabilities
2. It advocates (lobbys) the government ( both federal and provincial) to change their policies, practices and what not towards people with disabilities ( sometimes, they develop proposals that the subsequent government/s can turn into an act or law or what not!)
3. They educate the public on mental and physical disabilities such as Celebral Palasey, Down Syndrome, Autism,etc.....
You can find more information on their website at
http://www.cacl.ca/english/provteracls/#nfAlso , at
http://nl.snis.ca/view/?organization_id=407And their official website is at
http://www.nlacl.ca/Having said that, there is another topic i'd like to talk about. A long while ago ( a year or so at least) , I had bought a book called "God's Politics" by Jim Wallis about how " The Left doesn't Get It and the Right gets it Wrong" and what not.
For more information check out
www.sojo.net ( For Those who don't know, Jim Wallis is the author of a christian magazine known as Sojourners which deals with issues of politics, faith ,culture,etc... , the role of faith in politics, the public square,etc..
Anyways, i'd like to quote what the 'Library Journal' has said about " God's Politics" :
" In an attempt to identify a unifying Christian response to the current political situation, Wallis, founder and editor of Sojourners magazine, argues that the Left has ignored and dismissed the value of religion in politics, while the Right has interpreted it too narrowly. Both sides, he maintains, have lost awareness of the unifying social aspects that biblical religion once provided for American culture: "Religious people must refuse the ideological categorization and actually build bridges between people of good will in both liberal and conservative camps."
Wallis outlines his own understanding of a middle way that would be traditional or conservative on issues of family values and personal responsibility but liberal on issues like poverty, racial justice, and ecology. He seeks to forge a link between personal ethics and social justice, arguing that "God is personal but never private." Wallis provides a refreshing alternative voice to the polarizing rhetoric currently popular. Those who find themselves uncomfortable in either camp will welcome his approach, even if they disagree with some aspects of his solution. " (emphasis added)The reason I bold this is because even though I am a New Democrat ( NDP) / Liberal on social and economic issues, I am a conservative on 'moral' issues such as the role of the family, same sex marriage, abortion, accountability, personal responsibilitybut not on also 'moral' issues which many conservatives leave out: the environment, a constant sanctity of life ( holding all life was being sacred and therefore should be safeguarded beyond single issue voting)Also, I have on several occasions thought of writing Jim Wallis telling them that I would love to write a sequel to his book called " God's Politics: Canadian Edition" to apply many of the principals that he outlined to Canadian Politics. Mainly, how the Conservative Party of Canada makes the same mistakes as the Republician Party of the US because our Prime Minister Stephen Harper Looked to the Right-wing movement in the US for its inspiration in the Reform Party and still does when the Canadian Alliance ( the new name and form of the party after the Reform Party was destroyed in 2000 by its sunset clause: failure to secure a sweeping majority government by the year 2000 would result in the dissolution of the Reform Party, as outlined in the book " Stephen Harper and the Future of Canada")Basically on issues such as the environment, War, the military,etc..and many others, Stephen Harper and his Conservative Minority Government take a similar stance as President George W. Bush and therefore, some of the points Jim Wallis made about Bush and what he needs to do to be in line with Prophetic Politics is valid. However, Stephen Harper has moderated his views somewhat to be more right-of-centre in order to get elected ( or he has been genuinely influenced by the turn of events since the 2004 election)On the other side of the coin, the NDP ( New Democratic Party of Canada) is much like the Democratic Party of the US in that they are both parties of the left and advocate left-wing social policies on issues such as human rights, social justice, morality, the rights of workers, belief in the effectiveness of big government where the government provides for the needs of the people and what not. Yet once again, the comparison is not perfect as the NDP is overall left-of-centre instead of far-left like the Democrats in the US who Jim Wallis believes practise 'Soulless Policies' by ignoring the influence of religion in American History and Society. Although the NDP does not take this ideal position that Jim Wallis outlined, The NDP leader Jack Layton speaks of Canada as being part of the ' Post-Christian Era' and how the Religious Left was once a huge player in Canadian Politics as reflected by Tommy Douglas, the first leader of the NDP who was a Baptist Minister before going into politics and used the language of faith to address moral, social, economic, ecology and many other issues. So ya, in Canada, we too have had time periods in which such a vision was fulfilled. Yet, Jack Layton basically said in a 'Faith Today' magazine interview prior to the January 23rd/06 Election that a Canadian Government cannot simply argue the validity of its policies solely on arguments of faith. This point has merit but it shows how unlike American Politics, Canada is a much more pluraistic nation and anyone who trys to use the language of faith ( let alone favoring one faith over another) could basically allienate secularists, agonists, and people of other faiths. Yet in my opionion, this should not stop the NDP from having members of all faiths in their party who can come together and use both policies based on faith and logic and argue for their policies based on faith and reason.
So ya, the NDP has shifted from a party of the Religious Left while welcoming the Secular Left to being a party of the Seculiar Left that still acknowledges what its previously more Religious overtone did for establishing the basic rights we enjoy today: State Medicare, Free K-12 Education, the right to vote at the Age of 18, the Right to Unionize and to Collective Bargaining among many others ( Just do a search on ' Tommy Douglas' and you'll find plenty on what the NDP has done)
So for me, my dream job would be to be elected as a NDP MP for St.John's South/ Mt. Pearl presenting a vision similar to Jim Wallis' . Only, adapted to the political landscape of Canada: Conservative on moral issues, personal responsibility and the family while Liberal/NDP on social,economic ( the belief that the economy should serve the common good rather than people being 'slaves' to the economy as Tommy Douglas conveyed), the environment,etc.. Basically, it would to practice Prophetic Politics/Religion which blends the best of the left,right and centre and adds in Respect for the religious foundings and founders of Canada outlined in 'Stand on Guard' by Faytene Krysko ( I Think that's how you spell it) , a Canadian Adaption of ' God's Politics' and combining the NDP's Religious Left past with its Secular Left Present
For information on Faytene and her Fly High Ministries and MYCanada ( the Canadian Equivalent of ' God's Politics' and Sojourners run by Jim Wallis), see these two sites:
1.
http://www.flyhighministries.com/ Fly High Ministries
2.
http://www.4mycanada.ca/ MyCanada
(Both of these ministries were founded by Faytene)
And last but not least, a link with details on her book called 'Stand On Guard' by Faytene
http://www.flyhighministries.com/Books%20and%20Audio/Stand%20On%20Guard.html One last detail i'd like to address in this book is The Liberal Party of Canada and how they represent the Centre /Left-of-Centre that is a middle ground between these two parties which American Politics lacks. Yet, the Liberals are suffering from corruption since the Sponsorship Scandal, the NL House of Assembly scandal involving all 3 political parties,etc... And basically, they need to recover their credibility and use this as an oppourtunity to get a new leader who'll return them to be the 'natural governing of Canada' by returning to the Prophetic Politics of our Forefathers.
Also, I would mention the influence of the Bloc Quebecois, a party that looks out for the province of Quebec's interest and advocates separating from Canada.
Last, the influence of smaller parties like the CHP ( Christian Heritage Party), The Green Party,etc..
Anyways, enough about politics , and that's my blog for today!
