One final letter rebuking absurdity
Mr. Sawchuk again makes a false comparison between subjects. This time linking the plans of Alaska to demand that cruise ships not stop in British Columbia. And then falsely complains that B.C. lags behind all other provinces and that it is all the fault of the provincial NDP. In his world, it is always the fault of the NDP.
I think Mr. Sawchuk should rely on facts and not his uninformed opinions. B.C. is doing quite well compared to the rest of Canada according to the Royal Bank forecasts. Certainly, better than the Promised Land to right-wingers of Alberta-bama which, because of its dependence on its sludge fields, is an economic basket case. That Perry Foster has praised him in the comment sections is faint praise indeed as birds of a feather… Well, you know the rest of that sentence.
As for Perry Foster knowing that the award shows are not popular anymore because they are too woke, non-whites have long been underrepresented in Hollywood and in society in general. Does Mr. Foster want us to go back to the good old days when diversity didn’t exist in Hollywood?
There are huge benefits to society when diversity is promoted although I feel sometimes diversity should make more sense. Like the currently hugely popular series of Bridgerton which has Queen Charlotte being played by a black actress. That is just bad history and based on the musings of one Jamaican writer who speculated that she had black ancestry when no such evidence exists. That kind of playing fast and loose with history irks me.
At the same time, Hollywood needs to reflect diversity and some of us need to get over that this is no longer a white man’s world. People from the far-right make me embarrassed to be an old white guy. I think by now it is clear that I reject the world that Mr. Foster wants to see returned.
However, all good things must come to an end. I thank the editor for having shown a lot of patience with me as some of my letters pushed the envelope. I regret though that while everything should be subject to fact-checking that my real passion for defending contrarian views on religion gets nowhere while anyone praising superstitions and the supernatural is given too much deference in all the community papers.
I simply do not believe that if we truly want to end evils like misogyny, anti-Semitism, and homophobia in society that we can be successful if we do not also rebuke the source of those evils, which are the very scriptures that perpetuate such bigotry. Yes, people will have their feelings hurt but think of this, when John Paul II finally said the obvious that Galileo “might” have been right about the earth going around the sun, that he shouldn’t have said it as it upset people. Great, Galileo should have shut up so we could still be living on a flat earth.
My views on religion have hardened with what has happened in the U.S. where the crowning glory of white evangelical Christian nationalism was achieved with the insurrection at the Capitol Building. Fighting right-wing bigots shouldn’t have to be done with one hand tied behind my back because religious folk would be upset with their beliefs being subjected to fact-checking. How much more peaceful would the world be if that according to modern archeology, history, even the study of genetics, that no one has a deed to the Holy Land. No, people want to cling to ideas that are not rooted in historical facts and truth be damned. As one prince of the church in the Renaissance said, the people want to be fooled so let’s fool them.
My letter writing has run its course as a result. Happy to see that new writers have taken up the important job of rebuking the silliness of some of the other frequent writers and have held their feet to the fire. It has been great fun.
Robert T. Rock
Mission City