Magic Statistics

Peter Semneby, EU special representative for the South Caucasus, says that nationalism has caused division and animosity among the countries of the region.  He recommends a common European identity.  A cure worse than the disease?

Summing up the collective woes of the three countries in the region, Semneby said on October 2 that although Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan share history, they lack a common identity. Soviet attempts to impose unity failed, Semneby says, and now the three countries are each in the grip of "old-fashioned, ethnically exclusive" nationalism.

Semneby said Europe could help remedy this situation.

"Given the rivalries between and inside the countries, this identity has to be larger than the region itself," he said. "An additional layer of identity, a European identity, is what comes to mind here. For such an identity, or for such a layer of identity to work as a catalyst for bringing this broken region together again, the countries and the communities in the region need, however, to understand that this identity is based on much more than just interests, but is fundamentally based on common values."

Given the wonderful success the EU has enjoyed uniting the countries of Western Europe, one would hope he’s joking.  Belgium, home of EU’s capital of Brussels, is politically paralysed and on the verge of breaking apart.

Belgium, like the EU, is a Frankenstein creation

To understand Belgium, imagine that the Union flag no longer flies over Britain or the Cross of St George over England. Imagine an alien flag fluttering from the spires and flying above official buildings across the land. The flag is not the red, white and blue of British Union, symbolising a shared national history stretching back centuries, but the azure field and 12 gold stars of the European Union.

Then imagine that your rulers tell you that you are not, in fact, British but that you are a European, a stranger in your own land.

For many Belgians, this experience is the reality of everyday life. It lies at the heart of an identity crisis that has robbed Belgium of a government for the past 115 days and threatens the country's very existence.

Another reason to fear, rather than embrace, an EU-sponsored “European identity” is that the EU runs roughshod over local democracy.  Is that what they mean by “common values”?

European Court Upholds Decision to Penalize Poland for Pro-Life Law
Asserts supremacy of EU standards over sovereignty of individual nations and their laws

The countries of the South Caucasus have very difficult problems, but it’s hard to believe that the EU could make them better off in any important respect.

A few days ago, the Whitehorse Star published a barely coherent column by a local political pundit trashing Stephen Harper’s government for alleged broken promises and fraudulent policies.  Here’s a sample.

Harper and his fellow Harper government Environment Minister John Baird, have been given a failing report on their most recent environment plan.
. . .
Behind closed doors, as well as using loopholes, they cut the environment budget by 80 to 100 per cent, then turned around and hired a consultant at $60,000 to deal with environment employees to console them in their time of sorrow and disappointment of cancelled environmental programs and job losses.

You don’t have to be a statistician to know that cutting anything by 100 per cent means reducing it to zero.  Anyone who thinks that the budget of an entire government department could be cut anywhere close to zero obviously has no idea how modern government works.

One would have thought the federal government would ignore such nonsense.  But no.  In today’s Star, Environment Minister John Baird responds.

It’s unfortunate that a respected newspaper like the Whitehorse Star would print obvious misinformation from Murray Martin’s recent column.

Apparently, he has our Whitehorse Star confused with another newspaper of the same name.

In fact, Environment Canada received a $38-million increase this year. Your writer’s math is clearly not very good.
. . .
Your writer also claimed a consultant was hired “at $60,000 … to console employees.”

In fact, the $60,000 was for ethics training in the public service – something that this government takes seriously after the years of unethical Liberal management.

Both the original column and Baird’s response are behind the Star’s subscriber firewall, unfortunately.

Previous related post: David Suzuki, policy wonk

Last May, Jay Lakhani, Director of Hindu Council UK warned Christians to reduce missionary activity in India or else inter-faith relations in Britain would be jeopardised.  Now the general secretary of the same organisation has attacked Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) for the same reason.

Anil Bhanot, the general secretary of the Hindu Council UK (HCUK), has described CSW as a missionary group aiming to 'destroy Hinduism and convert the continent to Christianity'.

In fact, CSW is not a missionary agency at all.  Acting as a “voice for the voiceless”, it monitors and publicises persecution of Christians, as well as encouraging religious liberty.

Writing in a report entitled the Advancement of Dharma, which he has sent to all the major faith leaders in the UK, Mr Bhanot has expressed his growing concern at divisive elements between different religions, and called for an end to 'predatory' missionary activity.

"Predatory missionary activity" apparently refers to evangelising people who already adhere to another religion.  Christianity believes that, although other religions may have valid insights into the divine, salvation is found in no other name than Jesus.  So, naturally, Christians, motivated by love, witness to his unique saving power.

In response, Mervyn Thomas, Executive Director of CSW, pointed out to Mr Bhanot that the real destroyers of religion in India are Hindu extremists who are waging a relentless war of persecution and violence against Christians.

“If Mr Bhanot thinks we’re intolerant he should look at the fundamentalist Hindu groups in India.”

Copies of Bhanot’s report have been sent to leaders of all major religious groups in the UK.  I trust they will dispose of it appropriately.

Previous related posts:

• Christian converts “lose their right to be Indian”
• Hindus attack Christian for accidentally damaging mud idol
• Indian Christians carry a heavy cross
• British Hindu tells Christians to stop evangelising in India