Friday, January 14, 2005
Timing is everything
Sometimes it's not what is said, but when it is said. That could be the case with Don Brash's call for more referenda on issues of national importance, particularly moral and constitutional ones. There's nothing new in what he says -- others with greater credentials have said the same in the past, but without getting any traction. One senses that maybe this time the call will strike a greater chord with the public, perhaps because it was preceded at Christmas by an editorial in The Heraldasking whether middle New Zealand was becoming fed up with the government's social engineering, but didn't know how to make its voice heard.
Two of the contentious pieces of legislation pointed to by Brash were the Prostitution Reform Act and the Civil Union Act, both babies of MP Tim Barnett. The best that Barnett could do in response to Brash was to suggest that referendums are another form of "mob rule".
So now we know what the Labour party thinks of democracy!
Sometimes it's not what is said, but when it is said. That could be the case with Don Brash's call for more referenda on issues of national importance, particularly moral and constitutional ones. There's nothing new in what he says -- others with greater credentials have said the same in the past, but without getting any traction. One senses that maybe this time the call will strike a greater chord with the public, perhaps because it was preceded at Christmas by an editorial in The Heraldasking whether middle New Zealand was becoming fed up with the government's social engineering, but didn't know how to make its voice heard.
Two of the contentious pieces of legislation pointed to by Brash were the Prostitution Reform Act and the Civil Union Act, both babies of MP Tim Barnett. The best that Barnett could do in response to Brash was to suggest that referendums are another form of "mob rule".
So now we know what the Labour party thinks of democracy!
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Healthy patients deserve euthanasia, too, say Dutch doctors
The Dutch continue to provide abundant evidence that the slippery slope argument against euthanasia has real validity.
The British Medical Journal reports that after a three-year inquiry, the Royal Dutch Medical Association has recommended that doctors should be allowed to kill patients who are "suffering through living". It could find no good reason to exclude "suffering from living" from the list of motives for legal
euthanasia. This goes against a 2002 ruling from the Dutch Supreme Court that only a "classifiable physical or mental condition" constitutes the "hopeless and unbearable suffering" which can justify a case of legal euthanasia.
The report argues that the Supreme Court's interpretation of the law is simplistic. It is "an illusion", it says, to contend that the suffering of a patient can be "unambiguously measured according to his illness". The emeritus professor of clinical psychology who led the report, Dr Jos Dijkhuis, denied that Dutch doctors would agree to a request for euthanasia from a patient who was simply tired of living. His committee believes that "suffering through living" is real suffering which involves a range of physical and mental ailments. In about half of the cases studied Dr Dijkhuis said that there had been no "classifiable disease". "We see a doctor's task is to reduce suffering; therefore we can't exclude these cases in advance," he argues.
The Dutch continue to provide abundant evidence that the slippery slope argument against euthanasia has real validity.
The British Medical Journal reports that after a three-year inquiry, the Royal Dutch Medical Association has recommended that doctors should be allowed to kill patients who are "suffering through living". It could find no good reason to exclude "suffering from living" from the list of motives for legal
euthanasia. This goes against a 2002 ruling from the Dutch Supreme Court that only a "classifiable physical or mental condition" constitutes the "hopeless and unbearable suffering" which can justify a case of legal euthanasia.
The report argues that the Supreme Court's interpretation of the law is simplistic. It is "an illusion", it says, to contend that the suffering of a patient can be "unambiguously measured according to his illness". The emeritus professor of clinical psychology who led the report, Dr Jos Dijkhuis, denied that Dutch doctors would agree to a request for euthanasia from a patient who was simply tired of living. His committee believes that "suffering through living" is real suffering which involves a range of physical and mental ailments. In about half of the cases studied Dr Dijkhuis said that there had been no "classifiable disease". "We see a doctor's task is to reduce suffering; therefore we can't exclude these cases in advance," he argues.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
The Bear and the Panda snuggling up?
Is there a new power balance in the making? Peter Brookes, of the Heritage Foundation, notes that Russia and China are getting closer militarily. According to Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Ivanov, "For the first time in history, we have agreed to hold quite a large military exercise together with China on Chinese territory in the second half of the year."
"The unprecedented nature of these military exercises — and the possible long-term implications for American interests in the Pacific — is mind-boggling," says Brookes. After years of relative stagnation, a troubling sea change in Sino-Russian strategic relations is underway.
But why the change? From the Russian perspective, cuddling up to Beijing has more to do with Russia's frosty relations with the West than the chill of the Russian winter. Decrying the American "dictatorship of international affairs" during a December visit to India, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to gently remind Washington (and the West) of Russian power — and trouble-making potential. Bristling against NATO's expansion in Europe, Russia is looking for some way to increase Moscow's sagging global standing, as well as balance Western power.
Is there a new power balance in the making? Peter Brookes, of the Heritage Foundation, notes that Russia and China are getting closer militarily. According to Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Ivanov, "For the first time in history, we have agreed to hold quite a large military exercise together with China on Chinese territory in the second half of the year."
"The unprecedented nature of these military exercises — and the possible long-term implications for American interests in the Pacific — is mind-boggling," says Brookes. After years of relative stagnation, a troubling sea change in Sino-Russian strategic relations is underway.
But why the change? From the Russian perspective, cuddling up to Beijing has more to do with Russia's frosty relations with the West than the chill of the Russian winter. Decrying the American "dictatorship of international affairs" during a December visit to India, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to gently remind Washington (and the West) of Russian power — and trouble-making potential. Bristling against NATO's expansion in Europe, Russia is looking for some way to increase Moscow's sagging global standing, as well as balance Western power.
Surprising turn by Gen-Xers
It's good to have some good news to pass on to start the new year. And it's reported that Generation Xers are beginning to turn to Christian Orthodoxy.
Journalist Colleen Carroll, a former speech writer to George W. Bush, has been researching the embrace of traditional Christianity by Generation X and the rejection of the religious and cultural values of that generation's parents, the baby boomers.
A Gen-Xer herself, Carroll documents the trend in a new book, The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy".
Carroll says she first saw signs of the trend toward orthodoxy in the mid-1990s, when a student at Marquette University. Later, as a young newspaper journalist, she continued to see a disparity between media portrayals of her generation and the young adults that she saw around her. "Not all young adults are attracted to orthodoxy, But a growing number are seeking truth and embracing a demanding practice of their faith. Their stories were not being told in the mainstream media, and many religion experts seemed to be tone deaf to their voices."
Carroll says the New Faithful come from denominations across the Christian spectrum, though most are Catholics or evangelicals. They range in age from about 18 to 35. They are united by firm, personal, life-changing commitments to Jesus Christ. Their religious backgrounds vary. Many grew up in secular homes or fallen-away Catholic homes. Many others were raised in evangelical or mainline Protestant churches or Catholic parishes. Nearly all of them faced a reckoning in young adulthood that forced them to decide if they would make following Christ the central concern of their lives or not.
The rise of the new faithful is partly the result of a pendulum swing. Many of these young adults are the sons and daughters of the hippies, children of the flower children. Many suffered ill consequences from baby boomer experimentation in morality and religion, and they want their own children to experience a more stable life. They crave stability for themselves, as well. But sociology only gets us so far in this analysis. In the end, each of these young adults tells a story far richer, and far more complex, than the story of the pendulum swing.
"I met doctors, lawyers, Hollywood writers, and cloistered nuns who told me amazing conversion stories, stories of faith and hope and a love that reached out and grabbed them when they least expected to find God."
The new faithful still constitute a fairly modest segment of the population. But their influence extends well beyond their numbers because many are educated professionals with a disproportionate amount of cultural influence. They are rising stars in politics, the arts, the entertainment industry, in medicine and law and journalism. Many secular journalists still struggle to understand this trend: It's counterintuitive for those who assume religion is on the wane and orthodoxy is on life support.
It's good to have some good news to pass on to start the new year. And it's reported that Generation Xers are beginning to turn to Christian Orthodoxy.
Journalist Colleen Carroll, a former speech writer to George W. Bush, has been researching the embrace of traditional Christianity by Generation X and the rejection of the religious and cultural values of that generation's parents, the baby boomers.
A Gen-Xer herself, Carroll documents the trend in a new book, The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy".
Carroll says she first saw signs of the trend toward orthodoxy in the mid-1990s, when a student at Marquette University. Later, as a young newspaper journalist, she continued to see a disparity between media portrayals of her generation and the young adults that she saw around her. "Not all young adults are attracted to orthodoxy, But a growing number are seeking truth and embracing a demanding practice of their faith. Their stories were not being told in the mainstream media, and many religion experts seemed to be tone deaf to their voices."
Carroll says the New Faithful come from denominations across the Christian spectrum, though most are Catholics or evangelicals. They range in age from about 18 to 35. They are united by firm, personal, life-changing commitments to Jesus Christ. Their religious backgrounds vary. Many grew up in secular homes or fallen-away Catholic homes. Many others were raised in evangelical or mainline Protestant churches or Catholic parishes. Nearly all of them faced a reckoning in young adulthood that forced them to decide if they would make following Christ the central concern of their lives or not.
The rise of the new faithful is partly the result of a pendulum swing. Many of these young adults are the sons and daughters of the hippies, children of the flower children. Many suffered ill consequences from baby boomer experimentation in morality and religion, and they want their own children to experience a more stable life. They crave stability for themselves, as well. But sociology only gets us so far in this analysis. In the end, each of these young adults tells a story far richer, and far more complex, than the story of the pendulum swing.
"I met doctors, lawyers, Hollywood writers, and cloistered nuns who told me amazing conversion stories, stories of faith and hope and a love that reached out and grabbed them when they least expected to find God."
The new faithful still constitute a fairly modest segment of the population. But their influence extends well beyond their numbers because many are educated professionals with a disproportionate amount of cultural influence. They are rising stars in politics, the arts, the entertainment industry, in medicine and law and journalism. Many secular journalists still struggle to understand this trend: It's counterintuitive for those who assume religion is on the wane and orthodoxy is on life support.
