A Culture of Pacifist Cant

As the United States and its NATO allies prepare to make war on terrorism, the British Columbia Teachers' Federation is urging public school teachers to teach A Culture of Peace. A new "lesson aid," as the teachers' union describes it, informs students "we go to war because we are misled or fail to use our intelligence to avoid it." Replete with quotes from the New Internationalist, a radical British group of anti-capitalist globaphobes, A Culture of Peace is chock-full of specious nonsense. If used, B.C. students will not learn that "Canada has soldiers that are buried all over Europe because we fought in the defence of liberty," as Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley rightly reminded Canadians when the House of Commons resumed sitting Sept. 17. Instead, they will be taught that those who risked their lives in order to preserve our freedom, and those who are about to take the same risk in a new type of war, are upholding stupidity, not liberty.

The 54-page booklet was produced by the teachers' union following the 1991 Gulf War. Ten years later, it has been dusted off and is being prominently promoted on the union's Web site. The central theme is pacifism. Apparently, the West can avoid conflict by "promot[ing] community well-being through economic and social development." By "economic and social development," does the union mean the $250-million worth of aid that Uncle Sam poured into Afghanistan this year (the largest contribution of any donor nation)? Or the $3-billion-plus the Palestinian Authority received from the West in the five years following the Oslo agreement? The Taleban has expressed its thanks by harbouring bloodthirsty terrorists and promising to immolate "the Great Satan." In the PA, they danced when the World Trade Center fell. In Egypt, which receives about $3-billion from the United States every year, the acting editor of Egypt's Al-Arabi newspaper recently insisted on his "right" to rejoice at the [Sept. 11] slaughter. So much for "economic and social development."

"A Culture of Peace" insults those who have died for our freedom and those who will risk their lives in the days to come for the same cause. The terrorist enemy we face is not interested in social or economic development. In fact, he seeks the opposite: In places such as Sudan and Afghanistan, the imposition of strict Islamic law has brought widespread poverty and repression. There are times when Western nations must go to war to defend freedom. Now is one of those times. The BCTF should not confuse students with an airbrushing of the West's opponents or the advancement of pacifist cant.

Really a shame. I attended grade school in Vancouver from 1957 through 1959. The schools there were great then.

Forgot to add the date for this, it's from this morning's National Post (October 2, 2001).

Wouldn't it be more practical if the schools in Canada and the U.S. taught calculus instead of the "culture of whatever is in fashion at the moment."

Wouldn't it be more practical if the schools in Canada and the U.S. taught calculus instead of the "culture of whatever is in fashion at the moment."

No argument here!

Really a shame. I attended grade school in Vancouver from 1957 through 1959. The schools there were great then.

True enough across much of Canada; unfortunately the excellence we knew at one time has been traded off for mediocrity in far too many areas.

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