Bambi was happy to read this refreshing article by Dr. Joseph Facal:
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2020/12/29/ce-que-je-retiens-de-2020
She read his article immediately after listening to a French CBC interview of Mr. Stéphane Bureau with Dr. Gaad Saad who told us about his thoughtful book entitled “The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense”:
English Google Translation:
It nice to hear Dr. Saad expressing his ideas in French and it is VERY refreshing to see the French CBC publishing/posting such a beautiful, smart debate in our collectively stupid (and dangerous) times.
Whilst listening to the interview, and every time she reads/hears about a story of cancel culture (or censorship), Bambi cannot help not to think about the contrast between our own cowardice in Canada (or resistance to silly or “pathogenic” ideas, to use Dr. Saad’s own words) and the courage of people who live under unfair situations, oppression, or occupation elsewhere in the world. Of course, she thinks of Lebanon and the courage of citizens like her own dad who did not fear militiamen or all the occupiers of Beirut. She thinks also of her own attitude during civil war. She specially thinks of the current courage of the people of Beirut and Lebanon who dare to express their opinions and dare to defend other citizens and the truth/principles, knowing that they risk jail or the ultimate cancellation (= murder).
So, please Canadians, be courageous, especially those of you in positions of power. Do not surrender to the few who terrorize the silent majority in the name of social justice or of this or that.
Be like the host that Dr. Saad interviewed once (and mentioned in his interview above). The person is from Irak and dared to stand up to ISIS! So why can’t we stand up to a couple or a few triggered individuals? What are we afraid of?
Anyhow, as you can see immigrants/refugees, both older and newer ones, do not usually fall into the trap of “pathogenic ideas”. They have the utmost respect for the Western world that has opened its arms wide open for them. They know it is far from being perfect… but it remains like heaven compared to the wars and armed conflicts they have escaped.
So, if Mr. Trudeau, ever falls on an article like the one below or on an interview/article like the one above, it would be a good idea to keep the above observations about newcomers in mind. They may even decide not to vote for his party anymore because they tend to be true classical liberals like Dr. Saad and Bambi (the latter is even a past Liberal voter). Please Mr. Trudeau stop endorsing our world’s stupid ideas and keep doing the good work you do from time to time. Thank you.
To conclude this post, here is a quick translation of Dr. Facal’s article for you:
“Rest assured, I will not inflict another column on the pandemic on you.
What has not been said on the subject?
Sophie Durocher wrote yesterday that she wonders, at the end of each year, which word best sums up the last twelve months.
I spontaneously thought of “censorship”. Then, I changed my mind in favour of “cowardice”.
Triggered?
2020 will have been a year in which restrictions on freedom of expression continued to escalate.
Buried under the number, I stopped compiling cases of shows or works of art withdrawn due to complaints, of schools suppressing a book, of professors suffering the wrath of susceptible students or of directors who fall into the camp of wolf packs.
At the root of all these censorship cases are people in positions of authority who have refused to stand up and explain why they would not bow to calls for suppression.
They preferred to buy peace on the back of an unfortunate man and a fundamental principle.
It is in this sense that cowardice paves the way for censorship.
You have to admit that we are living in strange times.
You can invoke your individual freedom to go party in an all-inclusive [resort] and turn into a walking viral bomb.
But it becomes problematic to invoke your individual freedom to express an opinion if it offends the sensibilities of just one person in the audience.
You don’t even have to be guilty of anything anymore.
Worse, it is no longer even required to verify the motivations of the one who says he/she is shocked.
If the person says he/she is upset, that’s enough to prove him/her right. He/she holds virtue.
His/her emotion creates a new rule of conduct that he/she wishes to see applied to all who follow.
Since there will always be someone who complains, imagine a society that bends over every protest.
We would be, in the words of jurist Pierre Trudel, “drawn into the wringer of arbitrariness”.
If all it took was a complaint from one person or a small group, it would also spell the end of irony, innuendo and subtlety.
A screed of lead descended on people’s minds, reducing us to talking about the weather and the next supper.
However, the law exists precisely to limit arbitrariness, and our laws, let us repeat, already contain multiple limits on freedom of expression.
If this right needs to be adjusted, let it be discussed and done, but right now it is the selective indignation of a handful of loudmouths that too often sets the limits of what is acceptable.
A wake-up call
Basically, it’s less complicated than you think: if something offends, but cannot be sanctioned by an existing law, it must be allowed.
It is therefore up to the authorities seized of the censorship request to explain why they will not comply.
Yes, that takes courage, the complete opposite of hypocritical, sugar-coated and puritanical cowardice before our eyes.
May 2021 be the year of the wake-up call [“du sursaut”]”.
