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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-11-06, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2008. PAGE 5. Bonnie Gropp TThhee sshhoorrtt ooff iitt Lest we forget There are more strange things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy. Indeed there are, Hamlet my son. New Brunswick’s Reversing Falls and the existence of Sarah Palin as an elected politician spring to mind. But worldly weirdness is not limited to Moncton and Wasilla, Alaska. We also have John From and Cargo Cults. Or perhaps it’s Jon From. Or John Frum. Nobody’s quite sure because nobody, aside from a few thousand natives in the South Pacific, thinks there ever was a John From. Nonetheless, countless natives believe. In Vanuatu, each February the 15th followers celebrate John From Day. And John From disciples are certain that one day their leader will appear and bestow upon The Faithful all the goodies – TV sets, stereos, matching Hummers – that us white folks have been jealously hoarding all these years. The John From phenomenon first appeared more than half a century ago during World War II, when American troops swarmed into the South Pacific theatre. Upwards of 300,000 GIs were airlifted into what was then called New Hebrides. Natives of the islands had never seen such an awesome display of power, wealth and splendour. They were also gobsmacked by the down-home friendliness of these Gods From On High. Imagine – divine creatures that approached you with open arms, friendly smiles and greetings like “Howdy, I’m John from Wyoming,” and “Hi, I’m John from Kentucky.” The New Hebrideans didn’t know Kentucky from Wyoming from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, but they heard the greeting “Hi, I’m John from….” often enough to conclude that they were meeting a deity who answered to the name ‘John From’. Or Jon Frum – the spelling didn’t matter. To the natives John From was an ethereal amalgam of Uncle Sam, Santa Claus and The Tooth Fairy. They just knew that if they were good little Fromians, they would one day be rewarded with immense wealth. What kind of wealth? Cargo wealth. And where would this wealth come from? The same place all those friendly GIs came from – the bellies of all those giant iron birds that roared across their skies. Mind you, the New Hebrideans were kind of an easy audience. They had already been rolled over by platoons of fire-and-brimstone Christian missionaries who came out to civilize the heathen and to acquaint them with their innate sinfulness. And to get some clothes on those women, for mercy sake. As a matter of fact, some anthropologists speculate that John From and the Cargo Cult sprang up as a reaction to all those grim and joyless Bible thumpers. John From advocated singing, dancing and drinking. No wonder he looked good. In 1941 John Frum disciples rose up, albeit non-violently. They left the mission schools and churches, abandoned the plantations where they’d been put to work and retreated to the interior, where they established new villages and attempted to resurrect their ancient rituals, feasts and dances. They proceeded to try and call down heavenly blessings from John From. They built symbolic landing strips deep in the jungle, based on what they’d seen at U.S. Air Force bases. They laid coloured strips of cloth in the trees and constructed thatch hut approximations of airport buildings and hangars. And waited for manna to rain down on them. Some of them are still waiting. Last Feb. 15, the John From Movement celebrated its 50th anniversary. Do they still expect to actually see John From one day? Absolutely. “He is our God, our Jesus,” Chief Isaak Wan Nikiau told a BBC interviewer. “One day he will return.” Well – primitives, eh? What do you expect? These people are barely out of the Stone Age. They’re not sophisticated like you. And me. And the guy who wrote this about religious intolerance: “Imagine a world in which generations of human beings came to believe that certain films were made by God or that specific software was coded by Him. Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder each other over rival interpretations of Star Wars or Windows 98. Author Sam Harris wrote that a few years back in his book Letter to a Christian Nation. Then he added the obvious: we don’t have to imagine the above scenario. We’re living it, pal. Arthur Black Other Views A few goodies from on high Premier Dalton McGuinty will go a long way for his province, but he may have gone too far. The Liberal premier has been to more countries than any previous premier, visiting China (three times), Japan, India, Pakistan, Britain, Italy, Switzerland, the United States and Mexico. Some of these are places premiers have not trodden before. The only business in Ontario that’s doing well in the current economic slowdown may be McGuinty’s travel agent. McGuinty has gone mostly to promote Ontario businesses and products and persuade business there to invest here. This is a genuine role all premiers have pursued, although often they have combined it with trying to win votes. Before the 2007 election McGuinty went to parts of Asia which has sent Ontario the most immigrants in recent years. They naturally were impressed he took time to visit their former homelands. The premier was in China in August trying to persuade international sports officials attending the Olympic Games to choose Toronto as the site of the 2015 Pan Am Games, which also was legitimate, because these Games would boost construction and spending by visitors. The legislature, where he has a responsibility to be, answering questions, was not sitting at the time. In any case, it sits only half the year, which gives a premier a lot of leeway to travel. In October, when the legislature was sitting, the premier started an emergency debate on the deterioration in the economy, which has cost tens of thousands of better-paying jobs, and was the most important debate in many years. He called on Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats to contribute. But the next day he left for Mexico, again to lobby for the Pan Am Games. Conservative interim leader Bob Runciman fumed that the premier was sipping margaritas in the sun, while Ontario’s economy burned. A few days later, while the debate on the economy was still going on, the premier was off again, this time for two weeks in China to promote trade and investment. The day he returns, the legislature will start a week’s adjournment to enable MPPs to spend time meeting their constituents in less romantic places, then resume for less than a month before recessing until late February. McGuinty will have spent a lot of time avoiding having to answer embarrassing questions about why he adopted a nonchalant attitude there was not much to worry about and failed to do more to protect jobs and restrain spending and prevent running a deficit he promised to avoid. The opposition parties also would like to ask the premier why so many people are being shot dead in Toronto by repeat offenders allowed to roam freely. They can ask McGuinty’s ministers, but their answers do not carry as much weight as those of the premier, on whom the whole of image of government is focused. McGuinty is on a valuable trip this time selling “green technology” that uses newly- developed, non-polluting sources of energy to provide power. Having the premier along impresses the host nation and encourages business leaders to make the journey. But any deals arrived at are negotiated by hard-headed business people and government officials usually before a premier leaves home. For example, within a day of arriving in China, McGuinty announced a company there had agreed to build a power station here fuelled by agricultural and forestry waste that clearly was planned in advance. McGuinty could have stayed home to deal with the economic crisis and sent Sandra Pupatello, a minister he recently freed from other duties so she could focus entirely on promoting international trade and investment. It could be argued Pupatello does not carry the same heft as McGuinty, but what is a minister of international trade and investment for, anyway, if not to go other countries and consummate deals? Alternatively, McGuinty could have gone on part of the mission and left the rest to Pupatello, but he prefers to be away until the heat dies down. Eric Dowd FFrroomm QQuueeeenn’’ss PPaarrkk When Stewart Toll toured the European battlefields of the Second World War he was so moved by the experience that he felt compelled to put his feelings into song. From that his A Bridge to Remembrance became the backdrop for a DVD that revives and revisits the path taken by Canadian soldiers from D-Day to victory. This has been a way to honour those who fought for democracy and freedom, to put a visual image to their valour. But there’s an even greater value to the project. As a teacher, Toll said he had, like many of his peers, struggled with ways to present Remembrance Day lessons that would carry the kind of emotional impact to make them meaningful, but not be so intense as to frighten young impressionable minds. Those memories coupled with the new ones gathered from his tour of historic sites were the catalyst to the creation of his informational, educational project. His goal now is to see that each school board in Canada has one copy. In one segment Toll interviews a former observation officer in the artillery, Captain George Blackburn, who authored a trilogy of his years in service. Prior to enlisting at the age of 21, Blackburn had worked as a journalist, then later as a civil servant. He was awarded the Military Cross and eventually the Medal of Canada. Blackburn’s job was a dangerous one as observers worked within enemy sights out in front, directing the gunners’fire to the enemies. They were targets as the Germans knew by taking out an observer, they would blind the gunners. Blackburn, one of the longest serving observer, tells in his book The Guns of Normandy, of a time when he learned his company was taking bets on when he would be killed. On the job longer than many, the odds were against him. War is harsh. The life for these young men and women in the trenches and on the battlefields was that of unknowns and longing for the familiar. It was full of danger and horrors that most today can’t begin to comprehend. It was a different world than that of a privileged, cossetted society, a place where entertainment could be made on the prospect of the potential for a friend’s demise. It is the stories of veterans that make real the tragedy and triumph, the sacrifice and selflessness of those who fought for their country and for freedom. Sadly, bringing those stories to the rest of the world is becoming increasingly difficult. Most of the educators know nothing about war and conflict beyond what they have heard or read. Parents of young children have been so many years and so far removed from those times that beyond the moment on Remembrance Day little thought is given to the lives lost for the cause. Thus it’s true that importance must be placed on educating students on valour and its price in such a way that it has a deep and profound meaning for them. But, it’s also true, as Toll has said, that such education can not make youngsters fearful. A Bridge to Remembrance is a gentle walk through a traumatic occurrence in history. The poignancy of lines and lines of white tombstones in manicured cemeteries, of majestic memorials to the fallen, interspersed with grainy black and white footage proudly details the contribution of Canadian soldiers. It goes a long way in keeping the stories alive, for the young people who don’t know them and for the rest of us... Lest We Forget. 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