Issues, ethics, memory
By Dennis Gruending I return to Saskatchewan every summer to visit friends and relatives and usually I drop in at St. Peter's Abbey near Humboldt. I attended boarding school there in the 1960s and I retain a respect and fondness for the Benedictine monks. I spent several hours on my 2008 visit with Father Andrew... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Gideon Levy was once an army recruit and an aide to former Prime Minister Shimon Peres but he is now a veteran journalist who writes for Haaretz, Israeli's oldest daily newspaper. He said that he feels compelled to tell his fellow Israelis a story they don't like to hear about their country's... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending  Coded biblical inscriptions have been found on the telescopic sights of rifles used by soldiers from several nations, including Canada, who are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. The company that supplied the inscribed weapons initially defended its actions unapologetically, and the response by the American military spokespersons has been under whelming. The... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Richard Colvin, a Canadian diplomat who served in Afghanistan, has blown the whistle on our government’s complicity in the torture of Afghans taken prisoner by Canadian soldiers and turned over to the notorious prison authorities. The International Red Cross, Amnesty International and the Dutch military have had similar concerns. The Conservative government... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Although I have attended Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National War Memorial in Ottawa in the past, I decided this year to support a smaller event whose theme was peace and reconciliation rather than war. On November 10th, I was one of about 300 people who heard an agonizingly sad but ultimately... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Canada’s eight-year war in Afghanistan is losing support no matter how much money and effort our government and military invest in trying to convince us that it is noble and worthwhile. A growing number of people believe either that the war is a tragic waste of lives and money or that it... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Richard Sanders described it as a “David and Goliath†contest. On one side, Canada’s military and weapons contractors (they prefer to call themselves the defence and security industry), along with Ottawa’s mayor, the bureaucracy and most city councillors. On the other side, a small and loosely organized group of citizens drawn from... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Douglas Roche reminds me of Emmett Hall. I published a biography in 1985 called Emmett Hall: Establishment Radical about the Supreme Court judge whose royal commission recommended Medicare for Canada in 1964. Hall was comfortable in the hallways of power but he was also a social reformer who used his position for... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending He would be called an icon if he was in business, sports or even politics but in the world that he inhabits 85-year-old peace activist Murray Thomson is just quietly and deeply respected. This night he speaks about militarism to a group of about 50 people at the modest Quakers House in... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending  John Dear, an American Jesuit priest and peace activist, gave an uncompromising address on non-violence to about 120 people in an Ottawa church basement on August 22. “Violence doesn’t work,†he said. “War doesn’t work. War is not the will of God. War is never justified. Peaceful means are the only way ahead.â€Â ... Continue Reading →
Pulpit and Politics 