former Saskatchewan premier Rev. Lorne Calvert says warns listeners at the Regina Multi-Faith Forum to be dilligent, because no one is immune to racism. Photo by Frank Flegel / The Prairie Messenger.Former Saskatchewan premier discusses cultural changes
By Frank Flegel
The Prarie Messenger
REGINA (CCN)--The work of the Regina Multi-Faith Forum is needed now more than ever, said former Saskatchewan premier and United Church minister, Rev. Lorne Calvert, in a Nov. 14 speech at the forum's annual general meeting.
"We are at a moment of considerable danger," he said, referring to Regina and Saskatchewan's transition from a largely European Christian culture to one with much more global representation. This "third wave" of immigration -- the first was the First Nations arriving with their rich traditions and culture, the second in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was largely European -- brings with it the many faiths of the world.
The work of the Multi-Faith Forum in promoting understanding and acceptance, he said, is important and must continue. He praised the forum for all its work and mentioned several initiatives the organization has undertaken and continues. He used several examples to show how Saskatchewan's population demographics have changed dramatically.
"There's a little school I often visited in Saskatoon that has a global map on the wall with pins showing the countries represented in the classroom." And who would have thought even 10 years ago, he said, that one of the most popular TV comedies is about a little mosque on the prairie?
"There is beauty and opportunity here, but there is also danger," said Calvert. "We are not immune to racism."
He said when he was door-knocking during his political days he often encountered people who would say "I'm not racist, but. . . ."
Throughout his talk Calvert at no time referred even obliquely to any particular culture, religion or race, but the rise of non-Christian faiths and clashes with radical elements in all faiths is often in news stories. The danger, he said, is in some of the new immigrant communities being socially and economically left behind and "that danger exists tenfold if our robust economy takes a turn."
He used as his theme a "manifesto" of David Frank Forbes, Cambridge University theologian. Forbes created it in a 2009 talk in the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman. It begins with "Let us aim," then lists nine elements that encourage love of God and neighbour, achieve a greater understanding of one's own and other faiths, develop personal partnerships, cultivate a long-term vision of a habitable world and create signs of hope among faiths.
It ends with, "Do all this for the sake of God and God's good purposes."
The Regina Multi Faith Form was organized following the 1991 Gulf War to promote inter-faith understanding and dialogue among all Christian and non-Christian faiths.
Noted lecturer and international columnist Gwynne Dyer in a University of Regina Lecture noted that Canada, thanks to 1966 changes in immigration policy, has become the most diverse nation in the world and achieved that status peacefully.
