Formula is a progresive rock band led by my son Joel Brett, based in New Westminster BC. Check out their web page at http://www.formulaband.com.
Let me know if you like this song and I’ll post more. Formula is signed to a small indie label and is nearing completion of a new full length CD. Stay tuned for news on that release.
Rant # 1
OK Western World, let’s admit that when it comes to understanding the world of Islam, we suck. We dont get it. And we dont care that we dont get it.
We do, however, have well developed stereotypes and caricatures of Muslim people: the zealot, the women hater, the backward, the terrorist. Since the demise of the Soviet Union, Hollywood has resorted to a new standard set of villains: i) rogue Russian guys with nukes and ii) the Jihad-or-Bust Arabs who want to buy them. The only Muslims we see are bad Muslims, crazy people, out to get us.
Imagine for a moment you are a Muslim. You rise early to pray and remember that you have dedicated your life to holiness. You seek to eschew the selfish lusts of this world, like greed, corruption, and our constant desire to satiate our carnal cravings. You have chosen a path that involves commitment and sacrifice, such as fasting, abstaining from alcohol, and learning the passages of your Holy book, the Koran. In spite of its demands, you find peace in the simplicity, order and calm in a way to God born in antiquity that has spawned some of the greatest cultures on earth.
Contrast this lofty self-image with the generally inferior notion of Muslims we have in our minds: poor, illiterate, misguided. They look and act different, making social integration difficult. Will it ever be normal in North America for your co-worker to throw down a prayer mat beside the water cooler, or at Starbucks? Or would we do anything less than a double-take if a woman on the bus had her head and face covered? If I were a Muslim in the west, I would feel pretty awkward a lot of the time.
To dedicate ones self to the Salat (prayer), the Hage, and all the pious devotion of Islam, one would require a deep sense of calling and desire for the world to come to God as you have done. Contrast this posture with our hyper-sexualized, hyper-selfish western culture that has given to the world Larry Flynt and the KKK. The supposedly modern Western worldview has given rise to Nazism, Communism, and weapons of mass destruction, not just good things like democracy and freedom. Freedom is a lofty ideal, but does it free us from our faults and humanity’s propensity to mess everything up? Perhaps a world society whose face is lifted to heaven in obedience to Allah and His laws would be better than following our flawed human constructs? Why do so many in the west dismiss as untenable this holistic and truly integrated worldview? Why does no one listen to me?
If I were a Muslim, I would be disgruntled with the West. My ideas and my identity are dismissed out of hand. I am reduced to nothing. I am not human. I am a cartoon, an animation acting out my part in a bad screenplay. I get nothing but bad reviews.
Rant # 2
OK Islamic World, its time to stop feeling sorry for yourself, emerge from your state of denial, and admit that the world has a legitimate complaint against you. Modern Islam’s utopian ideology and its political manifestations have so far failed to deliver a world of peace and calm. Islamic regimes are not immune to the political problems associated with our flawed human condition. In spite of your good intentions for a world submitted to Allah, you are not in a good position to stand in judgment of the rest of the world.
Imagine for a moment you a Westerner. You look at the Islamic world and see a lot of fighting, a lot of violence, a lot of poverty, a lot of illiteracy, and a lot of prejudice. You think to yourself, why are they so angry and what did I every do to them to make them blame me for their problems? God has blessed the birthplace of Islam and the surrounding region with inherent wealth so vast it defies belief, yet its inhabitants complain with bitterness so profound it casts a pall on the entire planet. When, you ask yourself, will they ever cheer up, rejoice in their good fortune and be happy?
You see on TV and read in newspapers of a world mired in hatred. Tyrants and dictators pay homage to Islam whilst brutalizing the region and you wonder when they will get their comeuppance. You saw far too many jubilant faces throughout Islam cheering the mass murders of 9/11. You have a hard time understanding why Bin Laden is a folk hero to many who call themselves Muslim.
You admit that the west also has its lunatic fringe. American wackos arm themselves with assault weapons and survival gear in a bid to out-smart a sinister government plot that actually exists only in their own minds. But is it fair to compare western crazies to Islamic militants? Bomber Timothy McVeigh died in an electric chair and his tiny band of henchmen are hunted and watched like animals. You ask yourself, would any town in the USA fly McVeigh banners down Main Street in homage to him as a martyr? The searing condemnation would exhibit a palpable fury. Yet daily you see blessings and praise heaped upon a thousand McVeighs in Muslim countries. Where you ask is the fury, the rage, the utter condemnation and contempt?
If you are one of the more pessimistic westerners, you allow yourself to think that the Islamic world has gone nuts. Thrusting millions back to a worldview that lives and breaths the air of medieval times, you despair that Islam is a regressive force clawing back centuries of progress. You do not understand the real teachings of Islam and the differences between its various factions and strains. All you hear is Muslims of various stripes saying things like ”the West is against Islam” and ”the policies of the West are designed to hurt Muslims.” You really have no idea who is a moderate and who is extreme or who is a fundamentalist. You dont even know what a fundamentalist is, even though it is one of the most common terms used in the media today. All you know is that the Muslims are ticked off and some of them want to hurt you.
Comming soon, Rant #3, a better way…
What follows is a “battle of the letters” that went on for a few weeks recently in my hometown paper, The Royal City Record, relating to the recent Provincial Election in British Columbia. This will give you a sense of my political outlook.
The Original Letter
Murray’s loss a sad day
Editor, The Record:
Tuesday was a very sad day for New Westminster.
Joyce Murray is one of Canada’s leading political lights, a powerhouse star cabinet minister, a person of great integrity, a savvy manager with an MBA, who has run huge government portfolios with amazing skill. Instead of sending this great leader back to Victoria to proudly represent the community she loves and lives in, we are sending a complete unknown, who has busied himself for years in small-time local politics, to merely bide his time in fruitless opposition, collect a paycheque, and have zero impact for New West.
We used to have a real somebody on our side; now we an obscure man who espouses the outmoded ideals of a socialist world view that crumbled years ago along with the Berlin Wall. Sadly, some of the poor and needy of our community think that the NDP will actually help them live better lives. When it shortly becomes apparent that Chuck Puchmayr will deliver nothing to them, they will bitterly regret, for a long time, that they did not make Joyce their choice.
Let’s hope Joyce will run again next time and give New West another chance.
David Brett
New Westminster
The Responses:
‘Disrespectful’ letter belittled city council
Editor, The Record:
Re: Murray’s loss a ‘sad day,’ Letters to the editor, The Record, May 21.
I have never read a more disgusting letter in your newspaper than this one written by David Brett. It is so disrespectful of another human being that I am shocked you would publish it. To start with, the writer belittles our municipal government with his comment about “small-time local politics.” Where does this man think most people in politics start off if not at the municipal level?
Joyce Murray had never held a political position until she ran as an unknown in 2001. I am not writing this to belittle Joyce and the work she did or didn’t do for this city, but to express my outrage at the total lack of respect for someone who has given their time and effort to help make this city a better place to live. With the attitude this writer has displayed, I would think that it may be better for all of us if he took his comments and moved on.
Susan Longva
New Westminster
My Response to the Response:
Letter writer ‘hysterical’
Editor, The Record:
I was somewhat disturbed to read Susan Longva’s hysterical over-reaction (‘Disrespectful’ letter belittled city council, The Record, May 25) to my letter lamenting New West’s loss of political heavyweight Joyce Murray and questioning what political lightweight Chuck Puchmayr can do for us in opposition. The “shocked” and “outraged” Longva apparently finds my fair but hard-hitting comments “disgusting.” This reaction is very surprising, given how the hate-mongering left wing spared no smear or insult to paint the B.C. Liberals as mean, utterly evil people.
In my opinion, Longva’s “disgust” is really just narrow-minded political intolerance. My reference to city council experience as “small-time” was not meant to disparage local politicians, who often toil admirably in thankless obscurity. Rather, my intent was to contrast the “small time” to the “big time,” that is, the New West city council versus the B.C. provincial legislature and cabinet.
I love New Westminster and constantly brag about it, but I am humble enough to admit that we are a small town with a wonderfully small-town sense of community. Perhaps we in New Westminster did not appreciate the significance of having a prominent cabinet minister going to bat for us.
Joyce is not there for us anymore and that, in my opinion, sucks.
David H. Brett
New Westminster
posted on 06/06/2005
Responses to my Response:
Sore losers should just accept Murray’s loss
Editor, The Record:
Point of view is a funny thing.
David H. Brett found Susan Longva’s call for civility to be a “hysterical overreaction” (Letter-writer ‘hysterical,’ Letters to the editor, The Record, June 4) and went on to “prove” his point by quoting Ms. Longva’s letter out of context and dismissing it along with the rest of “the hate-mongering left wing.” Yet he was sure to praise his own screed as “fair and hard-hitting.” Like I said, point of view is a funny thing because I, and I imagine Ms. Longva, dismissed his rant as the sore loser lamentation of a political shill.
Murray lost, and lost badly, because she did not serve the best interests of her constituents, her city or her province and not, as Mr. Brett would have it, because the citizens of New Westminster suddenly had a collective lapse in brain function. So please, Mr. Brett, keep your American conservative, Ann Coulter/Bill O’Reilly-style commentary to yourself. Until, that is, you have something intelligent (and respectful) to share.
Tejpal Singh Swatch
New Westminster
The public has spoken
Editor, The Record:
Re: Letter-writer ‘hysterical,’ Letters to the editor, The Record, June 4.
After reading Mr. David Brett’s latest letter trying to defend Joyce Murray, I would like to quote Dr. Phil and say “just get over it,” the best man won. When we were trying to save Saint Mary’s Hospital, I wrote a letter to Ms. Murray and said if it wasn’t saved, she would go down. The public have spoken.
Now I’m sure Ms. Murray has gotten on with her life, and I suggest Mr. Brett do the same.
P. Macdougall
New Westminster
My Response Sent but NOT PUBLISHED (thus ending the battle):
Reaction to my comments decrying the sad Provincial election results for New West have progressed from the hysterical to the comical, with Tejpal Singh Swatch now comparing me to Fox News ultra-right pugilist Bill OReilly.
Ominously, Swatch labels my views American conservative, cranking up the hysteria meter to code red, signifying that the Black Hawk Helicopters are about to swarm from their secret lair atop Mt. Baker to roast us all up like a Texas BBQ.
Why all this scorn and anti-Americanism? Because I correctly wrote that New West has lost a lot of political clout in Victoria through the loss of prominent Cabinet Minister Joyce Murray.
Swatch also calls me a sore loser, which is curious given that Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals actually won the election. P. Macdougall also chimes in to suggest I just get over it, quoting world authority on such matters, the illustrious Dr. Phil. That is like saying just walk away to someone whose feet have just been cut off. The election is over, but New West has been hobbled.
Swatch suggests Murray lost because she did a bad job, which is just plain wrong. The New West results had little to do with the records of the candidates, and all to do with the heavily funded NDP slampaign against Darth Campbell and the Dark Side. If Longva, Swatch and Macdougall think the way I express my opinions is uncivil and disrespectful, I suggest they make like Yoda and relax. Anger will only make them turn to the Dark Side (my plan is working .).
Besides hating the word Blog, I have a lot of opinions and ideas I feel strongly about, some of which you might find here in various stages of publishability. I find politics, economics, religions, mining, society, music and philosophy interesting. I especially like the subjects of Knowledge Management, Intellectual Capital, and the Digital Economy.
You may also find me waxing on about topics related to Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and various theories of religious experience. I have a BA in Religious Studies from the University of British Columbia, and an MBA from Simon Fraser University. I am married with three boys. Pictured above is my wife Lorraine and I in Switzerland in 1978. The Fro notwithstanding, I hate Disco.
I hope that you will be stimulated sufficiently by what I write here to respond.
David Brett's Blog 