ICS Worldview Conference

HOPE IN TROUBLED TIMES with Bob Goudzwaard Saturday October 13, 2007 Toronto District Christian High School 377 Woodbridge Avenue Woodbridge, ON L4L 2V7 Toronto Mapquest Map • Public Transit

PLENARY SESSIONS

Bob Goudzwaard · Daring to Hope

News reports and scientific reports suggest that we live in catastrophic times.  Species destruction, climate change, heightened military and terrorist devastation, economic crises and global poverty threaten to shut down the future.  Fierce ideologies of identity, unending material progress and guaranteed security interact and seem designed to extinguish hope.  What is the meaning of hope today?  We'll explore whether genuine hope, deeply rooted in reality itself, can generate realistic alternatives to the present darkness.

Bob Goudzwaard · The Gospel and Global Climate Change

Do the Gospel and global climate change have anything to do with each other?  How do we respond when dynamic economic processes are at work which deeply threaten the viability of God's earth?  We'll assess the solutions now being implemented, asking whether they offer hope or merely exacerbate the problem.  And we'll consider possible economic alternatives, at both policy and personal levels that flow from a posture of repentance.

Bob Goudzwaard, a former member of the Dutch Parliament, is Professor Emeritus of Economics and Social Philosophy at the Free University of Amsterdam.  He is past chair of the Dutch Royal Society for Political Economics and former co-President of the European Ecumenical Commission, in Brussels.  Recently he chaired a consultation between the World Council of Churches, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
 
Goudzwaard, author of Capitalism and Progress (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979), Idols of Our Time (Intervarsity Press, 1984) and Beyond Poverty and Affluence: Toward A Canadian Economy of Care (with Harry de Lange) (University of Toronto Press, 1994) serves as a consultant to the Center for Public Justice in Washington D.C., Citizens for Public Justice in Toronto, and as an Associate of the Institute for Christian Studies, Toronto.

Mark Vander Vennen · Towards a New Concept of Security

The world is desperately searching for a viable approach to security.  The accepted models have proven to be dangerously outmoded.  What steps could Canada and other nations take to move in the direction of a new understanding of common security?

Mark Vander Vennen serves as the Executive Director of Salem Christian Mental Health Association.  He has worked extensively with both survivors and perpetrators of violence.  His essays have appeared in numerous periodicals and he is a frequent public speaker on violence and reconciliation.  Mark has been actively engaged in peace and conflict issues for over 25 years, and he and Bob Goudzwaard have collaborated on projects since 1982.

David Van Heemst · Identity and Hope in the Middle East

The ideology of identity has wreaked horrific destruction around the world, especially in the Middle East.  What are the alternatives?  What dangerous stereotypes do we in the West impose upon religions like Judaism and Islam?

David Van Heemst is an award-winning Professor of Political Science at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois.  He holds two master's degrees in counseling and a Ph.D. in Political Philosophy from the University of Virginia. He is the author of several books.

All three speakers are co-authors of Hope in Troubled Times (Baker Academic, 2007) available for sale at the conference.

SCHEDULE

CONCURRENT WORKSHPS AND PANEL MEMBERS

Political Consciousness and the Arts
David Copelin

How do progressive politics and the arts interact? Where is the boundary between art and propaganda? What motivates people to commit themselves to improving society? We shall discuss the dynamic relationships between enlightened citizenship and artistic creation with that joyously subversive twinkle in its eye.

David Copelin is an award-winning playwright and dramaturg who has worked extensively in the professional theatres of both Canada and the United States.  David teaches scriptwriting privately and at Brock University.  He is an active member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, and the Dramatists Guild of America. He is also Chair of Canada's Public Lending Right Commission in Ottawa.

Construct the Federal Budget
The Hon. John McKay, M.P., Scarborough-Guildwood

What are the budget challenges that arise when trying to raise foreign aid to reach 0.7% of GDP?  What trade-offs would you make, and what would you give up?  Federal budgets are value statements.  In this interactive workshop, we'll wrestle with difficult realities and fundamental values questions as we build a federal budget together.

The Hon. John McKay has served as a federal member of Parliament since 1997.  He was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance in the Paul Martin government.  He has served as Vice-President of CIDO (an organization devoted to community banking in developing nations) and as moderator of Spring Garden Church.  He is the author of Bill C-293, the "Development Accountability Act", a private members bill currently before the House designed to ensure that poverty reduction is placed at the centre of Canadian aid policy.  It has received support from all parties.

Why Are There Poor Children in a Rich Province?
Caroline Morgan Di Giovanni

We'll consider the stubborn persistence of poverty rates that affect over 15% of children and families in Ontario, in spite of economic growth and stability. What are the causes identified by social research? What can be done? How can caring communities help? After an outline of statistics, findings, and examples of life in poverty, participants will engage in seeking ways to bring about solutions for children and families living in poverty in our communities.

Caroline Morgan Di Giovanni served as a Catholic School Board trustee for 10 years. She became a member of Metro Council in Toronto, heading the Task Force on Services to Young Children and Families. Later, she worked for the Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto and the Hope for Children Foundation. She has been active in the Campaign Against Child Poverty since 1998 and currently serves as co-chair.

Panel Moderator: Janet Somerville
Janet Somerville is an activist, journalist, and teacher. She was General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches from 1997-2002 and is former editor of the Catholic New Times.

REGISTRATION

PUBLIC TRANSIT DIRECTIONS

From Downsview Station: Take the Viva Orange Bus. It travels to Highway 7 (via York University). Exit the bus at the corner of Kipling and Highway 7 (Viva buses annouce the stops) then walk north to Woodbridge Avenue and turn left (west). The school is on the south side of the road, just past the fire station.

From Finch station: Take the 77 bus (York Transit). Exit the bus at the corner of Kipling and Highway 7 then walk north to Woodbridge Avenue and turn left (west). The school is on the south side of the road, just past the fire station.

In both cases you will have to pay York region fair in addition to TTC fair. You can buy a single ride ticket at each of the stations.

You can also refer to the YRT website: http://yrt.ca/

SPONSORS