Ottawa Screening of 'The Change Agents'

On June 3rd, 80 people attended a screening of the movie The Change Agents (2012) in Ottawa, Ontario.

This full length movie (~90 minutes) produced by the secondary school in Nelson, B.C., uses 6 archival news photos of Freedomites to introduce fictional characters who protest against environmental pollution. Nudity and burning is shown, and bombing is joked about.

L to R: Elizabeth May (MP leader of the Green Party), Robyn
Sheppard (Writer/Director), Cathy Orlando (National Manager,
Canada's Citizen Climate Lobby), Sarah Miller Hayward (Producer),
and Alex Atamanenko (MP for BC Southern Interior)

The event was supported by Canada's Citizen Climate Lobby (CCCL) and coordinated by MP Alex Atamanenko and his office, to lobby Parliament during Environment Week. Most of the audience, including myself, were climate activists from Ontario, 8 were Parliamentarians (17 had RSVP'd), and 4 who made the movie (2 actors, a producer, and the writer/director) came from Nelson, B.C.

Atamanenko represents the riding (electoral district) were the movie was made. In October 2011, he visited the school during production and announced it to Parliament.

From about 70 volunteer amateur actors recruited from the Nelson area to make the movie, 2 attended.

English actors for Deda and Ruby.

Mike Coons (who played grandfather, deda) told me that he served briefly in the military before becoming a carpenter and plumber in Nelson; and he worked closely with local Doukhobor workers on the Kootenay River dam projects. Lucy Carver Brennan (Ruby) was in Grade 6 in Nelson when she auditioned.

Though the production notes showed 4 actors with Russian surnames, 3 appeared in the movie and only one had a speaking role. Ryan Hayward (played by Dylan Zaitsoff) is the main antagonist who verbally abuses and harasses the star character, Carly Dutoff, a fictional descendant of Freedomites (played by Susannah Rebar). The notes also show 4 characters with Russian surnames, all played by English actors.

The movie opened in Nelson on February 2nd, 2013, was shown at the USCC Doukhobor Brilliant Cultural Center (Feb 16th, 2013) and a few places in North America and Europe. The film has been translated into several languages and is online in Spanish.

A co-producer and now owner of the movie, Sarah Miller Hayward told me that she had film experience in Hollywood and Toronto before coming to Nelson, BC. Next, she and Jo Ann Lowell (Executive Producer) are going to Toronto to seek support to promote the film to a larger audience. Many participants hope the movie will boost their careers.

Prior to the screening, I presented my comments (excerpt):

BUT, as a Doukhobor historian, the movie immediately troubled and shocked me. The opening scene shows sensational archival news footage of nudity and burnings by a small group of Freedomites, which is a breakaway faction from the Doukhobors. Their actions are not the same as the Doukhobors, resulting in confusion and discrimination.

Freedomites terrorized Canadian society expressing their displeasure with government. Doukhobors have never supported their extremist actions, and have greatly suffered whenever they were and are falsely presented as Freedomites.

Robyn Sheppard, writer/director

I presented a copy of Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers' Strategies for Living to Robyn Sheppard, writer/director, who did not know that the small number of sensationalized Freedomites were not Doukhobors. She apologized for any misconceptions due to her script. She said her main intent was to highlight the urgency and importance of the environmental issues to world health.

She grew up in the Toronto area, but 18 years ago moved to the West Kootenays where she taught drama at the Mount Sentinnel High School in the Slocan Valley near Nelson, British Columbia, and met many local Doukhobor students.

When asked if she will correct the mistakes, Producer Hayward said that she would 'have a look at it.'

More

Koozma J. Tarasoff. 'The Sons of Freedom — a Flashback to 1956: Origins, problems, misconceptions, and relationship to Doukhobors.' — Updated reprint of "The 'Sons of Freedom'," The Inquirer (Vol. 3, No. 5, June 1956: 9-13).

Canada's Citizens Climate Lobby. The Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots advocacy group that trains and supports volunteers to engage elected officials and the media for generating the political will to find solutions for climate change. There are 170 CCL chapters in North America covering over 40 ridings in Canada and more than half the congressional districts in the USA.

Spirit-Wrestlers Blog: Selling Freedomites as Doukhobors is False Advertising

Error in the 'Change Agents' movie end credits — "An Angel Flew at Midnight", United in Song (2009 album), Performed by: The Victoria Doukhobor Group, should say "Performed by: The Victoria Island Doukhobor Community Association (VIDCA), with the Vision of Peace Youth Choir, Castlegar, B.C."

Avoiding Another Cold War

Image sent by Alex  Wishlow. Source: www.commondreams.org

For weeks I have been thinking about a peaceful solution for the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine. This is the territory of my Doukhobor roots.

How can another Cold War be avoided?

This week a peace scholar who I highly respect, Johan Galtung, gave 2 answers in an interview about this issue which got me thinking. I agree with his 2 answers, to which I add my thoughts below.

Question 6: … Russia and Ukraine … what … can … ensure a peaceful resolution …?

• Focus more on the USA, please, and the Bush 2004 idea of enrolling Georgia and Ukraine in NATO, going even further in breaking the promises to the Soviet Union/Russia.
• Look also at the clumsy Georgian invasion of South Ossetia to provoke war in 2008, and
• above all at Khruschev’s gift, Crimea, to Ukraine in 1954 under conditions that no longer apply after the fall of the Soviet empire, and you get a more nuanced picture.
• Ukraine means, at the border, one state; two nations cry for a federal solution: to elect a president from one of the nations will never work.
• Look for Swiss-type solution. Putin took Crimea back under these circumstances and now works for a federation; the step-by-step withdrawal is de-escalation inviting reciprocation from Kiev.
• But Putin should have given the Tatars the autonomy he wants for the Russians.

Question 9: … advice … to young scholars … in peace and conflict resolution studies?

• Stop studying international relations, a misnomer for inter-state studies, by using Anglo-American texts, given their track record of colonialism-imperialism and continued warfare.
• Travel all over, talk with people, ask them what is the best and the worst thing that happened to their nation and state, what are the conflicts, what are the solutions.
• Study history for creative solutions. Try to understand their deep cultures hidden in the collective subconscious.
• Pay much attention to culture and nation, less to threats/bribes and states.
• Be solution-, not victory-, oriented – also in your daily life.

Koozma adds:

• Drop all sanctions against the Russian Federation.
• Cease demonizing Putin and begin working together for a common solution.
• Pulling NATO out of eastern Europe would be a good beginning.
• Drop participation inRapid Trident military exercises in the Ukraine and eastern Europe. Be statesmen, not warrior propagandists. Search for nonkilling alternatives.
• 'Regime change' is not an option in today's world. USA ought to close down its 1000 bases in 150 countries (including Hawaii), and divert the military budget to improving conditions at home.
• Work towards international recognition of Crimea's decision to join the Russian Federation. Russia wants the oil and gas, and naval ports.
• Use United Nations diplomacy to mediate a settlement between Kiev and the break-away provinces.
• Recognize the Russian Federation as a nation with legitimate interests in the world community that has much to contribute to world civilization.
• Acknowledge the fact that the former Soviet Union (composed of Russians, Ukrainians and others) lost 27 million people (including 7 million soldiers) fighting to stop Hitler's regime.Without this huge support, the West would no doubt have been invaded.

Research

1. Al McKay. Interview – Johan Galtung, E-International Relations, Transcend Media Service, June 2, 2014.
2. Dr. Andrey Fursov, Battleground Ukraine: A Comprehensive Summary (From a Russian Perspective) : Oligarchy Typology of Ukraine. Published April 26, 2014. (70 minute video in Russian with English subtitles and transcript). — Fursov, historian and sociologist, explains 4 business syndicates in Ukraine competing among themselves and against Western tycoons who targeted Russia for 200 years.
3. Michel Chossudovsky, Ukraine Crisis Today: Bandersctadt. Global Research News, May 30, 2014. (87 minute video). — Atrocities by the Kiev regime not shown in Western media.
4. Robert Parry, 'New York Time's One-Sided Ukraine Narrative'. Consortium News, in Transcend Media Service, June 2, 2014. — The biased U.S. press, especially the NYT, blames Putin.
5. Jan Oberg, 'Why Obama's Speech Should Make You Think' Transnational Foundation for Peace & Future Research, in Transcend Media Service, June 2, 2014. — Hope is replaced by fear.
6. Robert Parry, 'The Only Standards Are Double Standards 'Consortium News, June 4, 2014. — Obama intervention provoked a civil war.
7. Jim Albertini, 'Beacon of Freedom and American Exceptionalism'. Transcend Media Service, June 2, 2014. — If the U.S. wants to be a 'beacon of freedom', then its addiction to militarism must end.
8. Mairead Maguire, 'Peace Movement's Common Vision: The Abolition of Militarism'. Nobel Peace Laureate, Transcend Media Service. Keynote address at Sarajevo Peace Event – 6 June, 2014.
9. Alberto Portugheis, 'My Thoughts on Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire's Speech on 6th June, 2014 in Sarajevo'. Transcend Media Service – 7 July 2014. 
10. Video: 'Cold War: Crash Course US History #37.' 14 minutes.
11. Video: 'All Wars Are Bankers' Wars', written and spoken by Michael Rivero,  4 Feb. 1913. 44 minutes. A written version is also available.
12. Update: Roger Annis, The Propaganda War Over Crimea's Break From Ukraine. Truthout, December 10, 1014, 

Remembering Knowlton Nash

The gifted Canadian journalist and author Cyril Knowlton Nash died May 24, 2014 in Ontario at the age of 86.

Many Canadians remember him as 'a cool' news anchor for many years on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's television program The National. Before that, he was a dedicated newspaper and radio journalist, and author of several books. He was known for getting the facts, being fair, and producing a good story.

Few people remember that Mr. Nash wrote an expose article published March 1960 in Maclean's Magazine about the diabolical chemical and biological research that was going on in Suffield, Alberta. Since WWII, the British worked with the Canadian government to set up a bioweapons test range at Suffield, Alberta. The area was empty and isolated, and experiments could be performed with greater safety than in the U. K.

Noted Doukhobor lawyer and peace activist Peter G. Makaroff brought the article to the attention of the Independent Doukhobors and Saskatchewan Quakers. As a result, on July 5, 1964, some 350 people (most of them Independent Doukhobors) held a peaceful rally at the gates of this Alberta testing centre at the Defence Research Board experimental station — Suffield Experimental Station — 220 km southeast of Calgary, 50 km northwest of Medicine Hat.

This article by Nash revitalized activism among peace groups in Canada. In the 1960's, a series of peace demonstrations were held by Doukhobors, Quakers, Mennonites, and others.

'In the early 1960s, I was one of the core organizers with Peter G. Makaroff (1894-1970) of three peace demonstrations which we called: "A Manifestation for Peace." Peacemaker A.J. Muste from New York spoke at one of these gatherings in Suffield, Alberta, urging governments to cease research and production of chemical, biological and radiological weapons.' (Q52: Tell me about your 1960s experience, 3 December 2012)

'Suffield, Alberta. July 5, 1964. International peacemaker from New York, A. J. Muste, spoke as 350 people protested at the gates of an Alberta centre testing gas, germ and radiological warfare known as the Defence Research Board experimental station at Suffield (Tarasoff, 1969: 267-268).' (Koozma as ‘Human Library’ on Peace at Canadian War Museum, February 27, 2013.)

From my Pictorial History of the Doukhobors (1969), page 267:

'It all started with a national magazine article by C. Knowlton Nash titled "Have Germs Already Made the H-Bomb Obsolete?" [Macleans Magazine, 26 March 1960, pages 13+] This article was translated into Russian by the Doukhobor Society of Canada (formerly the Union of Doukhobors of Canada) and concern began to brew among the USCC and the Independent Doukhobors. A planning committee was established and six months later culminated in the "manifestation".

'Suffield has been used as a centre for "special weapons research" by the Defence Departmemt since World War II. Special weapons is the generic term for chemical, biological and atomic weapons. The Suffield works, of course, is of a classified nature. The following comments, however, [come]…from Knowlton Nash: "The annual expenditure of Canada's Defence Research Board for research and Development is $32,000,000. This covers the cost of maintaining a huge research and testing station at Suffield, Alberta, on which stand 112 miles of fence. In a hangar-like building, according to one visitor, cages of experimental animals line the walls from floor to ceiling and airplane motors circulate experimental gases. Both nerve gases and germs — and possible antidotes — are tested at Suffield."

'Included in the gathering were a group of nine Quakers from the community at Argenta, B.C.; a small delegation from the Edmonton Canadian Universities Committee for Nuclear Disarmament group; a handful of University of British Columbia students; one hitchhiking University of Saskatchewan student; and the rest were Doukhobors from the three western provinces. Their witness at the Suffield gates was that of a fast for ten hours, spent in half hour periods of silent meditations, with a cappella singing and speeches in between. Mr. A. J. Muste, internationally known pacifist from New York was featured speaker.

'Rain came down for a large part of the day, but all stayed. Late in the afternoon, as the welcome sun began to shine, a lengthy address was made by Peter G. Makaroff, a prominent international lawyer and Independent Doukhobor. The following are a few of his comments:

'All through history men have served the cause of peace with fighting. Yet it is a law of nature and of God that you cannot do the right thing by wrong means.

'Modern war is terrible beyond any comparison or any imagining. We look across this fence and ask ourselves, and still in the interests of peace?"

'The atomic deterrent is bad enough — yet, to make doubly sure of world peace, we develop chemical, biological and radiological weapons which are said to be superior because they don't harm property.'

Thank you, Knowlton Nash, for making us aware about the dangers of chemical, biological, nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. As concerned citizens of any country yesterday and today, we need to stand up and be counted. We need to call out: 'War is a crime against humanity. Let's stop humanity's greatest scourge — that of war!'

The media, our family, and the military industrial complex are good places to start. Are our leaders listening?

As an old Doukhobor hymn states:

'Wake up new spirits.
The time has long come...
To work for peace and goodness.'

More

• "Chemical and Biological Warfare" and "The Suffield Manifestation," Friends of Peace Pilgrim, Spring/Summer, 1998 — Excerpt from Iskra, 1964.
• Suffield Alberta Chemical Exposure, Canada Veterans Advisory Board, 1 April 2012.

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Comments:  You can self-enter a Comment below only with a 'Google Account' (gmail). This prevents irrelevant anonymous comments (spam and admail).  If you do not have a Google Account, email your Comment to KJTarasoff@gmail.com

Expensive Killer Robots and Drones

Clear Skies Initiative

Robots and drones are part of modern society that can serve us for good or for evil. However, those advanced devices that can select and kill without human intervention are 'unconscionable,' charged a group of Nobel Prize winners in a statement released May 12, 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland, on the eve of a multi-day United Nations conference on Inhumane Weapons Convention.

'It is unconscionable that human beings are expanding research and development of lethal machines that would be able to kill without human intervention,' reads the statement signed by a number of peace organizations such as Quakers and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and activists such as Jody Williams, Mairead Maguire and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The statement continues:

'Not all that long ago such weapons were considered the subject of science fiction, Hollywood and video games. But some machines are already taking the place of soldiers on the battlefield. Some experts in the field predict that fully autonomous weapons could be developed within 20 to 30 years; others contend it could even be sooner. With the rapid development of drones and the expansion of their use in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – and beyond, billions of dollars are already being spent to research new systems for the air, land, and sea that one day would make drones seem as quaint as the Model T Ford does today.'

Lethality of human life ought to be of central concern, as my ancestors the Spirit Wrestlers / Doukhobors, proclaimed centuries back. 'Don't point a gun at anyone,' they would say, 'and get rid of weapons once and for all.'

Game of Drones, The American Prospect, Feb, 14, 2013

Killer robots and drones are 'the most expensive weapons system in history', nearly $400 billion or twice what it cost to put a man on the moon. This is a huge amount of money that could be more usefully used for developing and building infrastructure for tranport, health, and happiness. By diverting the money from killing to nonkilling, we can build the society that will benefit people worldwide.

The Drone War, Pro Publica

Tom Engelhardt, co-founder of the American Empire, wrote about this issue, comparing Washington's global military-first strategy and China's civilian-first one which is meant to create a transport and communications system that could economically tie significant parts of the world to that country for decades to come. Perhaps an 8,000-mile line from Beijing via the longest underwater tunnel ever built through Canada to the United States, could be one of the outcomes, according to Chinese engineering dreamers on the high-speed 'silk roads'.

Just think about the huge benefits of imagination in a nonkilling society? The foolish system of war must end!

Join the Nobel Peace Laureates call for preemptive ban on autonomous weapons worldwide. How about banning war itself!

Research

Tom Engelhardt and Nick Turse. Terminator Planet: The First History of Drone Warfare, 2001-2050.
The Past and Future of Drones in the U.S. By Criminal Justice Degree Hub, April 2014.

1832, 1882 books about Doukhobors online

The first comprehensive studies about Doukhobors by Orest Markovich Novitsky (1806-1884) are online.

• 1832 — O Духоборцахъ (About Dukhobortsy), 146 pages, PDF, 50 MB. — Also see full-view searchable page images at the Hathi Trust Digital Library.
• 1882 — Духоборцы : их исторiя и вѣроученiе (Dukhobortsy: their history and beliefs), 282 pages, HTML. Set your browser 'Encoding' to 'Cyrillic-Windows.' — Also see full-view searchable page images at Hathi Trust. 

ABOUT DOUKHOBORS A Composition by a Student of the Kiev Spiritual Academy Orest Novitsky 1832. KIEV By the Academic Printer at the Kiev Monastery of the Caves.

DOUKHOBORS Their History and Beliefs A Composition by Orest Novitsky Second Edition Changed and Edited KIEV At the University Printers (I.I. Zavadskiy) 1882.

The first book is Novitsky's doctoral thesis in theology when he was a student at the Kiev Spiritual Academy. He later became a professor. 50 years later his updated thesis was published in 1882 nearly doubling the content.

According to Novitsky, Doukhobors first publicly emerged as peasants in southern Russia, gathered around a literate nameless teacher who appeared outside the village and settled among them. He taught that the church had perverted the real teachings of Christ, that all men and women are equal brothers and sisters, and that the laws of God forbade the killing of other human beings.

In 1891 a Russian folklore writer said this about the 1832 book:

'In the literature about the Dukhobors I have read many articles, all of which suffer from a casual approach and incomplete observations, or from a narrow and unseemly one-sidedness. Novitsky’s work on the Dukhobors, published back in 1832, deserves to be considered the most substantial contribution to the history of the Dukhobors. It is based on the author’s personal observations and investigations.' — N.M. Astyrev (1857-1894).

Find Novitsky cited in many books online about Doukhobors, and in articles on the Doukhobor Heritage website. Surname spelling variations: Novitsky, Novitskiy, Novitski, Novitskii.

Valeriy Kalmykov of Russia submitted the 1832 book file.

More

• Links to books and journals online on my Spirit-Wrestlers Blog
• Books in Russian at Lib.Ru/Классика: Духоборы: Сводный раздел (The Doukhobors : Summary, Russian Library Classics.)

Q61: Dr. H.B. Hawthorn and K.J Tarasoff

From:   
PhD student, University of Victoria.

I am currently doing some work on the relationship between Harry Hawthorn's research on Indigenous peoples and Doukhobors in the 1950s.

I was delighted when I happened upon a piece you wrote in 2013 about the Idle No More movement. In it you mention that Harry Hawthorn served as a mentor in your scholarly development. I'm wondering if you could tell me a little about your relationship.

• How did his distinction between [social] integration and assimilation affect your thinking?
• Did the idea of 'integration' carry over into your other work such as Plakun Trava ?

I really appreciate any insight you can give me. Thanks for your time and all of your excellent writing!

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ADDED 21 Dec 2022:  In 2014 Carmichael presented lecture about his dissertation research on the role of the Doukhobors as “problematic settlers” in the process of Canadian settler colonialism. The lecture video posted on Vimeo.com is titled: The Migration of Colonial Knowledge: The Case of Harry Hawthorn and the “Doukhobor Problem”, uploaded January 2, 2015.

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Answer

Dr. Harry B. Hawthorn (1910-2006) played a significant role in my education by showing me the wisdom of using anthropological insights to study the local and wider societies. I first met him in the late 1950s at the Banff School of Fine Arts where he was a resource person at a week-long Human Relations Seminar that I attended. His influence led me to enroll in a Masters of Anthropology and Sociology Degree at the University of British Columbia (1962-1963) where he was head of the Department. In August of 1964 he recommended me for a Wrenner-Gren Fellowship to travel and attend as interpreter assistant the 7th International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences held in Moscow, Russia [IUAES] where I met populist Margaret Mead.

As a pioneer scholar from New Zealand, Dr. Hawthorn saw the value of both theory and practise in understanding and building viable human communities. His emphasis on practise was especially appreciated.

Hawthorn's influence was especially felt in the pivotal distinction between 'assimilation' and 'integration'. Assimilation, according to Hawthorn, was essentially based on hatred, while integration was considered a respect relationship of people. This idea captured my imagination and became part of my core anthropological understanding of individual and group identity.

I learned that British colonialism was largely an example of conquering indigenous peoples and assimilating them by way of the church, the public education system, and the laws of the land. The Indian Reserve system was a Canadian example of assimilation with its Indian Act, residential schools, and segregation (a form of apartheid).

Working with First Nations people for me was very challenging in my two-year-work (mid-1960s) in the Broadview Area of Saskatchewan involving four Indian Reserves. Hawthorn's second lesson was to observe carefully — 'to walk in the shoes of the other person' — and to help the Indians and non-Indians to share integrated spaces. In this space, I received the name of 'The Camera Man' and was known as an anthropologist who called himself 'neither Black nor White'. By this, I considered myself an equal human being as an integrated citizen of Canada.

During the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the West, I held 17-public living room discussions with Soviets in Canada and Canadian citizens, so each could "get to know the stranger." Then I escorted trips to the Soviet Union. The listening and observing tools I learned from Dr. Hawthorn's classes at UBC inspired and prepared me to lead these intercultural meetings and trips. Bridge-building was part of this cross-cultural journey.

My understanding of my Russian Doukhobor heritage was no doubt aided by my anthropological studies. I remember reviewing Hawthorn's book on Doukhobors in The Inquirer that I published and edited in the 1950s. Among my comments, the following best describes my review:

'Written with a sympathetic humanitarian flavour, each expert inquiringly explores his or her sphere of study. Continuous integration of psychological and sociological factors provide a synoptic view. Although no "cure-all" solutions are given, an optimistic attitude prevails. The Committee's hope "to put itself out of business" places assuring faith on Doukhobors themselves to eventually solve their [own] problems and "contribute to the richness of Canadian culture".'

Dr. Harry B. Hawthorn has indeed made a mark on my scholarship, my writings, and my approach to human interaction. My sincere thanks to this professor with wisdom and care who took time to correspond with me when I needed encouragement to find my path. Hawthorn was my mentor.

More

1. Koozma J. Tarasoff. In Memory of Anthropologist Harry Bertram Hawthorn, 1910-2006 — "the father of modern anthropology in British Columbia" — "Chairman of the Doukhobor Research Committee", Spirit-Wrestlers.com, August 2006.
2. Book review by Koozma J. Tarasoff of Harry B. Hawthorn's The Doukhobors of British Columbia (1955) in The Inquirer, vol. 2, no. 7, August 1955: 25-27. The book is based on the Report of the Doukhobor Committee which was presented to the Government of British Columbia in 1952.
3. Koozma J. Tarasoff. Plakun Trava: The Doukhobors. 1982. Download Index.
4. Koozma J. Tarasoff. 'Getting to Know the Stranger in Your Living Room', paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Sociology and Anthropology Association, Windsor, Ontario, June 6, 1988. 17 pp.
5. Koozma J. Tarasoff. 'Why are First Nations "Idle No More"? Wisdom from the Past. February 2013.

More: Questions and Answers, Comments

Q60: Does God Support the Doukhobors?

From Filip Vanzhov, Salmo, British Columbia

I had an odd thought pop into my head.
Is there any evidence that God supports the Doukhobors?
I am reading the Bible for the first time which has prompted this question.

---

Answer

By rejecting the Bible, the icons, the priests, and the church itself, Doukhobors saw God in a different way. God is within us and is manifested with the notion of love, compassion, and beauty. These qualities are expressed in our behaviour to others, as displayed symbolically in 'Bread-Salt-Water,' and no Bible.

God is love. God is wisdom. God is man and woman. Doing good to others is evidence enough that the spirit of God operates in each of us. All else is speculation.

---

More

• Evolution of the Doukhobor Movement. Nov. 13, 2013.
• Who Are The Doukhobors? The Doukhobors in Canada, USCC, 1974
• Spiritual Origins and the Beginnings of Doukhobor History, Svetlana A. Inikova, keynote address, Doukhobor Centenary Conference, University of Ottawa, October 22-24, 1999. Doukhobor Genealogy Website.

More: Questions and Answers, Comments

A Day to Protest Military Spending

Yesterday (14 April 2014) was the Global Day of Action Against Military Spending (GDAMS).

Over 100 organizations around the world have been involved in this vision. This is a wake up call to all of us to convert the yearly $1.7 trillion worldwide on the military into spending that meets our human needs of good health, free education for all, adequate housing, enriched cultural facilities, clean environment, good governance (with Departments of Peace) — the works.



In Canada, Steven Staples (of Rideau Institute and Ceasefire) has urged us to send a letter to the Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver with a message, such as the following.

Dear Minister Oliver,

Today I join with people all over the world seeking a reduction of military spending. I urge you to commit to reducing military spending to pre-September 11, 2001 levels, freeing up $2.5 billion every year to support our social programs.

In committing ourselves to a world without wars, let's remember some of the strong resources that we have to make this change not only possible, but inevitable:

• War is 'the slavery of our times' (Lev N. Tolstoy, 1900), an idea that resonates with the notion of 'the kingdom of God is within you'. Like slavery, war needs to be gotten rid of. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr shared this path.
• 'War is a racket' (Major General Smedley Butler, 1935). 'It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.'
• War is 'learned behaviour' that can be unlearnt (Seville Statement on Violence, 1989). Reason must thrump fear.
• 'Nonkilling society is possible' (Glenn D. Paige, Center for Global Nonkilling, 2002). 'At least 95% of humans have not killed.'
• 'Thou shalt not kill' is a commandment that is shared with Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Humanism, Mennonites, Quakers, and many others. In all societies, murder is disapproved.
• My ancestors, Spirit Wrestlers/Doukhobors, burnt their guns in Tsarist Russia in 1895 because they showed reverence for life from the spirit of Love/Beauty/God within.
• Cooperation is better than conflict.
• Hope is better than fear.

GDAMS as a model for a world without war requires creativity. It challenges us to take money out of the military and funnel it into various human needs based on a culture of peace and nonkilling. This is a call for humanity. Let's get on with it my friends of Planet Earth.

Nonkilling Mennonites 150 Years Ago

Article submitted by Dr. Lawrence Klippenstein regarding nonkilling global peace.

I really like the emphasis of a "nonkilling solution." For 30 years I have been researching Mennonites who, more than 150 years ago, began working on a "nonkilling" solution in Crimea. Here is my most recent article:

Mennonites and the Crimean War (1853-1856):

Three Eyewitness Accounts, (2012, PDF, 20 pages)

Because the first Mennonite COs and non-combatants assisted Russian soldiers who killed, they did not provide a perfect "nonkilling solution." Later they improved.

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Dr. Lawrence Klippenstein is a long-serving board member and former Historian-Archivist, Mennonite Heritage Centre; and an independent scholar, living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His 1984 PhD thesis was about Mennonite pacifism. In 1998, he received the Prix Manitoba Award by the Manitoba government for his accomplishments as a writer, teacher, researcher, historian, archivist, and linguist of Mennonite culture. He was Editor of Windows to the West Reserve: A Mennonite Heritage Preservation Newsletter, from the first issue in 2002 to the last in 2008. He taught at the Elim Christian Education Centre in Altona, before it closed in 1986.

Many Publications

• WorldCat author list
• Amazon author list
• OCLC - Online Computer Library Center
• Wikipedia citations
• GAMEO - Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
• Lawrence Klippenstein, 'Mennonite Pacifism and State Service in Russia: A Case Study in Church-State Relations, 1789-1936,' PhD dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1984.

Online Publications

Manitoba Historical Society, 6 articles

Klippenstein, Lawrence. Manitoba Settlement and the Mennonite West Reserve (1875-1876), Manitoba Pageant, Autumn 1975, Volume 21, Number 1

Klippenstein, Lawrence, and Julius G. Toews, eds. Mennonite Memories: Settling in Western Canada. Winnipeg, MB: Centennial Publications, 1977.

Bender, Harold S. and Lawrence Klippenstein. "Archives." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1990.

Klippenstein, Lawrence. Conscientious Objectors in Eastern Europe: The Quest for Free Choice and Alternative Service, in Protestantism and Politics in Eastern Europe and Russia: The Communist and Postcommunist Eras, edited by Sabrina P. Rame, Duke University Press, 1992, pages 276-309.

Klippenstein, Lawrence. Mennonites and Military Service in the Soviet Union to 1939, in Challenge to Mars: Essays on Pacifism from 1918 to 1945, edited by Peter Brock, Thomas Paul Socknat, University of Toronto Press, 1999, pages 3-18.

Klippenstein, Lawrence. Book Review: Wilmer A. Harms, The Odyssey of Escapes from Russia: The Saga of Anna K, Mennonite Life, V.55, N.2, June 2000.

Forestry Service among Mennonites in Tsarist Russia, by Dr. Lawrence Klippenstein, (bottom of) Annual Report of the Mennonite Church Pertaining to the Maintenance of the Forestry Service in 1908, Transcribed by Michael Penner. Published 2005.

Klippenstein, Lawrence, and Alf Redekopp, website historical consultants. Alternative Service in the Second World War: Conscientious Objectors in Canada: 1939 – 1945.

Song: 'From Russia With Peace'

Introduction by Koozma

The song 'From Russia With Peace' was written to celebrate the Doukhobors' burning their guns in Russia, on midnight of June 28-29, 1895. It was composed in 1982 by Jim Stark of Shawville, Quebec, a writer, singer, composer and peace activist, who I have known since the 1970s.

In 1977 Jim Stark and Peter Brown founded Operation Dismantle (a non-profit national nuclear disarmament organization). Jim served as President and CEO until 1985. In 2004, he founded the non-profit NGO 'Vote World Parliament' known as Democratic World Parliament Through a Global Referendum and since then has served on the Board.

The late John J. Verigin, Sr. (Honourary Chairman of the USCC, Grand Forks, BC) was a sponsor of Operation Dismantle; and his son, John J. Verigin, Jr, the current CEO of USCC, was active as a lobbyist at the United Nations.

Jim was a speaker and singer at the International Doukhobor Intergroup Symposium in Castlegar, British Columbia, June 25 - 28, 1982. See pages 56-58 of the Symposium Proceedings for his talk on 'Operation Dismantle' in which he ends with the following words: '…I think that we, the people, might and probably shall overcome all obstacles and see the day, or perhaps it will be left to our children, or grandchildren, when the world will in fact do to the nuclear bomb, what the Doukhobors have done to their guns so many years ago.'

Jim Stark has written over a dozen fiction and nonfiction books, most available through Amazon. However, Jim writes that 'the three best The LieDeck Revolution (Book #1, The Opening, and Book #2 The Endgame) and Beaner Wiener (an autobiography of a cat) are not there, as I am trying my best to find traditional publishers for them (not much luck so far).' 

As well, Jim writes: 'The LieDeck books were best-selllers as e-books on Fictionwise for several months. I never receive a penny from Fictionwise, but at least I had the satisfaction of hearing from readers in a positive way.'

"From Russia with Peace" can be heard on YouTube and on his YouTube channel. Jim writes in April 2014: 'You can listen to a bunch more of my songs. You have my permission to use any or all of them however you wish.'

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From Russia With Peace    (© Jim Stark 1982)  Play

(This story starts in) eighteen ninety-four on a day
When a middle aged man was to make his way
From down in the land of Genghis Khan
To the exiled-in-Siberia man

(Well he) walks all day and he walks all night
And the tsar of Russia wants to make him go fight
Spirit wrestler looking for the light and
Thinkin’ of his wife and son, oh, thinkin’ of his wife and son

(It happened that the) journey up took half of a year ’n’ as he
Reached his goal he was filled with fear
His boots all muddy and his hat all fur
“Is Peter Verigin here, good sir?”

Well the guard looked down with his eyes of fire
These people were a threat to the whole empire
“You better not cut it too close to the wire
Five minutes is all you won, oh, five minutes is all you won

(Finally the) weary traveler walked in the cell
And he wished his spiritual leader well
A warm embrace and a tear that fell
And a host of troubling stories to tell

“Take off your boots,” the prisoner said,
“You gonna walk outa here in mine instead.
There’s papers at the bottom that’ve gotta be read
There’s a great deal to be done, oh, there’s a great deal to be done …”

(Soon they found the) time for departure was well near nigh
And it’s funny how five little minutes can fly
The traveler spoke his sad farewell
“Your message to the folks back home I’ll tell.”

“Every person is a holy font and
Murder by the state I do not want.
Gather your weapons and let ’em all taunt ya
Burn ’em up every one, oh, burn ’em up every one.”

(The people gathered) loaded rifles by the wagon full
It took twenty-two teams of horses to pull
With dry manure bricks and kerosene
It made a midnight blaze like ya never seen

Hymns were sung as the bullets flew
God was praised but the people knew
Troops would come and beat them blue
And send them on the run, oh and send them on the run.

(And then it was from) Kars and from Slavyanka they fled
In Bogdanovka people lay dead
Russia could be their home no more
But Canada opened its bountiful door

Now these thousands, brave and calm,
Bring to the nations a modern-day psalm
The world’s gotta do to the nuclear bomb
What the Doukhobors done to the gun, oh
The world’s gotta do to the nuclear bomb
What the Doukhobors done to the gun, oh!

A Russian’s View of Crimea

I get correspondence from around the world. This is about the situation in Crimea from a scholar who wishes to remain anonymous. Several notes are combined and edited.

"Putin's Russia" by Sergei Yelkin,The Moscow Times, 9 Nov. 2014. 

 

You are absolutely correct in your article: The Next Cold War? The whole representation of the events in Canadian media is based only and exclusively on lies. Russians and Ukrainians really have nothing to argue about, and nothing to split; we used to be one nation, and our languages and cultures are so similar.

If this was left to us common people, we would find ways to resolve all the issues, but the easiest way for politicians to gain popularity and votes is by fueling nationalism, so it is the shameless politicians who deliberately set people against each other to divide and conquer, and they climb to the tops of political power on hatred, blood, and nationalism.

Crimea is a disputed territory (to put it mildly), originally belonging to Ancient Greece, then Ottoman Empire, it was captured by Russia in 1871 and remained Russian until 1954, when it was given to Ukraine by idiot Khrushchev … as a present for Ukraine joining Russia some 200 years earlier. Once they split from Russia, doesn't it annul the ‘present’?

Ukrainian government (a bad one, I agree) was overthrown in a coup (illegal per se), and the new government which status is questionable passed a discriminatory legislation excluding Russian from the official languages of the country. This deprived 1/3 of the population of Ukraine of the ability to maintain and use their native Russian language. Crimea was an autonomous territory within Ukraine, and thus relatively independent. Disgusted Crimeans in turn overthrew their pro-Ukraine government, held a perfectly legitimate referendum, and decided to join Russia. Incidentally, their (Crimean republic) new language legislation is highly progressive and democratic, as it includes 3 languages (Russian, Ukrainian and Tartar) as the official language of the republic.

• Where is the attack on Ukraine? Where is the occupation?
• Suppose Canadian government undertook an action similar to that of Ukraine government and … forbade Quebecois to speak French? Wouldn't THIS action result with another referendum in Quebec and their separation from Canada?
• Why are the results of the previous Quebec referendum LEGITIMATE, and Crimean not legitimate? Because the previous Quebec referendum barely left Quebec in Canada. Suppose it didn't?
• Why was it OK for multiple countries to split (Yugoslavia, Czech republic, etc.) and redefine their boundaries, but not Crimea?
• Why was it OK for territories to SPLIT from Russia, but not join Russia?
• Why was it OK for Hawaii OCCUPIED by Americans to join the USA?
• Why is the Canadian government making statements about their support of Ukraine, when Ukraine government made a discriminatory language planning decision?

The Ukrainian government proclaimed Bandera (a Nazi collaborator who murdered many people during WW II) a …national hero. Is this what Canada supports as well by the act of supporting the Ukrainian government?

Now, I am all for peaceful negotiation, but the referendum was peaceful.

All Doukhobors know what dreadful effects language discrimination has on minorities. I admire Doukhobors so much because they recognized the corruption of world governments, and refused to participate in hatred and division. They opposed the oppression of nation states and attempts to build self-governance systems. And threatened governments retaliated by renewed and reinforced oppression on both sides of the globe — Russia and Canada alike, the place of people struggling for their rights …was in prison.

I feel I missed my time — I wish I were in Canada in 1930s!!!

---

Long comment / letter from Hans Sinn, Perth, Ontario, 3 April 2014, and from Simon Wolf, Member of the Executive Board of the Initiative for Central and Eastern Europe, Germany.

---

Research

1. ‘Пророчиства Америки о России’ [Prophecy by America about Russia]. From American archives in the 1920s and 1930s. YouTube (6:33 min.), Nov. 26, 2013.
2. ‘This is the one map you need to understand Ukraine’s crisis,’ ;Washington Post, January 24, 2014.
3. ‘Learn How the United States is Behind the Kiev Ukraine Riots,’ YouTube, Infowars.com, You Tube, Feb. 18, 2014.
4. ‘I am a Ukrainian’ Video Exposed As Kony Style Scam, YouTube, Feb 20, 2014.
5. ‘Danger of Nuclear War,’ by John Scales Avery, WagingPeace.org, March 14, 2014.
6. 'This map shows what the loss of Crimea really means for Ukraine,’ Washington Post, March 21, 2014.
7. ‘Ukraine and Yugoslavia,’ by Diana Johnstone, Portside.org, 22 March 2014.
8. ‘Ukraine Crisis Highlights Ugly Global Energy Truths,’ by Andrew Nikiforuk, CounterCurrents.org, March 27, 2014.
9. ‘Western Looting Of Ukraine Has Begun,’ Blog by Paul Craig Roberts, March 30,2014.
10. ‘Will America Save Europe?’ The Equedia Letter, March 30, 2014.
11. ‘If You’re Surprised by Putin’s Move in Crimea You’ve Not Been Paying Attention,’ by Dr. David Stefancic, History News Network, 7 April 2014.
12. ‘The Strangelove Effect - or How We Are Hoodwinked Into Fighting a New Cold War,’ by John Pilger, Truthout | Op-Ed, 18 April 2014.
13. 'The Crimean Crisis and US Hypocrisy. "War of Words" to Justify Outright Aggression,' by Kourosh Ziabasi, Global Research, 31st March 2014.
15. War by media and the triumph of propaganda, JohnPilger.com, 5 December 2014.

Demonize War Not People !

In 1900 Lev. N. Tolstoy declared: War is ‘the slavery of our times’.

Today I declare: ‘War is a ‘public enemy’ — criminal and extremely damaging to society.

In 1895, my Spirit Wrestler (Doukhobor) ancestors burned their guns to say that the spirit of love/God in each of us forbids us to kill each other. Both Tolstoy and the Doukhobors did not condemn people, they rightly condemned the criminal evil of violence and wars.

During the current Russia-Ukraine crisis, puffed up by the news, I have been appalled by the demonizing rhetoric of Western leaders, the follow-the-herd mentality of much of the media, the eagerness of the government-military-industrial complex to increase spending, and the naivety of so many who think threat of war is the best solution.

The total cost of war in the past century is estimated at over 80 million. (The Canadian Friends Service Committee  have estimated the cost to be over $1 trillion. I suspect the real cost to be well over $2 trillion.) During World War II, Russians lost over 27 million people. The Nazi siege of Leningrad cost over 700,000 civilian lives — more than total number of soldiers killed during WWII from the U.S., U.K., and Canada. And today we know that many more surviving soldiers have PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorders) which affects many more family and friends — uncounted millions of people suffer. 

To me it seems that only winners in war are those who profit from it (namely, the oil magnates, Big Banks and the Military industrial complex). This is a huge, preventable crime against humanity!

Historian Margaret MacMillan suggests that World War I could have been avoided if civil people negotiated alternatives to find win-win solutions. She said there was ‘nothing inevitable about the war’. The leaders of Europe could have chosen peace.(1)

Violence and war are learned behaviours. The 1986 Seville ‘Statement on Violence’ declared ‘...Just as wars begin in the minds of men’, peace also begins in our minds. The same species who invented war is capable of inventing peace. The responsibility lies with all of us.(4)

Glenn D. Paige of the Center for Global Nonkilling, has a solution. Dr. Paige presents a convincing case that we can stop lethal violence. What would happen if part of the annual $2 trillion spent on war was diverted to avoiding war?(2)

I also blame journalists who naively assume war is inevitable, and stereotype people into races who must fight each other. I suggest alternative peace seeking interview questions:

What are you doing to prevent war?

• What is your position on creating a Department of Peace in parliament?
• What are you doing to secularize our country, to integrate nationalities and religions?
• How can our educational institutions better promote peace?
• What programs do you support for international friendship?
• What is the progress of reducing our nuclear weapons?

Avoiding war is a primary task of our civilization today. By diverting war funds to peace we focus on life, health research, education, pollution, infrastructure (roads, bridges, transportation) and quality of life for all.

Let’s get on with it before the patriotic war flames consume us.

Research

1. Margaret MacMillan. 2002. Six Months That Changed the World: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919.
2. Glenn D. Paige. 2002. Nonkilling Global Political Science.
3. Joam Evans Pim (ed). 2013. Nonkilling Security & The State.
4. David Adams, et al. 1989. ‘The Seville Statement on Violence: A Status Report.’ Journal of Peace Research, vol. 26: 120-121.
5. Ralph Nader. March 24, 2014. ‘Obama to Putin: Do as I Say Not as I Do’.
6. Thalif Deen (IPS - Transcend Media Service). March 24, 2014. ‘Ukraine Coup Lawful, Crimea Referendum Unlawful?’.
7. Prof. James Petras (Transcend Media Service). March 24, 2014. ‘Violence and Terror: The Ukrainian Colombian Road to Empire Building.’
8. Norman Pollack (CounterPunch). March 24, 2014. ‘Ukraine as Stalking Horse: The Rise of Fascism in the West.’
9. Uri Avnery (Transcend Media Service). March 24, 2014. ‘A Hundred Years Later.’
10. Robert Parry (Consortium News). 'Ukraine: The Danger of False Narrative.' March 27, 2014. 

Play Review: This is War

This is War is a 90-minute play about the traumatic psychological experiences of 4 Canadian soldiers in 2008 in a volatile region of Afghanistan with little backup support. The play is a case study of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), showing how war harms society.

Warning:  This play contains mature content and strong language.

I was invited by members of PeaceQuest to join them and met about 16 fellow pacifists. After the play we met for dinner to get to know each other, but the restaurant was too noisy to talk. I did meet their funder, Sister Pauline, a nun who heads a religious order that donated $25,000 in seed money.

The play had toured in the USA, and is now in Canada. I was impressed with This is War performed at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa, Ontario, on February 22nd. The main message of the play was the negative effect of PTSD on the soldiers as a result of their horrible war experiences which the actors describe. Long-term symptoms can include spousal abuse, divorce, suicide, drinking, and drug addiction. War damage is extensive, costly and chronic.

The topic of PTSD has been frequently reported in the newspapers and I have met a doctor who is in our peace group who has PTSD as a result of his service in Afghanistan.

Playwright Hannah Moscovitch peers inside the stories of 4 soldiers (3 men, 1 woman) on the ground. A 5th character is an imaginary journalist (the audience), which each soldier often addressed by facing the audience, often saying “F--k” while reporting what happened to them.

The setting is the Taliban resurgence in the Battle of Panjwayi, 2006-2009. The actors describe horrible actions, such as killing a 5-year-old Afghan child by mistake. “You were told that if you feel harmed or threatened, you shoot first and ask questions later.” Sometimes events are rerun two or three times with small changes in costumes. Often the same event is reported differently by each actor.

The woman, Corporal Tanya Young (played by Sarah Finn), easily but troublesomely succumbs to sexual relations with Sergeant Stephan Hughes (played by John Ng) and with Private Jonny Henderson (played by Drew Moore).The fourth member, Sergeant Chris Anders (played by Brad Long), is a gay medic who strives as best he can to be a healer.

The play does not preach, but simply shows the ugly facts and invites the viewer to be the judge. I say all who fought in wars are innocent pawns of government, and the personal and social costs of war are real.

For me it is obvious that the wider public has not heard the wisdom of moral leaders such as Lev Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., who in their times have stated that the price of war is horrendous, it is a crime and it is a slavery of our times. In 1961, the former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower on the last days of his Presidency warned the nation that the military industrial complex is the greatest threat to society.

War teaches us to kill another member of the human family. That disconnect goes against the whole grain of everything that we have been taught in school and in church of being kind to others. Morality goes out the door as soldiers are trained to kill automatically. There is no brotherly or sisterly love to our neighbours. War is we (the ‘good’ people) against them (the ‘inhuman enemy’). Liquor and drugs are often given out to soldiers just before going into battle so as to ensure that 'they will kill’.

In Canada, in 2009, a physician from Saskatchewan, Dr. Dale Dewar, wrote me:

I regard war as an archaic form of interpersonal relationship on a grand scale but much like bullying on the playground or spousal abuse. Just as these activities were once widespread and ignored, so utterly, do I believe that war will be one day regarded as obscene. Its utter waste of human resources — lives, intelligence, time and money — devoted to childish ‘games’ will eventually end — or the human race will end.

If ‘this is war’, then it is long overdue that we as conscientious citizens of this or that country need to work actively together to get rid of war as we have done with human slavery years ago. This means no more glorifying war. It means working for peace….Remember that wars will cease when men and women refuse to fight.

Research

1. John Scales Avery, Transcend Media Service. ‘Against the Institution of War.’ Feb. 2014.

2. Joam Evans Pim (ed). Nonkilling Security and the State. 2013.

3. On the Spirit Wrestlers website:

• What can $2 trillion do?
• War — the Slavery of Our Times
• Why Glorify War?
• Book Review-Editorial: The End of War

What can $2 trillion do?

How much health and well being can our global war budget of $2 trillion buy? ‘World Beyond War’, a new 10 minute video I just saw and recommend, contrasts 2 choices:

Choice 1 — People, health, housing, education, infrastructure, rights rather than privileges, clean environment ...
Choice 2 — Violence, death, waste, pollution, poverty, sickness, hatred, …

The 2 competing outcomes are explained with a few charts, many photos, and archival video quotes from President Eisenhower and M.L. King Jr. It’s a message most of my readers know, presented in a fresh and easy to understand manner.

The dichotomy (Choice 1 or 2) is similar to guns or butter (economics), and swords or ploughs (religion), but without metaphor or analogy. Its directness reminds me of the forgotten wisdom of Tolstoy, Gandhi, and King about justice and love.

WBW launched last September from Virginia USA, using social media to teach peace. The website has a petition and educational material.

Education is the key to improving our future on planet earth.

I add WorldBeyondWar.org to my list of recommended study websites.

Global Action on Military Spending hosts an annual global day of action in April, and provides signs, such as 'Cut Military Spending - Fund Human Needs!', and a 2-minute video: ‘What Would it Cost to Save the World?’

War Resisters League puts out an annual pie chart on military and domestic spending.
This is very useful and easily understood for USA. We need something like this for Canada.

Project Ploughshares, Waterloo, Ontario, says: ‘and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more.’

Transcend International has a chart: Some Consequences and Costs of War, and other resources. 'We are a Peace Development Environment Network. Our aim is to bring about a more peaceful world by using action, education/training, dissemination and research.'

Center for Global Nonkilling in Hawaii provides many free books and tools designed 'to promote change toward the measurable goal of a killing-free world by means open to human creativity in reverence for life.'

Historians Against War testify: ‘... we stand opposed to wars ... to dominate the internal life of other countries….’

Tribute to Peter F. Chernoff (1934 - 2014)

Born May 19, 1934, died February 10, 2014.
Obituary in the Regina Leader Post, Feb. 13, 2014

Peter was a teacher, a family man, the Best Man at my wedding, and a friend.

His family was academic, although his parents never completed public school. Peter and his siblings Walter and Mae (Popoff) all graduated from college, and his wife to be Irene Smorodin was Mae's college roommate. We first met in the mid-1950s while students at the University of Saskatchewan.

We were active members of the Saskatoon Doukhobor Student Group which supported The Inquirer, a monthly publication that I was editing and publishing. Peter submitted 2 letters to the editor:

• November 1956, page 10 — Believes That an International Police Force Would Solve the Problem of War
• October 1957, page 7 — Variety is the Spice of Life: Enjoyed the wit and humour of the column Dasha.

Peter Chernoff in sweater with 'E' for Education.

In September 1957, we attended the 4th annual Intergroup Relations Conference for young adults in Banff, Alberta conducted jointly by the University of Alberta and the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews. We interacted with members of many ethnic groups (photo right). One Resource leader William G. Dixon explained that the Sons of Freedom zealots are ‘a test of the Canadian conscience.’(Cover and story, The Inquirer, September 1957, page 3) Photo right from page 202, Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers (2002).

In December 1957 (photo below), we participated in a joint Doukhobor project: Building Bridges of Understanding. Independent Doukhobor youth from Saskatchewan traveled to British Columbia to meet Community Doukhobors. We conducted panel discussions, slide shows and talks of a trip to Europe, a stage play, banquets, socials, tours, visits, and choral performances. The photo below shows Peter (3rd from left in glasses) and me (5th) before a thousand people discussing: ‘Where Do We Go From Here? — The future of the Doukhobor movement.’ Peter was proud to be the Announcer in a play called: ‘A Man and his Conscience.’

1957 Doukhobor Youth Conference. Chernoff 3rd from left.

Peter contributed 4 pages to my last big book documenting his family history: ‘A Patriarch and His Family During the Early Homestead Days,’ Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers (2002), pages 198-203; and he wrote the sidebar on page 201: ‘Lessons I learned from 11 September.’ For the introduction I wrote:

‘As a concerned Doukhobor, Peter told me that his grandfather George often said that any fool could destroy something, as in a war, but it takes clever people to build things. It seems that our 21st century nations are still far from being clever. In preparing for the Doukhobor Centenary in 1995, Peter wrote me: “The Doukhobors really did write a chapter in the history of mankind on this planet, even though they were ahead of their time. The time will come!”, he said….’

The ongoing Olympics reminds me that his son Rob Chernoff was a star swimmer athlete at the University of Calgary who represented Canada at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Peter was a man with a vision and hope, of wisdom who has shown the way. If Peter was still here today, he might say this to us about his world:

My world, the one I created, is not perfect, but it is good enough. One day I will leave the light. Right now I want to Will something to you — I Will you my world as an inheritance. Please keep it healthy and beautiful, expand it, enrich it, and enjoy it. Do not be sad when something good goes by. Acknowledge it that you have had it in your life. Enjoy light and life! We accept your Will and the wisdom to carry it forth in our lives. My dear friend, Peter, you have made your mark on this earth for family, friends, neighbours, for all of us. With your exemplary Spirit Within, you have shown the Olympian pathway to love, beauty, friendship, and joy.

Rest in peace, my friend. Rest in peace.

Tommy Douglas and Universal Health Care

On November 16, 2013, I attended a panel discussion on ‘Living the Dream: a healthy society for all, how a focus on health can revive Canadian democracy’, hosted in downtown Ottawa by the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation.

I attended mainly to learn about adding dental and prescription drugs to our national health care, and I had a personal interest in Douglas and gratitude for his work.

I grew up in Saskatchewan when Tommy Douglas (1904-1986) was in office and co-led the battle to give us universal health care in 1962. I personally briefly met him once. In 2013 he was honored with a commemorative stamp on the 50th anniversary of our Medicare legislation.

It happened that the birth of my daughter was expected during the 1962 Doctors’ Strike in Saskatchewan against the new socialized medicine. We were relieved when an English doctor came to deliver her in our apartment.

When I had my open heart surgery in 2006, I was again very thankful that Canada provided universal health care. I got excellent care.

Living the Dream

At the meeting, I heard 3 panelists assert that

• our future as a nation depends on healthy citizens, and
• our health insurance can be improved if we work together

Dr. Ryan Meili, a Saskatchewan physician, said, ‘whether you live long depends greatly on the health system.... Other determinants of health include income, housing, food, and employment.’ International healthcare data show that Canada compares well in longevity and costs in a 2008 comparison of 8 countries, surpassed by Japan.

Dr. Vincent Lam, a Toronto physician who wrote a biography of Tommy Douglas, said ‘we must dream boldly in how to achieve our dream.’ He quoted a conversation with actress Shirley Douglas (daughter of the late Tommy Douglas), who recalled that her Dad, at the end of his political career said that ‘one day we will go to the moon’ and we did; and ‘one day we will have a publicly-funded health care in Canada’ and we have.

Dennis Gruending, panel moderator, said that ‘living the dream is possible if we set our minds to do it.’ Dennis pointed out that the current Conservative government of Stephen Harper established expensive border services, built new prisons and enlarged the military. ‘If it can do that, surely it can find the resources to ensure the fulfillment of our dream in getting a full proper universal health care for our citizens in this country, as Tommy Douglas had envisaged it more than 50 years ago.’

In 2004 Tommy Douglas was crowned the ‘Greatest Canadian’ undoubtedly for his hard work to pass the first universal health care act in North America — for which all Canadians are most thankful. But we can improve it.

This ‘Father of Medicare’ was a Baptist minister, a federal Member of Parliament and Premier of Saskatchewan for 5 terms, up to 1960. Like many Canadians, he believed full health care was a human right that superseded private interests. We should unite to realize that dream by adding dental and drug services!

Doukhobor Documentary from Kars, Turkey

Kars, Turkey — The first draft of a new video documentary about Doukhobors is ready for proofing according to Vedat Akçayöz (Alchayoz), Director of the Kars Culture and Arts Association. He reports that translations into Russian and English should be complete in about 2 weeks, and a draft copy is being sent to Koozma Tarasoff for inspection.

Vedat hopes he can present this video in Canada at the 2014 USCC Union of Youth Festival in May. Sponsors are needed to fund his plane ticket (~$900), then volunteers for billeting and tour guiding.

He also sent a third drawing (below) by Ismet Koyuncu, a retired art teacher in Kars, titled (Turkish/English) : 1895- Duhoborlar Karahan 'da Silahlarını Yakıyorlar — The Spirit of the 1895 Arms Burning!

Vedat is one of the few descendants of Spiritual Christians remaining in Kars, Turkey. From his Prygun grandmother and mother he learned about ancestors in local villages and their pilfered cemeteries. For more than 15 years he has advocated for protection of the ruins and has became a volunteer historian. His previous work has been about non-Doukhobor Spiritual Christians (Turkish: Malakanlar).
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Survey of Published Films and Videos on the Doukhobors
More news from Turkey about Doukhobors.