Brian Dijkema
Brian Dijkema is the Vice President of External Affairs with Cardus, and an editor of Comment. Prior to joining Cardus, Brian worked for almost a decade in labour relations in Canada after completing his master's degree with Cardus Senior Fellow, Jonathan Chaplin. He has also done work on international human rights, with a focus on labour, economic, and social rights in Latin America and China.
Bio last updated May 23rd, 2023.
Articles by Brian Dijkema
The Repentance of Thieves and Murderers
By Brian Dijkema
February 9, 2012
The reason why Cubans in tandem shout "Viva la revolucion, Viva Fide!" (and more recently "Viva Raul") is that Fidel has consciously cultivated a cult of personality in which his history is equated with the history of the Cuban communist state
-
Inside Baseball: Why NeoCalvinists are Newer Calvinists Than They Think
Brian Dijkema
February 2, 2012
The difference in emphasis is between the renewal of hearts and the renewal of structures; conversion of hearts vs ...
-
What the Monks of Tibhirine Teach Us about Faith and Public Life
Brian Dijkema
January 27, 2012
Of Gods and Men is a violent film, but it is so good because the conflict—the seed of drama—is not one between men with guns, but within the hearts of men who self-consciously exist to love God and love their neighbours, and they do so within an institution dedicated to that task ...
-
Helping the Humanities Out of its Funk
Brian Dijkema
January 26, 2012
While I don't want to make a direct connection, there is a phenomenon which, I think, shows that the hard sciences might be doing a better job at expanding dialogue than the humanities For one reason or another—you see it even on this blog—the humanities tend to come in for greater scrutiny than the...
-
We live in a Culture of Lies . . . So What?
Brian Dijkema
January 20, 2012
He said that while he felt the book was right to point out that our culture is indeed rife with lies and half-truths, he ended up by saying: "so I was speaking to a friend of mine over the holidays about Marilyn Chandler McEntyre's book Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies ...
-
Go Inquire About What is Written in this Book that has been Found
Brian Dijkema
January 18, 2012
The Bible is, as Marilynne Robinson notes, "the book of books," and interest in Scriptures, even if they are understood allusions, ...
-
How we think of religious freedom
Brian Dijkema
January 12, 2012
He notes that "freedom of religion is not itself religious; rather, it reflects the modern decision to put (and keep) religion in its proper place But while Orwin's article gets at why religious freedom is important even for non-believers, there is one line in his article which could use some explan...
-
What does debt do to us?
Brian Dijkema
January 5, 2012
He suggests that those who see government debt as a guillotine hanging by a thread over the head of the American public have it wrong ...
-
Hope Against Those Who Have No Hope
Brian Dijkema
December 22, 2011
Is the expression of "simple, unalloyed kindness" an appropriate response to the death of a tyrant so heinous as Kim Jung-Il? By all accounts he did his best to destroy everything that is good and beautiful and true in his country by making a god of himself, torturing Christians, starving his people...
-
Hidden Costs of Prosperity
Brian Dijkema
December 15, 2011
It not only contains one of the most open challenges to Canadian sovereignty I've read, but it is written at a time when Europe—a continent which reflects most closely the policy proposal he offers in the article—is in the midst of a 26-alarm economic and political disaster ...
-
White Bread Liberalism is Stale
Brian Dijkema
December 8, 2011
The problem with the document is that it attempts to turn the public square into a sterile, bleached white space, devoid of such "irritants" as the smell of curry, body odour, religion, and culture ...
-
Taking responsibility together
Brian Dijkema
December 1, 2011
It is true that the people of Attawapiskat aren't the only ones responsible for the problems they're facing ...
-
Ireland and Quebec
Brian Dijkema
November 24, 2011
George Weigel has a fascinating article "On the Square" at First Things yesterday which surveys the the situation of the Catholic church in Ireland ...
-
Money Ain't a Thing
Brian Dijkema
November 17, 2011
We'll either suffer the economic consequences that come as a result of the frugal living (which will keep demand—and growth—low) that is required to slowly emerge from the weight of debt we find ourselves crushed under, or we'll suffer the indignity of policies which will be inherently unjust to tho...
-
Remember and Believe
Brian Dijkema
November 10, 2011
Remembrance Day—perhaps more than any other day in our national calendar—calls out for remembrance of flesh and blood, and that remembrance is most true in its connection to a God who is flesh and blood, a God who also suffered and died ...
-
I'll Take the Candy—Hold the Confusion
Brian Dijkema
October 27, 2011
The Jesusween movement was begun because "the world and its system have a day set aside (October 31st) to celebrate ungodly images and evil characters while Christians all over the world participate, hide or just stay quiet on Halloween day ...
-
The New York Times' (and America's) Rejection of Faith
Brian Dijkema
October 20, 2011
The New York Times published an article this week opining on the evangelical rejection of reason ...