Last month's Calgary Herald Black Mark series focused on lower voter turnout as a sign of "dwindling democracy." And while citizens voting, vibrant political parties and effective political processes are important characteristics of democratic health, not enough attention is paid to the contribution of other civil society organizations. The public square involves much more than politics. Joining civil society organizations is as much an act of citizenship as is voting. On the one hand, we take it as a given that community groups, labour unions, chambers of commerce, and trade associations take positions on the issues of the day. We expect to read their opinions in the news and we understand that public opinion on issues is often informed by the back-and-forth between organizational spokespersons. On the other hand, we dismiss much of this as self-serving on the part of these organizations. If the conversation is about undoing the dwindling of democracy, then the importance of civil society institutions is a necessary topic. Civil society organizations need to be challenged to think in terms of the public good. They are most compelling when they inspire a vision that benefits everyone, not just their members. They are uniquely positioned to bring the expertise of their constituency to bear on the issues of the day. In most cases, it turns out that the long-term interest of their constituency is best served by such a public good focus. A cultural shift also needs to happen in how individuals view joining such organizations. Take a business person joining an industry association, for example. One might consider it using a private cost-benefit analysis. Another approach would be to consider joining the association as an act of citizenship, in the same way that going to vote is making a civic contribution even if you are convinced that your vote is unlikely to alter the election's outcome. Consider how an industry association shapes public life. It is almost a default reaction for politicians to seek credit (or be given blame) when the local job climate changes, but the vibrancy of the industry association can play as significant a role as general economic policy. At the local level, most operators define their competition within their own product area. In other words, a widget manufacturer only sees his or her competitors as being other widget manufacturers. The nature of a global economy, however, is such that real competition happens between sectors rather than between companies. While Company A may see Company B against whom they bid for specific jobs as their competitor, in the larger scheme of things a local industry is competing as a group against other similar groups in other regions (or depending on the product), on the other side of the globe. It is often the industry association that does the legwork that provides the opportunity for Company A and B. How can a single company manufacturing widgets in Calgary hope to exert real influence in this sort of world? Well, it can't. Or to put it another way, it can't do it individually, but it can create a voice if it acts through or forms an industry association. Effective companies have known this for years and have acted on the local level to define and act on issues of shared interest through groups like the Calgary Motor Dealers Association and the Canadian Home Builders Association -- Calgary Region for dealing with local matters. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is better equipped than government to deal with certain issues that impact the Calgary economy than is government. A vibrant industry association is a vital component to a healthy economic sector. Another function of trade associations is to build social capital. Often these associations assist in the development of the skills necessary for individual social capital capacity. They also assist by organizing events and opportunities that allow members to interact with customers, partners or competitors that individuals are unlikely to know or meet otherwise. It is important that citizens vote and are engaged in the political processes if our democracy is to be sustained. But there are other things that also need to occur. Civil society institutions need to be vibrant and active and also retain the engagement of their constituencies. This is necessary both to sustain the public conversation and to carry on what they can do best. Joining and being involved in such an association is as much an act of citizenship as voting. Our democracy would be strengthened if more of us did both.

Calgary is currently buzzing with architectural ambition and aspiration. The skyline will be changed with the construction of EnCana's new building, The Bow, along with several other new downtown projects. Various new residential communities market features that not only make them distinct, but also reflect creativity and a desire for beauty. Ideally, a city's architecture should not only be an inspiration to its citizens, it should be a reflection of those things that are at the core of its values and beliefs. It is a concrete and steel manifestation of how we dress; the colours we choose to highlight our natural state and the cut of cloth we select to best enhance our God-given features. Cities that do not pay attention to their architecture -- physical and intellectual -- are likely to be as unattractive and incapable of inspiring interest and excitement as any one of us would be if we showed up for an evening out wearing a sweat suit and a pair of brogues. In that sense, cities of aspiration are no different than individuals. Cities, too, need to dress for success. When it was first established, Calgary was no different than most 19th century cities. It was designed around commercial and cultural establishments -- the train station, the stockyards, hotels, theatres, secondary and post-secondary schools and certainly churches. These were the places where people worked, lived, learned and found inspiration. Yet throughout the 20th century, Calgary developed much like many other western North American cities, building from within an imbalanced central core. The downtown remained a centre of commercial activity, but as people moved to the suburbs their cultural activities moved with them. Given that the family home is the core of culture, this shift inspired churches, schools and shopping centres to follow people to the suburbs -- a move that almost clear-cut culture from the civic core, leaving it a place only for commercial or business activity. And, too often, the rush of churches, schools and shopping to the suburbs was not planned in an architecturally inspired fashion. Suburbs, for the most part, are comfortable and utilitarian, but quite uninspired. There are exceptions. McKenzie Towne, located in the southeast corner of the city, is one example of a community where core ideas, and not simply utilitarianism, shaped the design. The residential areas of the community offer distinct styles that incorporate elements of European, English, and Greek architecture. Following the "New Urbanist" principles that inspired it, McKenzie Towne has a pedestrian-friendly and accessible main street with shops that provide the staples of modern life as well as quaint items of interest. Critics will argue, not entirely without merit, that despite its design McKenzie Towne is not a real town. They point to the fact that it still averages almost two cars per household and that few of its residents actually work in the neighbourhood, meaning it is incomplete as a centre of commerce and culture. There is merit to this argument, but there is also little doubt that the developers of the area have created a framework for a real town, offering streets that give opportunities for intimacy and surprise, and structures -- High Street, McKenzie Towne Church, the Towne Hall, St. Albert the Great Church -- that offer a sense of distinctiveness. There is certainly more than one way to achieve a well-dressed city. Midnapore, a classic example of how suburban lava can consume a real town, offers different hints at how identity can be revived and re-established. St. Mary's University College and its presence have not only allowed the area to preserve its past, it seems also to inspire its mind and soul for a brighter future. As Calgary continues to grow, we need to aspire together to build a city that works and expresses itself well. Imagine, for instance, the difference that would be made if Calgary were to have its own opera house -- something that would impose itself on the city's visage in the manner of the Sydney Opera House in Australia -- instead of the somewhat utilitarian and non-descript presence of the Jubilee Auditorium. What a huge difference would be made to how we looked and how we felt about each other if the Epcor Centre for Performing Arts were as imposing and inspiring as the Lincoln Centre in New York? The Calgary Flames will be shopping for a new arena soon. What should it look like, particularly given the unique design of the Saddledome has become synonymous with the city's physical and cultural image? Are there other organizations needing a new home which could end up defining both them and Calgary? Ideas matter and civic planning is about the practical expression of ideas and imagination. Calgary has plenty of heart, but only planning in good faith can make sure it achieves its true potential as a city of aspiration. Ray Pennings is vice-president of research for the Work Research Foundation. Check out his blog at www.rpennings.blogspot.com.

In the 1970s and 1980s, a solitary figure wearing a hat and dark glasses would slip into the back pew of Ottawa's Notre Dame Basilica on Sussex Drive, several times a week, just in time to attend Mass. Forty years ago, this solitary devotee of the Mass began his tenure as Prime Minister of Canada, and instigated and institutionalized a legal, moral, social, and constitutional revolution unmatched by anything in Canada?s history. The devotee was none other than Pierre Elliott Trudeau whose name was given to a type of Canadian Liberal, to a decade ? the 1970s, and to the revolution he led. But was he a revolutionary? As Lester Pearson's attorney-general, Trudeau oversaw a Law Commission whose terms of reference were reform of the Criminal Code. Trudeau summed up the reform as getting "the State out of the nation's bedrooms." In 1969 as Prime Minister, Trudeau pushed through an omnibus Criminal Code reform bill that, among other things, liberalized abortion. Although the law permitted abortion only on 'therapeutic' grounds with the authorization of a hospital-based committee, abortion on demand was de facto the case in large parts of the country by 1970. On the economic front, no longer was the Liberal Party the party of balanced budgets. Trudeau opted for neo-Keynesian public spending that saw budget deficits grow to $34 billion with an accumulated federal debt just over $200 billion by 1984. But it was after he had lost power in 1979 and recovered it in 1980 for a final mandate that Trudeau institutionalized and launched his coup d'tat. The Canada Act (1982) put amendment of Canada's main constitutional tradition the BNA Acts, squarely in the hands of Canada?s federal Parliament and provincial legislatures, and created the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982). ?Coup d??tat?? No longer would Canadians ask the British Parliament to pass a statute amending the BNA Act. But while Canadians were empowered to amend their own constitution, parliamentary (legislative) supremacy was overthrown in favour of judicial supremacy. Up till 1982, the power of judges to review legislation and policy was limited to sorting out federal and provincial jurisdictions. For example, because the court ruled that unemployment insurance fell under provincial authority, a constitutional amendment was required before the federal government could create the federal Unemployment Insurance program in 1943. But from 1982 forward, the court was called upon to review all legislation and public policy when any citizen applied to it. Even if a federal or provincial government dared use Section 33 ''the notwithstanding clause'' it could only do so in respect of the rights enumerated in Sections 2 and 7 through 15. Rights in other sections were untouchable by Parliament or the legislatures. Less than six years after its proclamation and four years after Trudeau left office, the court sided with Henry Morgentaler in R v Morgentaler (1988), striking down Section 251 of the Criminal Code of Canada. All legal impediments to abortion on demand throughout pregnancy were removed. The Charter revolutionized Canadian culture, public and private. Where once schoolchildren were taught to appreciate the 'privileges' of education and of living in Canada, Charter children were indoctrinated into the culture of rights and entitlement. Where once Canadians were known for their tolerance of differences, the Charter culture of political correctness was imposed upon them. As the Charter's individualist, self-actualized rights-bearer was made king, institutions were diminished, including church, marriage and family, as well as the thousands of voluntary associations that made Canada fit for human habitation. The social contract of each generation?s leaving Canada better than they found it for the next generation, by self-sacrifice and service, was displaced by the Charter culture of individualism, self-centredness, and of the hedonistic, nihilistic, now! As John Paul II or the the ancient, Hebrew liberator and lawgiver Moses might have put it, Canadians gave up the culture of life, choosing instead the culture of death. How did a devout (as adjudged by his attendance at the Mass) Catholic Christian become responsible for instigating, and instituting, the most profound social, moral, legal, constitutional, and cultural revolution in Canadian history? He swallowed the secularist lie that faith is merely private, that it has nothing at all to do with what we do in public. But this is a lie, since someone's articles of faith, moral, legal, and otherwise, will tell us what is good, how we should act, and what we should expect of others. Who will reject the lie and lead a 21st-century revolution?

Cairo, Egypt?s capital and most populous city, is a chaotic hub of economic, cultural, and political activity; it is also deeply religious. Mosques dot the landscape of the city, becoming local nerve centres for the citizens as they go about their daily prayers. The city hums in resonance as its population is called to prayer five times a day. Christian youth flock to weekly question-and-answer sessions with the Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church. But behind the richly textured sights and sounds of the city?s mosques and minarets, religious institutions provide far more than is readily apparent. The city of Cairo, while predominantly Muslim, also has an historically strong Christian presence. For the Christian Zabellin, the city?s garbage collectors,participation in the church has had a profound impact on their community and the city itself. The Zabellin live on the outskirts of the city collecting, sorting, recycling, and selling its garbage. They provide an indispensable service to the city and many have actually made a good living out of their lifestyle, but the lifestyle is a malodorous and undesirable one which has consigned the Zabellin to an area on the fringe of Cairo known as the garbage village. The streets are grimy, uneven, and full of refuse. Families live in makeshift homes where garbage is sorted on the bottom floor, while people live in the upper floors. Until the 1980s, the thousands of Christians who inhabited the garbage village had no churches because Egypt maintains rules on the construction and refurbishment of churches that are intended to limit and politicize the expansion of churches. Moreover, the mainly Coptic Christians who lived in garbage city had difficulty accessing the churches within the city because of the distance and stigma associated with their profession. However, a priest with a vision came to the garbage village and began a church. Over time, the church grew into a network of several churches which transformed the community by establishing schools, health clinics, and churches. Despite the transformation, the newly formed churches had to solve the problem of not being able to build church buildings. The answer came with the discovery of a series of natural caves. The excavation of these caves provided an opportunity to create open-air churches without construction permits. Finally, a massive cathedral was created out of the largest of the caverns. Close to 6000 Egyptians attend weekly services at this outdoor cathedral. It has now been decorated with raised relief carvings by European artists inspired by the story of the so-called ?Monastery of St. Samaan.? Christians from all over Egypt come to visit the garbage village and to gasp in wonder at the beautiful churches that have been carved out of the cliff face. The cavernous cathedral has become a centre of pilgrimage for Christians from around the world. In one of the most unlikely of places the church has created something beautiful which has in many ways transformed the city. Michael Van Pelt, president of the Work Research Foundation, has observed that ?those who have spent a significant amount of time outside the global North are quick to see institutional religion alive, thriving, and bringing renewal and revival to the most depressed urban spaces.? Garbage city?s cathedral is a testimony to the vibrancy and pungency of religion in today?s urban spaces. The same is true of our urban centres; however, for those of us who live in the global North, the impact of religious institutions remains unseen. Historically cities have had an immense role in the propagation of religion, and religion has been a core element of the success and importance of cities. Ancient cities were typically organized around the shrine of a local god, and throughout history important religious buildings and teachings formed the lifeblood of cities. It is a conceit of our western culture that cities are solely planned communities that revolve around access to markets and transportation links which are built to service major industries or services. Yet, our western urban centres are still deeply impacted by religious institutions. Like the Cathedral of Garbage City, our faith centres have influenced the fabric of our cities. Unseen but Present: Three Impacts of Religious Institutions There are at least three ways in which religious institutions have had an impact upon our cities.The first, is the way in which church buildings contribute to the physical environment of a city. I fear at times that we have lost the wondrous way in which a church changes up the mundane skyline of a city; they contribute greatly to the character of a city. I grew up close to a large Pentecostal Assembly that boasted a colossal light-up cross that provided a landmark for the entire city. In another neighbourhood, the exotic architecture of the local mosque provided me with my earliest envisionings of Islam. Some of the most beautiful photographs from my hometown are those that feature portions of the local Roman Catholic basilica. No matter the excesses and pitfalls that have attended the phases of religious architecture, I think that these buildings take seriously Gideon Strauss?s comment in ?An Urban Village Vanguard?? that, ?they should seek to delight the imagination and offer social comfort? to those inside and outside the faith community. How much poorer and less interesting would the city be without these spaces? A second way in which religious institutions impact our cities is by providing services to the community. The highest profile agencies of social action are often those of a public and secular nature, but the workhorses of social policy in most every country around the world are not the departments of social welfare or ad hoc community networks, but rather religious charities. For example, the largest providers of comfort to the urban poor and destitute in the city of Vancouver are the Salvation Army and the Union Gospel Mission. There is also a burgeoning network of refugee hospices throughout Canada which arose from the model pioneered by The Matthew House, a Christian organization in Toronto. Furthermore, it is often religious communities that provide the social spaces for the mentally handicapped within our cities. Organizations like L?Arche form global networks of care for the mentally and physically handicapped members of our society. These are merely a few of the services and initiatives provided by our religious institutions, and they are vital to the well-being of our cities. Finally, religious institutions impact our cities as intellectual and social networking points. They serve as modern agoras in the network of ideas. I have spent much time in academia, which tends to think of itself as the epicentre of thought, when in fact it is largely a derivative of a more time-honoured trend among the great religious traditions of the ages. Religious institutions are where many of us are trained, socialized, and meet others to engage in debate, discussion, and friendship. They have cultivated and preserved music, craft, and visual artistry. They provide venues for other local organizations, from the conservatory of music, to political movements, to polling places. Without the church, our societies would be far more atomistic, would lack many networking opportunities and places to share our lives. So What? If religious institutions are so vital to the well-being of our urban communities, what does this mean? Why is it important for us to identify the role of religious institutions? First, the observation calls governments and other city stakeholders to look for creative ways in which religious institutions can help with the challenges that face cities. I am not suggesting the corporatist mode of state-society relations that grants to the state a role in cultivating and organizing churches, but a renewed discussion within a pluralist model of interest representation for religious institutions to be constructively engaged. States and religious congregations need to open up space for this kind of engagement. Both sides of the conversation need to be willing to work together to diffuse possible At a minimum, elected officials should cultivate links with faith communities and display their value through public statements and actions. Faith communities must also work to develop partnerships and strategically engage municipalities to bring about positive change within cities. This will often bring both conversation partners out of their own comfort zones and into contact with faith communities outside their own. It seems to me that a myriad of problems that arise among certain religious communities could be headed off merely through the display of respect for the sensibilities and feelings of all religious groups, no matter the size and apparent political significance. But, it seems to me that in most liberal democratic societies there is already a strong sense among elected officials of the importance of local faith leaders. However, I believe there is significant room for improvement in this relationship when it comes to the civil service and academia-- each of which has approached faith groups with either suspicion or apathy. Faith dialogue and involvement in both of these sectors has always seemed in a state of arrested development. In particular, there are certain communities that either lack natural connections with the establishment or have underdeveloped institutional capacities to deal with government and academe. It seems to me that the absence of these relationships is one of the most dangerous phenomena of our time. The religious institutions of our urban centres may often be unseen but their impact is tangible. As we look to understand and to build better cities which exist in an increasingly global world, we must continue to work to realize the impact religious communities have on our cities. Old-time mysteries occasionally bid the reader, ?cherchez la femme?. Perhaps I?m asking us all to ?cherchez l?eglise.? How much more goes on among the religious cloisters behind the scenes in the greatest cities of the world? How many communities are finding new life because of the activities of religious networks? I venture to guess that it is more than we know. We have taken a step forward in this call to understanding the intersection of religious institutions and the city, and I hope that it becomes the first step in a much longer journey.

Building a city is easy enough for most people to understand in terms of physical infrastructure - concrete and steel, in other words. Most everyone can appreciate the need for offices, factories, shops, apartments, houses, hospitals and roads, buses, airports and trains to connect people and move them from one place to another. And they understand that playing fields and hockey rinks and gymnasia and libraries all play a part, too. They even recognize that parks are nice for relaxing and breaking up the monotony of endless expansion. But talk to them in terms too esoteric and you will lose them when you venture into the more ethereal realms of architecture, beauty, art and the importance of establishing an identifiable civic aesthetic. Not everyone wants to go there. Not everyone can. The meaning of life, after all, can be summarized for many as the contentment that comes from a warm fire, cold beer and the company of trusted companions. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Undaunted, however, many groups in Calgary are attempting to bridge that communications gap and ensure that the city doesn’t miss the opportunity that prosperity has brought to its door. Arts groups, particularly, are interested in the development of cores of civic beauty, plazas of genuine personal interconnection and so on. At issue for most of them is the fact that as society evolved over the past 50 years, many civic centres became little more than the hole in a suburban doughnut, filled only during work hours by people buzzing back and forth to their homes, gardens and soccer fields in the suburbs. Back in the pre-suburban era, it was easier to recognize the cores of cities – even those in decay – because they were designed around churches and the plazas and marketplaces surrounding them. Today, in many North American cities, these centres have been replaced by new cathedrals - football and baseball stadiums and hockey and basketball arenas. Yet even they fill up and empty in a matter of hours. People come and people go. The same can be said for theatre districts and arts centres, although they do tend to hold the crowds a little longer. The point is that no single one of these genres is enough to allow a city of genuine intimacy and surprise to emerge and flourish. The churches, the theatres, the arenas and the civic centres all need to be engaged or, in the case of churches (which still provide homes for athletes and artists) they need to be re-engaged. Yes, their power may have waned, but their influence in people’s lives is still remarkable. Even if, for instance, only one in five Calgarians attends a place of worship on a once a week basis, there are still at least 220,000 of them who dependably gather for a specific, common purpose every week. To put this in perspective, the Calgary Flames would have to fill up the Saddledome 11 times each week with 11 completely different crowds in order to display the same drawing power. A study released in March by a Canadian Think Tank, the Work Research Foundation, pointed to this quite clearly. The report, Toronto the Good, used statistics compiled by University of Lethbridge sociologist Dr. Reg Bibby, Project Canada and Statscan to support the need for truly inclusive civic engagement. Bibby’s data illustrates adherence to cohesive social values which some would see as a strong argument in favour of engaging the spiritual side of our citizens and putting it to work. When asked to rate which virtues they consider very important, theists and atheists rated some of them (the full report is at www.wrf.ca/pdfs/sgu/Toronto.the.Good.pdf) as follows, with the theists’ ratings first: Honesty, 94% & 89%; Kindness 88% & 75%; Family life 88% & 65%; Being loved 84% & 70%; Concern for others 82% & 63%; Forgiveness 84% & 52%; Patience 72% & 39%; and Generosity 67% & 37%. The point here isn’t to indicate that the church people are better than other people because they aren’t. But it does show that while they may have fallen out of fashion, they can bring it when it comes to building a city that cares about purpose, art, beauty and aspiration to cohesive social values. Calgary will be a unique city if it can break down the barriers between the visible and the invisible worlds, release the power of all the segments of its society and put its engineers, artists, poets, pastors, bricklayers and bishops equally to work. That, after all, is how the builders of the world’s greatest cities achieved their ambitions. All we have to do is remember what they knew.

Does it really matter who owns what? When foreign sovereign wealth funds, which these days are primarily rich Arab and Asian states, provide the lifeline to struggling North American banks, should we be thankful or worried? The willingness to sell strategic assets is just one manifestation of the "short-termism" that characterizes so much of economic activity today. Not to be confused with responding quickly to new market information, "short-termism" refers to a focus on immediate earnings rather than a long-term strategy. Examples include the compromise of research and development or long-term investments, the invention and contortion of corporate structures, and even executive compensation schemes that reward short-term performance. Not to excuse the responsibility of our corporate elites, but often less well considered is the burden - and the power - individuals bear in shaping the powers of the marketplace. Each of us, after all, represents a piece of the market place that, collectively, dictates the power of that market forces that shape our economy. For instance, if most of us are feeling optimistic about our earnings prospects, that "mood" will lead market forecasters to feel confident that consumer spending levels will remain high or even increase. If most of us are feeling "bearish" and apprehensive about our prospects, forecasters will tend to believe we will be prone to saving money and paying down credit cards and therefore less likely to be active spenders. Equally, our individual expectations regarding our investments will dictate how companies operate in order to meet investor expectations. If what we are looking for is a quick return on investment - a short term outlook - public companies and stock markets will behave differently than if we are more interested in the performance of our investments over time - a long term outlook. For many years now, some investment companies have offered "ethical" or "green" funds designed for individuals who want to get a sound return on their pensions or other investments but aren't willing to do so if it means they will be profiting from the activities of companies they believe are not behaving in a fashion consistent with their values. Talisman's withdrawal from its holdings in Sudan is a clear example of the role values-based investors can play. Few people understand this as completely as Jonathan Wellum, CEO, CIO and Portfolio Manager with AIC Ltd. Twice recognized as Canada's fund manager of the year and a former Top 40 under 40 designate, Wellum is a Senior Fellow with the Work Research Foundation. Somewhat uniquely for a financial analyst, he holds a master's degree in theology in addition to bachelor's degrees in business administration and in science. Economics, according to Wellum's inaugural paper for WRF, is "really a metaphysical science rather than a mathematical one in which spiritual values and attitudes are more important that physical assets, and the morality and virtue of the populace are as foundational as the money supply." In Wellum's view, our present economic challenges are a barometer of our social values. "Why are we surprised by our short-termism when we are surrounded by an instant credit, mass consumption culture in which delayed gratification is ridiculed and mocked as outdated and irrelevant?" Students of political science might be more familiar with this same theme, outlined by many thinkers, but explained succinctly by Thomas Jefferson in a 1792 letter to George Hammond when he said, "A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society." Substitute the word "market" for "society" and it's reasonably clear Jefferson and Wellum are speaking to the same issue. Making long-term intergenerational decisions has important long-term implications but requires a certain degree of self-sacrifice and philosophical perspective that seems in short supply in North America today. The CFA Institute warns that "an excessive short-term focus combined with insufficient regard for long-term strategy can tip the balance in value-destructive ways for market participants, undermine the markets credibility and discourage long-term value creation and investment." The map of the world we grew up with - the one with all the Commonwealth nations coloured in pink and dominated by the mass of the Soviet Union - has changed radically. Just as profoundly, the geography of the new global economy continues to shift. And as it does, the shape it takes has everything to do with the economic power of our communal conscience. Ray Pennings is vice-president of the Work Research Foundation, a think-tank specializing in the study of Canada's social architecture. www.wrf.ca t long-term implications, but requires a certain degree of self-sacrifice and philosophical perspective that seems in short supply in North America today. The CFA Institute warns that "an excessive short-term focus combined with insufficient regard for long-term strategy can tip the balance in value-destructive ways for market participants, undermine the market's credibility and discourage long-term value creation and investment." The map of the world we grew up with -- the one with all the Commonwealth nations coloured in pink and dominated by the mass of the Soviet Union -- has changed radically. Just as profoundly, the geography of the new global economy continues to shift. And as it does, the shape it takes has everything to do with the economic power of our communal conscience. Ray Pennings is vice-president of the Work Research Foundation, a think-tank specializing in the study of Canada's social architecture. www.wrf.ca.

Does it really matter who owns what? When foreign sovereign wealth funds, which these days are primarily rich Arab and Asian states, provide the lifeline to struggling North American banks, should we be thankful or worried? The willingness to sell strategic assets is just one manifestation of the "short-termism" that characterizes so much of economic activity today. Not to be confused with responding quickly to new market information, "short-termism" refers to a focus on immediate earnings rather than a long-term strategy. Examples include the compromise of research and development or long-term investments, the invention and contortion of corporate structures, and even executive compensation schemes that reward short-term performance. Not to excuse the responsibility of our corporate elites, but often less well considered is the burden -- and the power -- individuals bear in shaping the powers of the marketplace. Each of us, after all, represents a piece of the marketplace that, collectively, dictates the power of that market that shapes our economy. For instance, if most of us are feeling optimistic about our earnings prospects, that "mood" will lead market forecasters to feel confident that consumer spending levels will remain high or even increase. If most of us are feeling "bearish" and apprehensive about our prospects, forecasters will tend to believe we will be prone to saving money and paying down credit cards and therefore less likely to be active spenders. Equally, our individual expectations regarding our investments will dictate how companies operate in order to meet investor expectations. If what we are looking for is a quick return on investment -- a short-term outlook -- public companies and stock markets will behave differently than if we are more interested in the performance of our investments over time -- a long-term outlook. For many years now, some investment companies have offered "ethical" or "green" funds designed for individuals who want to get a sound return on their pensions or other investments, but aren't willing to do so if it means they will be profiting from the activities of companies they believe are not behaving in a fashion consistent with their values. Talisman's withdrawal from its holdings in Sudan is a clear example of the role values-based investors can play. Few people understand this as completely as Jonathan Wellum, CEO, CIO and portfolio manager with AIC Ltd. Twice recognized as Canada's fund manager of the year and a former Top 40 under 40 designate, Wellum is a senior fellow with the Work Research Foundation. Somewhat uniquely for a financial analyst, he holds a master's degree in theology in addition to bachelor's degrees in business administration and in science. Economics, according to Wellum's inaugural paper for WRF, is "really a metaphysical science rather than a mathematical one in which spiritual values and attitudes are more important that physical assets, and the morality and virtue of the populace are as foundational as the money supply." In Wellum's view, our present economic challenges are a barometer of our social values. "Why are we surprised by our short-termism when we are surrounded by an instant credit, mass consumption culture in which delayed gratification is ridiculed and mocked as outdated and irrelevant?" Students of political science might be more familiar with this same theme, outlined by many thinkers, but explained succinctly by Thomas Jefferson in a 1792 letter to George Hammond when he said, "A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society." Substitute the word "market" for "society" and it's reasonably clear Jefferson and Wellum are speaking to the same issue. Making long-term inter-generational decisions has important long-term implications, but requires a certain degree of self-sacrifice and philosophical perspective that seems in short supply in North America today. The CFA Institute warns that "an excessive short-term focus combined with insufficient regard for long-term strategy can tip the balance in value-destructive ways for market participants, undermine the market's credibility and discourage long-term value creation and investment." The map of the world we grew up with -- the one with all the Commonwealth nations coloured in pink and dominated by the mass of the Soviet Union -- has changed radically. Just as profoundly, the geography of the new global economy continues to shift. And as it does, the shape it takes has everything to do with the economic power of our communal conscience.

It?s a direct reference to Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke?s prescient 1790 critique of the French Revolution and the Enlightenment that informed it. Burke foresaw the mob rule that culminated in Robespierre?s Reign of Terror. He warned that if the democratic principle were allowed to run without check or limit, the French would lose freedom and the democratic majority would become a tyrant. It did. Radical democratic rule saw thousands of the French go under the guillotine. Sometimes people were arrested when denounced by a disgruntled neighbour and executed by a majority voice vote. While highly critical of the French Revolution, Burke defended the American Revolution. Burke supported the American revolutionaries who sought to recover freedom and to restore English institutional checks and balances that guaranteed liberty ? things taken away by the British Crown and colonial governors. The title also refers to the socialist revolutions of the 20th century. Marxists pursued revolution to achieve radical economic equality. Marxists in a hurry ? omelette socialists ? broke eggs to impose Marxist regimes by force around the world. The Black Book of Communism (1997) features Stephane Courtois?s mea culpa claiming Marxist totalitarian regimes were directly responsible for the deaths of 100 million people in the 20th century. Go-slow Marxists ? champagne socialists ? used democratic processes to achieve economic levelling, squelching job and wealth creation. By the 1970s, marginal income tax rates exceeded 90 per cent. As inflation, interest rates and unemployment figures strayed into double-digit percentages, free market capitalism was pronounced dead. Marriage and family, education and the church were attacked or put under stress by public policy, popular culture and ? astoundingly ? by church leaders. Alexander Solzhenitsyn famously observed in his 1978 Harvard commencement address that the West had lost its nerve and the will to live. Then came the revolutions of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. Before the decade was up, Marxist communism around the world had fallen or was well on the way and the West enjoyed unprecedented growth. Even as world communism and democratic socialism wound down and free market capitalism surged, other developments were underway. At least as important as the Reagan and Thatcher revolutions, John Paul II led the Roman Catholic church to recover its nerve after the confusion and disarray of the 1960s and 1970s. Against the hedonism and nihilism of the 1970s and 1980s, John Paul called for a culture of life. Evangelicalism re-entered the public square and culture after a generation?s absence, residing in an evangelical ghetto at the margins of society. Evangelical influence re-emerged to be felt globally, leading people to belief in God, to a recovery of healthy family life and to the courage to resist political and social injustice in central Europe, in Africa and in Asia. Evangelical influence increasingly set much of the agenda of American public and foreign policy. Thirdly, radical Islam came into its own, directly ruling or influencing the rulers of Iran, the Arab kingdoms and dictatorships, Pakistan and the central Asian republics and the authoritarian regimes of Indonesia and Malaysia. This revolution began in 1979 when the Ayatollah Khomeini?s plane touched down in Tehran and Soviet tanks crossed into Afghanistan. I want to reflect on how these revolutions speak to the 21st century. But there?s another revolution I want to draw on. It began its life, utterly powerless, at the margins, underground. Yet for its first 300 years, it transformed the empire in which it lived. Its influence reformed the same legal code that declared it an ?illegal religion,? leading to stricter legal protections for slaves, women and children. The movement?s adherents roamed city streets at night, searching for infants left out to die of exposure, for orphans with no family to turn to and for widows who resorted to prostitution for food and shelter ? caring for them as for their own families. Illegal, yes. But for good works, known far and wide. By the time Constantine declared it legal and made it the Roman Empire?s official religion, Christian faith had already overwhelmed and transformed its oppressors. Recently, I spoke to a Canadian lawyer who had returned from a humanitarian visit to a central Asian republic governed by an officially Muslim regime. The regime has made Christianity illegal ? practice or conversion is punishable by imprisonment or, even, death. Yet Christians continue to meet underground and live the faith. They are known as the people who search for abandoned infants, for orphans and for prostitutes and take them in. Why ?Reflections?? The revolution continues.

Most Canadians don’t regularly attend church. Even though the majority of Canadians will say “Yes” when asked whether they believe in God, few argue that institutional religion is noticed in everyday affairs of contemporary Canadian society. Throughout our history, any conversation about God is almost always tied into a conversation about corollary religious institutions. However, as a recent Statistics Canada report confirmed, recently this connection has loosened. Over one-half of Canadians regularly engage in some religious activity, but less than one-third attend religious services regularly. This disconnect between spirituality and religious institutions has been well-documented in recent years . Furthermore, historic assumptions about references to the Christian God in Canadian society are less valid than they once were. Mosques, temples, and synagogues, not to mention yoga studios and wiccan houses, are buildings which can be identified with institutional religion in Canada. The significance of religious institutions for those who belong is self-evident. There are various ways to describe what attendees “get out of it.” For some, it provides a source of inspiration, of instruction regarding life’s bigger and smaller questions. For others, there is a sense of community and friendship, of identity and belonging. For still others, there are opportunities for service and a sense of place that emerges from living out of a particular tradition or in a particular lifestyle. What about those who don’t belong? Do religious institutions have anything to say to those who never set foot within their doors? Do religious institutions affect society beyond the square footage they happen to occupy? While they provide suitable, and generally more elegant space for families to engage in their “hatch ‘em, match ‘em and dispatch ‘em” rituals, is there a public function that religious institutions play in our shared life together? In our seemingly secular age, the answer to this question has been “No.” Religious organizations are private institutions that belong to their members, and are quite irrelevant to the rest of us. Historian John Webster Grant wrote that by the end of the sixties, “The nation had come to carry on its business as if the church was not there.” It is a rare voice that would argue much has changed in the thirty years since. For the non-religious, the religious world seems confusing and fragmented. There are a seemingly endless number of denominations; each convinced that its particular emphasis is right. The intramural squabbles that take place between religious folk, even those of the same religious tradition, are dogmatic and arcane, only emphasizing their seeming irrelevance to the rest of society. Even if religion was to have a voice in the public square, how can coherence emerge from this cacophony? How can that voice be understood and be meaningful to our shared public life together? I want to make the case that religious institutions play a vital part of our shared life together. Regardless of the religious convictions that one has, the influence and contribution of religious institutions to our shared life together is significant and, therefore, one can neither meaningfully understand society nor propose lasting solutions to our shared problems without at least accounting for how they are impacted by religion. While some aspects of the argument are utilitarian in that it focuses on what people do as a result of their religious convictions, other aspects are more basic. Religious institutions confront individuals, but by logical extension, they also confront society with core questions. Who are we? What are we doing here? Where are we going? How we answer those questions both individually and collectively inevitably shapes what society looks like. Just consider how the answer of a remote desert wanderer half a world away, Osama bin Laden, has impacted our lives in recent years. Thankfully, the impacts of religion work themselves out in various ways, but one cannot pretend that religion has no impact. I will use examples drawn from the Christian tradition. That is not intended to imply that there are not equally compelling examples that could be drawn from other traditions, but it is logical that I am most familiar with those from my own. I will also acknowledge that there are criticisms those outside of the Christian tradition can make regarding the sometimes confused voice, uncharitable tone, and smug dogmatism with which Christians have spoken in the public square. The fault for the present decline in the church’s contribution to the public square has to be borne as much by those who call themselves Christians as those who might have actively sought to diminish Christian influence. However, even while we acknowledge our imperfection in living out our deepest beliefs and convictions, the fundamental point is made: our beliefs do shape our behaviours. Our institutions are physical icons of those beliefs and behaviours, as enacted and lived in the public square. It is common amongst urban geographers to reference the highest and most impressive structure in a centre as the leading moral and physical force behind a city. It is apt to note that where cathedrals, mosques, temples and shrines used to dwell in the some of the world’s grandest cities, they are now outstripped by banks, insurance companies and trade centers. Yet, outstripped or not, these institutions remain. Though trade centers may tower overhead, faith institutions—against almost all predictions—have not merely survived, but continue to command the loyalty of the majority of the Canadian public, and certainly the world. The subsequent logical question is whether it’s proper for that loyalty to be public? After all, the definition of “public” is that which is shared; any system which allows private or religious beliefs to have sway in the public arena inevitably will result in conflict and chaos. Leaving aside the controversial definition of “public,” as something which can be bereft of individual belief, faith and philosophy , the case here to be made is that other people’s religious convictions have a significant impact on the public square, most specifically in the form of those institutions which they build within civil society. At one level, we can engage in the discussion by examining the consequences of this connection. What is the impact of faith institutions on society today? The first answer to that question must be general—it is far greater than is generally acknowledged. Especially if we consider society in its popular conception, shaped by the public media, few would argue that religion is neither widely covered nor well understood. National Post columnist John Fraser wrote in 2000: Religion, as a source of excellent stories of all sorts, is one of two great no-go areas in the contemporary media (universities being the other)…. (A) s a general rule over the past few decades, stories on religion will break into the media only if they are (a) sensational, (b) bizarre, ? goofy, (d)gee-whiz, or (e) contemptuous. It may be an oversimplified stereotype, but there is probably enough truth in it to warrant its repetition: the contribution of religious institutions to public life in Canada today is probably identified with a few contentious social and political questions. The perceptions that one holds regarding these institutions probably corresponds to the position each one takes on those particular questions. Yet religious institutions fill a significant role in volunteering, donating and social services. Kurt Bowen, from the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, in Religion, Participation, and Charitable Giving, notes that, Though representing only 14 per cent of the Canadian population over the age of 15, religiously active volunteers make up 43 per cent of volunteers in Canada and account for a startling 50 per cent of all hours volunteered. Further, The 32 per cent of Canadians who are religiously active contribute 65 per cent of direct charitable donations. As one might expect, this group is responsible for 86 per cent of donations to religious bodies; yet even in the secular sector, the religiously active provide 42 per cent of the $2.1 billion raised by direct giving. Bowen concludes: “We would do well then to pay more attention to the enormous contribution already made by the faith community, [and] to tap into its great potential”. Paul Reed similarly writes that this is an oft neglected perspective. One factor, which my necessarily simplistic historical and scholarly reprise neglected, is the role of religious belief and values in motivating pro-social behaviour that is altruistic. In the Western and Mediterranean worlds—which dominate our own historical development—each of the three great desert religions has valued charitable and philanthropic behaviour as part of the individual’s spiritual journey. Maimonides was responsible for codification of an eight level hierarchical class of “degrees of charity” within Judaism. Zakat, the principles of charity within Islamic law, are the result of centuries of scholarly and spiritual study. Similarly, the Christian gospels and Pauline letters encourage charitable behaviour to those less fortunately placed, and admonish the mean spirited and greedy. In both Canada and the United States, a majority of financial donations flows through religious institutions into direct charitable activity. However, the institutions of religion are not alone in public service. Many organizations donate, volunteer and serve, including non-religious. Is the church just another one of these organizations? Is it the institution of choice of one segment of the population, while other groups are chosen by other segments of the population? A study of volunteerism in Canada by Statistics Canada a few years ago provides some thoughtprovoking data to consider. “Of the 31% of adults who reported having volunteered for a charitable or community association, the top third accounted for more than 80% of the total volunteer hours while the bottom third accounted for less than 3%.”10 That translates into about ten per cent of the adult population who do the overwhelming proportion of volunteerism in this country. And what do we know about those who are more likely to be volunteers? The study includes a profile: What is the overall picture of the active volunteer in Canada? This study sketches a portrait of a person who • has been involved in civic activities as a youth; • has an above-average education and occupation; • feels a sense of personal responsibility for or interest in community affairs; • feels a sense of satisfaction and control in life; • has children under the age of 17 living at home in a larger than average household; and, • engages not only in volunteering but in other forms of helping, contributing and participating as well, especially through religious organizations.”11 Faith institutions are making clear, documented, and statistically significant contributions to the public square, and that square recognizes them every day in the lives of its citizens. Where would our cities be without the contribution of many religiously motivated groups—the Salvation Army being the most prominent, but certainly not only group—in providing shelter to the homeless and relief to the poor? What would be the foreign aid contribution of Canada if the activities of religiously minded relief organizations—the Mennonite Central Committee being the most prominent, but again hardly alone—were not included? How does one measure the value of the religiously-reminded organizations who visit prisoners, actively help in their reintegration into society, and run programs helping those who run afoul of the law become law-abiding citizens? If we were to go into any Canadian city and begin to measure what would happen if the churches in that city closed their doors and ceased the formal programs of outreach and service to the community, what would be the impact on society? Then there is the service that religious organizations provide to their own members. If the counseling, “meals on wheels,” and youth programs were transferred to society as a whole, what would be the impact? The evidence is not all one-sided. There have been abuses, misuses and mistakes in the name of religion, which have “cost society.” There are also perspectives advanced in the name of religion which unmistakably have as their objective the creation of a society that does not aspire to democratic values. This article is not a defense of everything that takes place in the name of religious institutions. However, it is an argument that any democracy that is worthy of its name must provide space for debate with all voices that raise arguments for the public good, within a democratic framework. The positive contribution of most religious institutions in Canada today is far greater than is generally acknowledged. Obviously the interplay between religious institutions and society as a whole has proven a difficult subject throughout history. To those who find themselves outside any religious tent, the challenge seems doubly difficult. They will acknowledge that much good happens in the name of religion, but how does one get the good works without the gory religious headlines? Can we have the care for troubled youths without the shooting of abortion doctors? For many these troubling questions have proved unanswerable. Hence, the wisest route seems to be to ignore religion and try to isolate it from any involvement in public life. Of course, that neglect of religious institutions in the public square for the past thirty years hasn’t really changed anything. We still must deal with the good and bad. The good works and their social benefits we have described have occurred without public encouragement or acknowledgement. Those aspects of religious life which many would prefer to see obliterated continue on, undeterred by the public shunning. Why is that? To answer this, let us turn specifically to the Christian church, Canada, and the world’s largest religious institution. The church is an institution like no other. It is an organic institution. Organisms must either be killed or contended with, but they cannot be ignored. There are at least three distinct features that combine to give the church her organic character. The first is a sense of truth. An orthodox Christian perspective begins with the fact that God created the world with a purpose, that evil came into the world when man sinned, and that God intervened with a plan of redemption and that the result of this will be a restoration of creation to God’s original purpose. This creation-fall-redemption framework has clear implications regarding all of life’s questions, and provides a story within which the challenges of society—including good and evil—will be met. The second feature that distinguishes a church is a sense of transcendent participation. There is more to life than meets the eye. The social challenges we face and the public discourses we engage in take place at a down-to-earth level, where the rubber hits the road, but simultaneously coram deo—before the face of God. God has an interest in what is occurring in the world, most clearly demonstrated by coming down to earth in human form in the person of Jesus Christ. While this sense of involvement in the divine plan is most intensely realized through participation in the sacraments, every aspect of the Christian life is to be lived out of a sense of “Christ in us.” The third feature that distinguishes the church is the sense of community. There is no church without community. The church is a body of believers, with a sense of obligation for each other and a mutual duty of service. There is a sense in which this community is felt by separation from society as a whole, a sense of being “called out”, but there is also a sense in which this community is felt through service to the community as a whole, a sense of obligation to show through word and action their belief that the entire world was created by, and is loved by, God. While different faith traditions would articulate what gives their particular religious institution its vitality in different ways, it is clear that membership in a religious institution is something that is experienced differently than membership in a community association or a service club. While this may not be equally or fully understood by those outside of any particular religious tradition, the consequences are real and need to be contended with. We live in a pluralistic society. While a secularist mindset—the belief that religion has no role in the public square—is alive and well in Canadian society today, so are religious institutions. Even Statistics Canada reports that if “the four dimensions of religiousity—affiliation, attendance, personal practices and importance of religion—can be defined into a simple ‘religiosity index’….40% of Canadians have a low degree of religiosity, 31% are moderately religious, and 29% are highly religious.” 12 By my math, that translates into a 60-40 split. If there are historic institutions deeply embedded into the fabric of civil society with the moderate to high religious loyalty of 60% of the Canadian public, I would say that makes faith institutions a relevant public dialogue partner. Further I am convinced that this concentration of the population has a significant impact on our urban centers, and though the majority of Canadians may be Christians of one stripe or another, we must broaden the dialogue to include atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews and other groups which maintain vital institutions of public significance. While the coloured glasses that we all bring to the dialogue mean that we see something different when we look through the stained glass of contemporary Canadian churches, I am quite convinced that any honest dialogue will recognize something of the positive contribution that an organic vibrant Christian church can make to our shared life together.     Notes 1. http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060502/d060502a.htm 2. See especially Bibby, Restless Gods 3. Seven out of every ten Canadians identify themselves as either Roman Catholic or Protestant: http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/companion/rel/canada.cfm 4. The prospect that “public” is value neutral, and therefore free of religious conviction, has undergone sustained assault in recent years. Many theorists who could be classified “postmodern” are quick to note that neutrality is often a catch phrase for a commonly agreed-upon ideology. In my opinion, the best author to offer a sustained criticism of neutrality in the public square, or in political philosophy in general, is Alisdair MacIntyre in After Virtue, and most significantly in Whose Justice? Which Rationality? 5. Quoted in Bibbly, Restless Gods p 9 6. http://www.givingandvolunteering.ca/pdf/n-vc1sen.pdf 7. Ibid. 8. Ibid. 9. http://www.carleton.ca/socanth/casr/Defining%20and%20Classifying.pdf 10. http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/75F0033 MIE/75F0033 MIE00002.pdf 11. Ibid 12. http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060502/d060502a.htm