In my view...

Why we will leave Indonesia...

2012-01-16T12:15:00.001+08:00

The Road Home Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia For a variety of reasons I’m getting ready to go back to Canada. Once again I’ll be leaving my wife and son behind on what will be the other side of the world, and once again I won’t know when I’ll see them again. I’ll be going to Vancouver Island again where I’ll have a lot of detail to deal with; I have to sell the

Ringing in the New

2012-01-13T13:04:00.000+08:00

New Year’s In Manado Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi Indonesia New Year’s, being a secular celebration, is more my style than Christmas, a holiday with which I have certain difficulties. I like the blowing off of steam that comes after months of syrupy sanctimony mixed with crass greed and acquisitiveness as people celebrate the retail sales festival of the year. Nevertheless,

An atheist's Christmas...

2011-12-27T07:57:00.000+08:00

Manado Christmas stories Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia It’s the middle of the night, or rather very early in the morning, hours before sunrise. I’m awake and writing because I spent Boxing Day shuttling between bed and bathroom with a short-lived but particularly nasty bout of what was probably some sort of food poisoning. Now after having slept most of the day,

A cult is born

2011-12-17T15:06:00.000+08:00

I realise that the book I'm writing is interfering with the frequency with which I've recently been posting to this blog, so I decided to post what follows: a 1st draft of a small section of one chapter . I'd be grateful for any feedback you might want send my way; just use the comment function at the bottom of the page. (Once again, the images here are just some I pulled down from the net, and

A handbook for atheists

2011-12-07T20:06:00.001+08:00

I have been writing a book on the subject of religion, its incursions into what should be secular territory, and the awkward position in which rational people find themselves in this Zeitgeist. My editors have suggested that I post this, a draft of the introduction to the book I'm working on, to give an idea of where the book is going. On that advice, I offer the following. I should just

Corruption:The beast within

2011-11-30T13:11:00.001+08:00

The Minotaur Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia Two front page stories in the leading Jakarta English language daily (The Jakarta Globe) once again make it clear that the pervasive culture of corruption is Indonesia’s most profound problem. It is the most profound because it is the underlying cause of virtually every tribulation with which Indonesia is beset. Every

A government by any other name: The harperisation of Canada

2011-11-29T21:08:00.001+08:00

I've only been gone a few months and already they're misbehaving! Don't make me go back there! I mean it! The politics of ego Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia OBSOLETE? It’s disturbing to read how Stephen Harper, Canada’s Prime Minister, has changed Canada for the worse. Stephen Harper, the leader of the Conservative party (I hesitate to remind him that

Indonesia’s human rights in the 21st century « Center for Minority, Gender and Human Rights

2011-11-28T11:42:00.000+08:00

This is a piece that someone brought to my attention recently. I had forgotten I'd written it for a think tank. Not much has changed except for the progress being made on the adoption that is referred to toward the end of the article. I've added the photos just to put faces to the names cited in the piece for those unfamiliar with the political history of Indonesia. Click on the

Determinism and free will

2011-11-27T19:58:00.001+08:00

I offer this piece because I have been feeling a little guilty about making fun of religion, as I have done in a number of recent posts. While I don’t for a moment deny that I find the religious right to be comical and deeply ignorant, this piece is intended to treat what I consider to be an absurd position with respect. To that end, I offer a serious argument. I hope it won’t happen again.

Death cults

2011-11-25T16:35:00.001+08:00

“I can’t believe THAT!” said Alice “Can’t you?” said the Queen in a pitying tone. “Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.” Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said, “one can’t believe impossible things.” “I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why

One place to see before you die

2011-11-21T20:35:00.001+08:00

I wrote this one as a fill-piece for a travel magazine. The published version used some stock photos, but the ones I’ve posted are some that Yolanda and I took when we were there in July this year. The jewel in the crown of Canada’s parks Patrick Guntensperger Banff, Alberta, Canada Lake Louise in a misty rain One’s first glimpse of Lake Louise will never be forgotten. The lake,

Corruption: the Undead

2011-11-20T22:10:00.001+08:00

I ran across this piece that I wrote a while back when it was commissioned for a US University's international politics newsletter. They never paid me for it, so copyright has reverted to me. I think it's relevant. Driving a Stake Through the Heart of Corruption Patrick Guntensperger Parksville, British Columbia, Canada To those of us who have lived in Indonesia for long

The naked city has 495,682 stories. Approximately.

2011-11-19T11:20:00.001+08:00

Weird scenes not far from the gold mine Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia Manado is the provincial capital of North Sulawesi, part of the island chain formerly known as the Celebes. The city of Manado has a population of around half a million people, the majority of whom are Christian with a Muslim minority, making this town a bit of an anomaly here in predominantly

Duck follow up

2011-11-19T11:00:00.001+08:00

It was great! Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi Just to let you know...the duck was wonderful. The key, I'm convinced, is not in the marinade or sauce; that can be made to suit individual tastes. What's important is the fuel used for smoke -- in this case coconut shells -- and the length of time and the temperature at which the bird is cooked. Cook slowly with the dome on and lots

Sing a song of swine flesh...

2011-11-17T12:40:00.001+08:00

But first, wanna buy a duck? Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi The people of the city of Manado, one of the few cities in Indonesia where there is a significant Christian population, begin to celebrate Christmas with even greater alacrity than the most cynical North American retailer. Perhaps it is out of jealousy of the Muslims who celebrate Ramadan by feasting and partying all

Imagine...

2011-11-15T10:45:00.001+08:00

And no religion, too… Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi Indonesia’s parliament is struggling with the preparation of a draft “religious harmony” bill. Its creation in parliamentary committee was contentious and, as the preliminary form that the local press has seen has predictably satisfied no-one, it is likely to become an even greater source of disharmony. Indonesia’s

Preoccupied with Occupy Wall Street

2011-11-13T11:48:00.001+08:00

What can a poor boy do… Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi I have been waiting to comment on the “Occupy…” movement and protests until it became clear that there was more going on than a flash protest or two, destined to fizzle like damp firecrackers. Clearly, though, this movement has gained some traction and it may just become a seminal movement of this decade. The best

Atheism as a less irrational position

2011-11-12T09:27:00.001+08:00

Stuff we believe… Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia As the philosopher said, “It ain’t the stuff we don’t know; it’s the stuff we know for certain, but just ain’t so”. Profounder words have rarely been spoken. One of the things I have taught at Indonesian universities is critical thinking. The course I developed was created as a reaction to the faculty’s

Yet more attempts to infringe on personal freedoms

2011-11-10T19:34:00.002+08:00

There oughta be a law... Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia Saturday, November-05-11 A quick look at the headlines in a Jakarta daily suggests a disconcerting trend in Indonesian politics. In just one day in a single paper, two of the headlines open stories concerning the proposed introduction of sweeping and questionable legislation. The first is a proposal that

Don't know much about history...

2011-11-01T07:54:00.015+08:00

Trying to open a rational discussion Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia Since I posted the last entry, the one in which I treated the United States’ Tea Party as a joke, I have received emails and even phone calls all the way to this little isolated east of Borneo island threatening my life and telling me, in more graphic detail than any Catholic nun ever did, about

Psssst...do you think they can actually be serious?

2011-10-29T11:37:00.003+08:00

More to be pitied than scorned Patrick Guntensperger Manado, Indonesia I haven't been away from North America for very long this time, but since I left, someone was kind enough to sign me up for the Tea Party's wacky newsletter. Wow! A compendium of the collective gibberings of a flock of village idiots, incoherent conspiracy theories, vicious personal slander, a jaw-dropping ignorance of

Cities of contrast

2011-10-29T09:52:00.003+08:00

I just got back from Singapore where I spent a day and two nights arranging for my long-term stay visa for Indonesia. I was once again reminded of the differences between Indonesia's capital and the city state of Singapore. I decided to post this article that I wrote quite a few years ago for a Jakarta paper; nothing much has changed in the intervening years. Singapore: 90 minutes and a

Points for trying...

2011-10-24T09:15:00.004+08:00

Sintesa Peninsula Hotel Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia Patrick Guntensperger The Sintesa first caught my eye when I saw a large banner on Sudirman Street in downtown Manado advertising a “beer buffet” for 80,000 Rupiah (less than $10.00). The banner was stretched in front of the Aston Hotel, so I assumed the lounge in which the buffet was advertised was in the Manado branch of the

Oh, say, can you see?

2011-10-23T10:45:00.000+08:00

Land of the free Patrick Guntensperger Manado, Indonesia I have frequently suggested that the United States of America, despite its posturing, is far from the bastion of democracy, development, and freedom its citizens generally believe it to be. In more than one essay and article, I have referred to the States as a wealthy Third World Country, and pointed to some facts to support my

Theories of child-rearing: the laissez faire approach

2011-10-21T10:23:00.002+08:00

It takes a village (?) Patrick Guntensperger Manado, North Sulawesi Having little but time to spend with my son in the company of my extended family and countless neighbours, I have been in a position to observe childrearing paradigms and methods here in Indonesia. Of course I have previously seen, as does everyone who spends any time here, how children are treated, and I have had