To the Editor,
Re: All-male panel upsets female participant, Letters, Jan. 27 and Mistakes should not be labeled evil, Letters, Feb. 1.
I attended the Interfaith symposium on Jan. 22 with an open mind.
Mr. Southward advises that Ms. Bruce’s perspective “is a clear sign that what is good and evil is becoming clouded in this right-wing politically correct generation of today.” I find his remark to be confusing. Isn’t it those on the left of the political spectrum who set gender quotas?
Upon reading Ms. Bruce’s letter, I found her views on the symposium to be more than a little over the top. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, B.C. Branch, organized the event on the topic of Reconciling the Existence of God and Human Suffering and I recall that a woman did raise a question about the lack of female representation on the panel. I believe that the response included the fact that it would not be an all-male panel at the symposium on the following day in Victoria.
Unlike Ms. Bruce, I did not feel that it was “evil” for me to listen to the insights of the six male speakers, who represented the diverse faiths of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, Islam and that of the Aboriginal people. Contrary to her rather extreme description of the event, with a tolerant attitude, I found it to be a most enlightening experience.
Janet Irvine
Nanaimo
