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Focus On: MARRIAGE: Variations On A Theme
Polygamy: Is It ‘Marriage’?
Is Freedom ‘Bountiful’ In Canada? Or Is Bountiful A Test For Freedom In Canada?
Defining Marriage: A Contract? An Institution? Or A Union?
Chemistry Vs Commitment – Open Questions On Open Marriages
Our philosophical journey through love reveals its ancient power as both cosmic unifier and destroyer of reason. From Hesiod’s primordial eros that unnerves gods and men to Plato’s heavenly and earthly forms, where the lover—not the beloved—gains virtue through pursuit of ideal beauty, love emerges as a force that shapes religions, institutions, and governments. Aristotle grounds it ethically and psychologically while linking it to the unmoved mover that later influences Christian concepts of divinity. Judaism and Christianity shift love from irrational passion to a voluntary attitude that can coexist with reason, yet the tension persists: emotion versus rational control.
These insights sharpen our view of today’s battles. Human Rights Commissions weaponize “hate” to silence debate, as seen in complaints against Maclean’s for publishing Mark Steyn, demanding forced publication rather than open rebuttal. City Hall pushes symbolic gestures like Earth Hour, low-flush toilets, and sustainable-energy surveys that treat conservation as virtue while ignoring the need for production, property rights, and expanded energy to meet rising demand. Sentencing inconsistencies expose a justice system more concerned with deterrence messages than individual fairness.
A listener’s thoughtful email on religion and virtue prompts reflection: morality springs from rational codes of behavior, not mere belief or professed faith, echoing Richard Dawkins’ point that religion deserves no special immunity from criticism. Comedy clips and external voices underscore the absurdities without becoming endorsements.
Reason prevails when passions earn their place and facts trump fear. That balance is Just Right.
Here we are with the very first broadcast of Just Right. I’m Bob Metz, stepping up to the microphone after the retirement of Jim Chapman and the end of Left, Right, and Center. I make it clear right from the start: this isn’t about being right-wing, it’s about being just right – that philosophy of freedom, reason, individual rights, voluntary choice, and tolerance that stands in stark contrast to the left’s statism, force, collectivism, whim, and intolerance, whether it comes wrapped in conservative or liberal packaging.
I lay out the real meaning of left versus right, drawing from Plato and Aristotle all the way to today’s issues like abortion (neither ban nor subsidize), Sunday shopping (treat it like any other day), and pornography (freedom of speech, not bans from the religious right or the feminist left). All Canadian parties? They’re all on the left in my book.
Then I dive into that campus controversy over the Western Gazette‘s April Fool’s spoof – a satirical piece that had the usual suspects screaming for apologies, sensitivity training, ethics codes, and even removing editors by vote. I defend it as legitimate humor and free speech, exposing the intolerance behind calls to censor “offensive” content, the myth of a “rape culture” in the West, and the feminist agenda that confuses sexuality with sexism while demanding force and funding to silence dissent. Throw in some history on pornography laws, the Fraser Committee, and the real story behind Linda Lovelace. I Even touch on a few TV shows like Drive, Lost, and that brilliant Firefly.
In the end, defending freedom of speech, individual justice, and reason against the forces of censorship and collectivism is what being on the side of freedom is all about – and that’s Just Right.