Some say Halifax is on of the most dangerous cities in Canada. One man is hoping to change that, and while he’s at it, make Halifax the most positive city on earth.
Al Rodee is a full-time practitioner of an alternative healing method called “Emotional Freedom Techniques,” a therapeutic practice that aims at releasing emotional and physical ailments by talking and performing needle-free acupuncture.
These days, Rodee is doing a lot more than healing people’s emotional woes. He wants to gather 10,000 people in the Halifax Common on June 18 to do something that is, in essence, fairly simple: to be in the feeling of peace.
“I want to gather 10,000 people or more together, all feeling each other’s peaceful energy,” says Rodee. “And projecting that onto the population of the whole in order to positively impact crime statistics.”
Rodee hopes to form a committee in January to examine crime statistics in Nova Scotia over the past few years. This committee will be revisiting these results and comparing them to those of the two weeks following the event on June 18.
If the gathering induces enough peacefulness in the province and crime stats show a significant decrease, Rodee thinks someone should look at his experience on a practical and analytical level.
“Maybe we don’t need to spend more money on jails, maybe we don’t need to spend more money on policing, maybe we just need to love each other a little more,” says Rodee. “For me, I don’t want this to turn into some sort of airy fairy thing about stopping the war, end poverty, because it’s too nebulous.”
The event is planned for June 18 but still requires city permits. Rodee hopes to tie in a few guest lectures from prominent luminaries from around the globe via internet. Guests could include Wayne Dire, author and motivational speaker and the Dalai Lama.
For more information on Rodee’s dreams, visit peacefulnovascotia.org.
This article appears in Dec 23-29, 2010.
Hi Mick, thanks for the attention. I am really passionate about making this happen so I hope others will join me. A couple minor things. Wayne Dyer is spelled this way. The other thing is a clarification. While you quoted me accurately I regret suggesting that ending war and poverty might be considered “airy fairy”. It would be more accurate to say: “it is my hope to quantify results for this local peace initiative by looking at local statistics rather than try to quantify results on more global and, therefore, more difficult parameters, like ending war and poverty”. I believe many local initiatives like the one we are planning here will eventually lead to positively affecting change on the global stage. Thanks again, al rodee, eft atlantic
I would highly encourage the organizing committee to reach out to a diverse groups of people for this event. It would be nice if marginalized communities could come together for one common goal.
I am really rooting for you, good luck with this event.
I went Al Rodee’s website. He is a New Age charlatan quack, peddling false hope to sick people. EFT Emotional Field therapy is snake oil. EFT is as idiotic as Peter Popoff’s miracle spring water & televangelists laying their hands on the congregation and little old ladies getting up out of their wheelchairs and dancing in the isles. EFT Emotional Field Therapy is where Al Roadee claims he can “treat” diseases, including cancer, fetal alcohol syndrome and diabetes, by tapping on your skin with his hands. WOW, Al Rodee is like Jesus, the Prince of Peace! He can cure you just by putting his hands on you!! Imagine how much money the taxpayers could save on health care if instead of having hospitals with doctors and pharmaceutical drugs we just paid Al Rodee to go around tapping people on the head! Why aren’t we funding this? It must be a conspiracy by the pharmaceutical companies!! So anyway, Al Rodee is going to examine crime statistics, and if crime rates go down after Al Rodee has his big love-in on the Commons with the Dalai Lama joining via Skype webcam, then what? let me guess, Al’s going to take credit for the drop in crime and suggest that we give taxpayer money to fund EFT in lieu of police and prisons? Too funny.
A better option would to be empty the prisons and bus 10,000 prisoners convicted of the most violent end heinous offences, to the location where Al Rodee wants to hold this event.
It would help him to better quantify the results by looking at the statistics of those same prisoners, in a few years, to see how how many have re-offended upon being released back into their communities. If his EFT does infact work then the prison system should also see clearly identifiable results attributable to the same Al Rodee event.
To help Al Rodee better set the peaceful mood of the event, armed Prison Guards should be kept in a separate area where the Prison Guards can socialize away from the main event. I think that it would be Kinda hard for the 10,000 Prison Inmates to feel “each other’s peaceful energy” in front of a small army of armed Prison Guards.
Thank you Skeptic. Quackery was the first thing that jumped out at me when I read this. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to come up with sufficiently scathing words in response. Thank you for doing this for me.
Unfortunately, not every one was born with an imagination and a strong heart! Please ignore all the unbelievers. We that believe in your gifts know we are also capable if you show us how. Keep sharing and you will always be safe in the hearts and minds of others who will carry on the beliefs that you have – I will be there June 18th and so will many others that I know who believe in changing this world sooner than later – false hope is definately better than no hope and the mind is much stronger than many of us can imagine… clr hfx
Wow, thanks for all the feedback. I am struck by the notion that spending 5-6 hours together as a community feeling more peaceful evokes so much fear and vitriol. Really, those of us who believe in the possibility of looking at things a different way, who have already made the commitment to stand FOR something, are the only ones who have anything to lose. This initiative has nothing to do with EFT or my private practice. I simply wish to give focus to the possibility that we can come together as a community and, perhaps make a difference. Having never done something like this before, I could use some help and appreciate the comments of those who will support just one day dedicated to a more peaceful Nova Scotia. I begin my support by loving you all, supporters and detractors. See you all on the 18th of June.
PS: the Dalai Lama has sent his regrets but promises to keep us in his thoughts on that day. al rodee