Something on my Mind: Left is not Right--It's Wrong

I knew people in Saskatchewan and Manitoba were quite smart, but I didn't know they were that smart. Any province that retains its conservative government (SK) election after election, or throws out an NDP government in a landslide (MB) must have some smarts.

I think Alberta has some lessons to learn from our neighbours to the east.

In fact, those provinces are going to become so attractive to rational, reasonable Albertans that I predict a migration of good people to both provinces. Methinks some were waiting to see how the two elections would turn out first. Now there's nothing to stop them.

People may flee Alberta because there's no work here (sort of true) and there's no longterm future here (maybe more true). If one can't feed or lead his family, it's time to move on to safer, saner pastures. After all, if the parents can't take care of their own kids, who will?

Not a great question in this present environment.

See, if our "friends" in Edmonton continue going down the path of governmental intrusion and delusion, they will take over the family. Not just the family farm or the famliy income, but the family itself.

I'm not sure about you, but that scares the you-know-what out of me.

The appeal to leave Alberta, then, is two-fold: One, there's no evil socialism dressed up in a tie or a dress; and two, there are no insane and inane bills that destroy family farms and personal propriety, Bill 6 and 10, respectively.

I'd consider going myself , but then I'd run out of fodder to write about—you know, no anti-socialist rant. It would be hard to attack a good conservative government. I'd have to write about Canadian hockey teams playing in the playoffs—but then, what would I write about after April 1?

One of the more recent stings is when our government flat out lies about parental choice in education. Granted, I have a strong bias (conviction, actually) towards private and home education. I see the place for charter, alternative, parochial, and even public education. That's the perspective of a pretty rational person, wouldn't you say?

If every stakeholder in education could talk like that, things would be a lot different.

The lies (more than mere "misinformation") in question have to do with funding. The charge from our politicians and other equally-uninformed comrades is that private and home education are being funded on the taxpayers' dime and should be eliminated.

That's an out-and-out lie, no question about it. All education is funded on the taxpayers' dime: When everything shakes down, private schools are funded at a portion of the public schools, and home schools are funded at a fraction of even private schools.

In fact, in the homeschool world in which I spend a lot of time, it is reputed that in one year, home schools saves the government millions of dollars—and private school aren't far behind. I'll write that again, but phrase it differently, so you get it: Private and home education save (that is, do not cost) the government millions of dollars every year. Repeat: save money, not cost money.

Multiply that by ten, even twenty, years, and we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars in savings. This is like the golden goose of education: Don't destroy that which is good and profitable.

So next time some clown prattles on about how expensive private and home schooling in Alberta is, correct them. Correct them by pushing back, by writing letters to the editor, by being part of a peaceful protest, and by presenting the facts.

From the top to the bottom—and I don't know who is where—we all need to let politicians, bureaucrats, civic authorities, and really, anyone with clout, know that lies about thefundamental rights of parental choice will not be tolerated.

So, if you are heading to the land of the Roughriders and Blue Bombers, so long, farewell. See you in about three years when get our province back.

 

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Something on my Mind: Sounds Good Here

I was amazed to hear recently that two celebrities actually had the moxie to cancel their performances in two respective states because of their "principles" and "conscience." I honestly didn't know that Bruce Springteen and Bryan Adams, in fact, had what it takes to speak up for their beliefs

However, further checking out the background to the story gave me pause.

The main issue at hand is, of course, (as usual) all about sex: That transgendered bathroom issue (Springsteen in North Carolina)) and that same-sex retail issue (Adams in Mississppi) is rearing its ugly head once again. North Carolina, for example, is taking the opposite view on this matter: They are now requiring people to use "the bathroom of their biological sex."

None of this Larry-in-the-ladies'-loo stuff over there. No siree.

The other issue is in Mississippi: Retailers will be allowed to choose to not to serve people who have chosen a certain lifestyles for faith reasons—or, in the context of today's column, for their "principles" and "convictions." So if a baker chooses not to bake a cake to "celebrate" a homosexual wedding, he doesn't have to and will not be sued.

And by the same token, in case you never noticed, those bakers who reject traditional marriage don't have to bake a wedding cake for those couples they oppose.

Strange, isn't it: In the media, Springteen and Adams come across as heroes and crusaders, whereas those who likewise have "principles," but from the opposite side of the moral spectrum, will come across as unkind, insensitive, and intolerant.

Stinks like a double standard to me.

Though those issues seem so distant (geographically and metaphorically) from life here in Alberta, they're actually not. Our own government is barrelling down the same path, except they and these celebrities are on the same journey.

Unless a miracle happens, and common sense and decency prevail, Albertans will wake up very soon to the potential of men in girls' bathrooms in every public venue (more than schools, you know), and lawsuits hurled at mom-and-pop bakeries won't be far behind.

That sounds like a stretch, but that's the logical conclusion of the "Best Practices and Guidelines" edict. I've dealt enough about this evil potential in recent columns, so I'll hold off for now.

Back to our friends, Bruce and Bryan. Okay, maybe not friends, but Bryan is from North Vancouver, BC, and I'm from Richmond, BC, so that practically makes us neighbours. Well, fine, thirty miles and ten years apart, so maybe we're not that close.

And we're not that close on this issue, to boot.

Where were we? Right, the matter of "conscience." I really wonder how appropriate that word is here. Are these guys really marked by principles of equality, decency, and liberty?

If there was a compass of conviction in their soul, shouldn't it be consistent with all views of values? Isn't true tolerance open to all points of view, not just select ones?

I'm sure these guys can sing (and yes, I have tried to endure, er, enjoy them), but I wonder what they really believe. I have always found it strange that "tolerance," "equality," and now "principles," seem to go only one way.

Apparently, if I live up to my convictions to choose not to bake a cake "celebrating" same-sex marriage, I am considered a bigot. Ditto for choosing to not host a same-sex wedding on my property: That would mean I am a homophobe, right?

This calls for consistency: Bruce and Bryan are seen as tolerant because they have spoken up for what they believe. If I were a baker, for example, and spoke up for what I believe, I would get slandered, shunned, and sued.

By the way, guys, seeing as you missed a couple of gigs in the southern states, why don't you sing sometime up here in Alberta? I'm thinking you would be singing from the same songbook as our own government. The way we're heading, you'd sound just great here.

 

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Something on my Mind: Christophobia

There are fears and then there are fears. Fear is very personal, private, and powerful. In fact, I won't share mine with you, as I have, uh, the fear of being laughed at.

By the way, we could have a good time making up words (the art of "neologism"): Just add the suffix "phobia" to any word (preferably in its Greek or Latin origin), and you have a technically-sounding word about "fear."

(So, Maurice, tell me what "calgaryflamesmaywinthecupsomedayphobia" means.)

There are real fears rooted in childhood experiences—you know, the old monster-under-the-bed thing, or the shadows-of-the-boogeyman-in-the-closet thing. Though a child may have a very vivid imagination, his fear often arises from a television show or scary book. Or from some bully sibling.

Beyond infantile fears, we may grow up in environments that inculcate fears—homes, neighbourhoods, schools, malls, holidays, etc. Something happens somewhere and we are scarred for life. Unlike the monster and creepy thing, these fears are based on reality, adding to their legitimacy.

The trouble is, if we don't deal with them well, we may be crippled emotionally for life.

As adults, our fears are sometimes based on fantasy, sometimes reality. Many fear global warming, over-population, and harmful fossil fuels. It's part fantasy, part reality. Confusion is the result. Those who stir this up won't call it fear; they call it science, and that makes it sound all the more convincing.

As we continue to be fed dubious information from the media and politicians, we take their word for it and fear takes over. And then resentment towards others who don't buy into it follows.

On the other hand, there are things to fear, to be sure. We should fear our politically-motivated chaotic economic booms and busts. We should fear certain political directions.

We should also fear the Muslim jihad that is popping up everywhere. It seems to be just a matter of time before we see Europe's carnage over here. That fear, I believe, is based on fact.

And there are many other legitinate fears, not based on fantasy, but fact; not based on wishful thnking, but historical trends; not based on limited personal experience, but emperical evidence.

Somewhere in all the above scenarios there is a fear that I find, well, disappointing, even irritating. I have made up a word for it (remember—neologism?): christophobia. Because I made it up, I can tinker a little with its definition—mostly because I want to be really clear here.

I would define christophobia as the fear of anything to do with Christ, Christians, the Bible or the church. Pick your source: some misinformation from some crazy television show; some partial truths (which also means partial lies); some notion to not be confused with the facts, because one's mind is made up; or from parts of all the above.

I think the above response to the Christian faith is ignorant at best, tragic at worst.

For instance, most people who resent faith-based lifestyles have never read the Bible. Or if they have, have never taken time to study it: their grasp of the Bible is cursory and superficial.

Or they may "know" a hypocrite here or a quack there, and thus they tar all believers with the same brush. Let's say ay they have a bad experience with a dentist or mechanic: Do they write off all dentists and mechanics? Hardly. Do we do that with bad coffee? Blacks? Irish people? Of course not.

Why do people (maybe even you) suffer from christophobia? I understand genuine confusion or bad experiences when it comes to why non-faith-based people reject anything to do with faith-based people, and what they stand for. However, I just wonder why the adverse reaction overall when the facts, foundation of faith based people has not been examined.

When I think of the good that Christian schools and Christian publishing houses do, or what Christian agencies and churches do (in the form of community services), plus the majority of hospitals started as Christian, orphanages, scientific breakthroughs, moral foundation building, the Bible is the source of law in Canada, I am appalled at this resistance.

At best, live and let live. Tolerate that which is different from you. And best of all, don't fear what you don't know. It's just another monster under the bed.

 

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