Peace for What?

 

 

 

I never dreamed in a thousand years that I would ever agree with Hamas, that anarchist paramilitary group consumed with the destruction of Israel. My sentiments – indeed, my convictions – lie firmly with the state of Israel, both because of biblical and historical realities.

But today's column has nothing to do with Zionism or Semitism or even the Jews themselves. It has everything to do with an award that was handed out recently to the president of the United States, one that neither I nor Hamas nor (it now seems) millions of others agree with.

In other words, Barack Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize is a bizarre twist of what the prize stands for. I rank that debacle of honour up there with Henry (the-father-of-abortion) Morgentaler getting the Order of Canada.

Much of the outrage has come because Obama has been in the Oval Office for only a few months. Listen, people: The nomination came through by the first of February! He had been in the office for only a few days!

Others are outraged, and this is where I come in, at what he has done in the name of peace, or better, what he hasn't done. Re-stated: What has he done to create peace in this troubled planet? I have no problem giving a president the Nobel Peace Prize (there was the precedent of the president, if you will) if, in fact, he has done something. But when a man has done nothing, that is a joke – a very bad joke.

We all know that he has plans for peace. But don't we all? Since when did this noble (pun intended) prize get awarded for something that hasn't happened yet? To carry this logic further, I can think of a number of businessmen, scientists, and others, who are on the verge of doing something great. Perhaps we should award them a prize for their prospective work, too.

Whether I am against a socialist president of arguably one of the most powerful nations in the world is a moot point. He could be a right-wing gas jockey, for all I care. You just don't give men awards having done nothing. You don't do that at schools, churches, businesses, or any other normal institution. It seriously cheapens the Nobel's credibility.

I know there has been this nauseating groundswell of support for the man as the next messiah. The hype has gone beyond tedious; it's actually downright scary. I don't even think he would promote himself in that manner. In all fairness, I understand Mr. Obama was as shocked at getting the Nobel Peace Prize as he is in being considered a messiah.

If you want to nominate someone for the Nobel Peace Prize, I have a name for you. His efforts in promoting peace around the world and throughout the centuries, across the borders and over the barriers, have stood the tests of time, space, and substance. His influence has altered homes, communities, nations, and history itself.

Agree or disagree about my candidate – Jesus Christ Himself – you must admit, even if you are a token student of history, that when His peace principles are carried out, things are radically and positively different. I will be the first to admit that many who have claimed to be His followers have bungled the mission supremely, but that in no way lessens the power of peace created by the world's only genuine Messiah.

Obama would do well to have a track record of centuries (not days), of cross-cultural followers (not a few capable hacks), of realistic solutions (not artificial handouts) before he steps up to accept this prize.

I would love all to agree with me, but that has never been the case. Funny, I don't think even Hamas and I would be on the same page on this one, either.

Icon, Icon on the Range

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Craig Funston

To: Deylinda Pilon

Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 8:29 PM

Subject: Foremost on my Mind, September 22

 

Ask ten people for a symbol of life and you will get ten different answers. Ask ten people the same question, this time replacing "life" with :death" and the same thing will happen. Ask them yet another question, Whether there is a symbol or two that represents both life and death - and prepare to duck.

Well, you don't have to duck here, because I think there are some symbols that speak of death and life – especially here on the prairies. Each of the following places represent lives that have lived fully, yet, at the same time, death that became inevitable.

Choose your icons, be it an old schoolhouse, a grain elevator, or a country cemetery.

There is no set order in my suggested list, only suffice to say that all three – schoolhouses, elevators, and cemeteries – speak of the full-orbed lifestyle that mark most prairie towns and hamlets. The day the last bell rings at the schoolhouse or the wrecking ball demolishes the elevator, life in that particular community is changed forever.

And then there are the cemeteries. Obviously, the most telling representative of life is death itself, as no village is complete without its graveyard. In a twisted sort of way, life is often represented on a tombstone by a simple 'dash' or 'hyphen' (I do know the difference, but there is some grammatical wiggle-room on a headstone). The said punctuation mark sits quietly between the date of birth and the date of death, suggesting that life itself is a mere dash between these two events.

There are many word pictures in the Good Book that corroborate that viewpoint, but I move along.

While there isn't much one can do creatively with a cemetery, besides giving it an upbeat name (as in "Happy Trails Cemetery"), there have been some great things done with old schoolhouses and abandoned elevators - starting right here in the County of Forty-Mile. The Etzikom Museum is a case in point for the former, and for the latter, look what the Unrau families did to the Skiff elevator. And further to the south (and out of our county), the Masinasin School doubles as an occasional rec centre and home to a small embroidery business. (There may be other businesses in there, but I am not aware of them.)

I think it is a shame that more creative things haven't been done with any of the above cultural icons. Even if the buildings were dismantled and the wood put to good use, that would at least be a start (after their finish). Again, owing to my limited time in the county, I mean no offense if something creative has been done over the years in places such as, say, Maleb, Conquerville, or Conrad.

Meanwhile, back to life, back to death: A recent trip to BC and another one to the Crowsnest Pass prior to that only confirmed the above comments. Just this side of Sicamous, BC, I saw a burner that was converted to a pub. A burner is a multi-story incinerator placed strategically in a sawmill compound. And just before that, my family and I toured a very large graveyard close to Hillcrest, AB; many of those interred were killed by one of many mine explosions in that district.

I suggest to you the burner spoke of the death of a vibrant culture, only to be "resurrected" in the form of a eating and drinking establishment. And a quick perusal of that cemetery in the Pass reminded me that, even in death, these people live on in the minds of their offspring, the historians among us, and even passing visitors – tourists, if you will, like myself.

Life that dies and death that lives is a small reminder of the cyclic nature of the normal cultures that are the foundation of our country. Breaking that cycle means denying that culture.

Gideon and Motels

I don't stay in motels too often, but when I do, I really enjoy it. With a night away, I don't have to make breakfast or wash the dishes – some things I occasionally do at home. And, if no one is looking, I may even swim in the pool. I need to be careful, though: Someone may catch me in my one-piece Homer Simpson bathing suit and matching rubber ducky.

Because I decided over ten years ago to not have a television in my home watching the odd, clean movie in my motel room is also a bit of a treat. (I say 'odd' because it isn't too often the movies are 'clean'.) One has to be so careful these days with all the moral filth on the tube.

A recent stay in a motel is a case in point. As I searched for something else to look at, I found it refreshing to find a Gideon's Bible in one of the drawers. (No, Horace, Gideon didn't lose it; it was named after a Bible character who took on the enemy against all odds – and won.)

I am not sure what side of the Bible-in-a motel-room argument you come down, but I am sure you know my bias. I think it's great that the Good Book is there to offset the garbage on the tube, to say nothing of other temptations that lurk in a near-empty motel room.

I know a little about the organization that places these Bibles in motel and hotel rooms, the same one that goes to every grade five class right across North America. They are common, everyday working stiffs, like you and me, who understand that this Book is very important. I actually do know some the local men personally and I deeply admire their commitment to such a cause.

This is refreshing to me, because in the multi-cultural society that we live in, often the first expression of religious truth that ever gets the boot from the public square is the evangelical one. As we pander to everything and anything that smacks of 'spiritual,' it seems terribly ironic that the established faith of our forefathers is in jeopardy of being completely denied equal rights.

That, then, was part of my relief to see a Gideon's Bible in the hotel room. Good to see it hasn't been thrown out - at least not yet.

If you are part of the generation who was raised without even any token knowledge of the Scriptures, let me tell you just a little about Gideon. We discover him first hiding in a winepress, beating out his father's wheat. His people were being attacked at harvest by their perpetual nemesis, the Midianites. He overcame his fears and became quite a military leader.

To make a long (and very captivating) story short, he leads his ragtag army into the fray, only to watch in disbelief as his few thousand men are reduced to a few hundred men (300 in all), to fight the thousands upon thousands of Midianites. (You can read the rest of the story in the Good Book at home; if you don't have one there, take a night in a reputable motel – they'll have one).

My point is that we are depriving our people of good alternatives when we deny them an opportunity to at least be exposed to the Bible, be they travellers of students. Good on the public, separate, and colony schools that still allow the 'Gideons' to step into a classroom for a few minutes to hand out free Bibles to students. And shame on those same schools that forbid a simple gift of moral reading. It is a given that if we want a balanced religious voice in our culture, let's at least include this one.

If that book is so outdated and so useless, why all the fuss? What is there to be afraid of? Such a antiquated piece of literature can't do anyone any harm, can it? It is so important to be open-minded and flexible to these things. A little bit of truth and morality never hurt anyone.

Especially in a motel room.