“God-devotion makes a country strong; God-avoidance leaves people weak” (Pr 14:34, The Message). Statements like this cause me to want to read the Bible! Why? Because it speaks the truth I believe in my heart.

I am convinced that a ruling political leadership, through their integrity and righteousness, creates a safe place for people to raise their children, or, they, through their sin – their law of God breaking – create a reproach that diminish and shame a nation.

When it comes to elections time so many Canadians make the entire process an issue of personality when, in reality, it goes much deeper. Elections have to do with philosophical, and thus, moral and spiritual differences. It is at election time that I feel so strongly that Canada is weighed in the balance: generally, Canadians are weighed in the balance; but more specifically, the Canadian Church and Christians are weighed in the balance!

Elections tend to be historic pivot points. They tend to be hinges for the doors of destiny to swing upon. They are a quick look into the soul and conscience of a nation. They expose the roots of real belief systems and what Canadians truly value.

As Henry Thoreau, the civil libertarian stated, “…a man has not everything to do, but something; and because he cannot do everything, it is necessary that he not adopt the attitude that he can do nothing…Cast your whole vote entirely, not a strip of paper merely, but cast your whole influence.”

Every four years Canadians, all across our beloved country, come together and leave their legacy. The next four years empower leaders to live out the beliefs, values and ultimately, the national destiny entrusted to their creation. A Prime Minister is selected, a party appointed, and a national vision is affirmed by the populace. We could wind up living someone’s dream or entering their nightmare.

Election time, like no other time, touches us where few want to be touched: it touches the place of personal responsibility. We (corporately) get the kind of leaders we empower to lead us through our vote, and incredibly, we will get the kind of leaders we deserve. We are ultimately personally responsible for our choices.

Incredibly, fewer people are showing up at the polls. And, what concerns me most is the lethargic attitude existing in the younger generation, many of whom have still to cast their first vote. On top of that, less and less Christians are moving themselves from the couch to the booth.

I personally believe that voting – getting involved in the political process – is a moral obligation. It is a Christian responsibility. Our “yes” must be “yes, and our “no” be “no.” It’s time to stand up or stand aside.

Bob Dylan wrote a song, “When You Going To Wake Up,” from his album, Slow Train Coming. The verses speak authoritatively to our society’s situation today: “Adulterers in churches and pornography in the schools. You got gangsters in power and lawbreakers making rules. When you going to wake up, when you going to wake up, when you going to wake up and strengthen the things that remain?”

Consider this to be a wake up call. Don’t turn over and hit the snooze button. You will have generations to answer to if you don’t wake up, get up, and get out to vote.

 

Castanet Article
Thursday, November 9th, 2007
Oh! Canada! Column

All of us know that our neighbors to the south, though deeply religious in nature, seem to be a bit bipolar in their spirituality. I received an e-mail this week about a statement read by Principal Jody McLeod at the Roane County High School football game in Kingston, Tennessee.

The most recent Supreme Court ruling prohibited her saying a prayer, stating that doing so was a violation of Federal Case Law. It had been the school’s custom to say a prayer and play the National Anthem, to honor God and country.

She stated her understanding at the time was that she could “use the public facility to approve of sexual perversion and call it ‘an alternative lifestyle,’ and if someone was offended, that was okay.” Again, her understanding was that she could designate a school day “as ‘Earth Day,’ involve students in activities to worship religiously and praise the goddess ‘Mother Earth.’” If someone was offended, it was okay.

However, “if she used the facility to honor God and to ask Him to bless the event with safety and good sportsmanship,” then Federal Case Law would be violated. It was not okay if someone was offended.

To her credit she refrained from praying, and simply said, “If you feel inspired to honor, praise, and thank God, and ask Him to bless this event, please feel free to do so. As far as I know, that’s not against the law—yet.”

The article went on to say that one by one, people in the stands bowed their heads, held hands with each other, and began to pray. This happened in the team huddles, at the concession stands, and even in the Announcer’s Box! The story was inspiring.

Hats off to a gutsy and intelligent lady! If I ever go to war, I want her on my side. I love people who carry the conviction of faith. We need more Christians standing up for their right to exercise their faith freely. I sincerely believe that government needs to watch carefully its assault on religious rights.

But, what does this have to do with Canada? Well, it so happens that religious persecution is hitting above the 49th parallel: praying before decisions in city hall has been adjudicated, singing Christian songs in a public venue has been challenged, etc.

Ralph Reed of Christian Coalition stated that “Americans are being denied the right to express their religious speech in the public square.” I see increasing signs of this same thinking in our beloved nation of Canada.

My understanding of freedom of religion in Canada is that it was never intended to be freedom from religion. However, this freedom must be valued and contended for.

 

Castanet Article
Thursday, October 25th, 2007
Oh! Canada! Column

I know it may seem that I just invented a new word – that wouldn’t be a first for me. Maybe somebody better let UrbanDictionary.com know. However, let me say that hypocrisis is actually a word, but its roots are not English or Germanic It originates from Late Latin usage, meaning “to play-act, pretend,” or “to play a part.”

The English version is the word hypocrite, meaning “to pretend to have a virtuous character, moral or religious belief or principle that one does not really possess.” It appears that there is a lot of that going on today, and hypocrisis does not appear to be the sole possession of The Canadian Actors guild. It appears that hypocrisy is a crisis affecting many people from all walks of life.

Hypocrisy is everywhere. The Church is facing it in its ranks. Sports heroes are infected with it. Political leaders are reeling. Hollywood can’t hide the damage inflicted when people try to keep up appearances. And, we can’t pretend that it is going to go away with a flick of a switch. People don’t just turn on integrity: you either have it, or you don’t.

If you don’t, and you want others to think you do, you wind up play acting, living a life of pretense, and sooner rather than later, the lie becomes hard to separate from the truth: people begin to live out the lie as a lifestyle. The sense evolution behind the word hypocrisis is that people begin to “separate gradually” from reality and start to “play a part.”

I believe that our culture is in crisis. It is difficult to find people who are worthy of our trust. Integrity appears to be in short supply. A person of integrity “steadfastly adheres to a strict moral or ethical code,” and over the long haul, that integrity or moral soundness is demonstrated in their life.

People of integrity are undivided: they are not two-faced; they do not play a part. Who they are on the inside and what you see on the outside are the same. Their judgment in the light is unimpaired by any inner darkness. They don’t have to act – they simply are who they are.

I have been a pastor for close to 35 years. I have heard it said that church is filled with hypocrites, that Christians are a bunch of hypocrites. Well, it’s true: I have to agree. However, hypocrisy is a church problem because it is a human problem.

I would be the first to admit my own struggle with hypocrisy. Every one of us has the daily task of closing the gap between what we know and how we live. I just happen to think that there are “honest hypocrites” who admit their personal need for help and realignment, and “dishonest hypocrites” who deny they have a problem.

I am constantly amazed at the willingness of Christians to go to church, week after week, and let someone confront their hypocrisy. I hang out with these people because we are trying together, with God’s help, to close the gap between confession and profession. I honor them as they face integrity audits within the context of relational and corporate accountability.

What really matters is the hypocrisis in our own lives. Live in pretense too long and you will gradually separate yourself from reality and start to live a lie too. One day, if it is not dealt with, it may be your undoing, whether in a private or public setting.

 

Castanet Article
October 11th, 2007
Oh! Canada! Column

On our way home from holidays a few years ago, my wife picked up the latest Horizon Air magazine. There was an article on page 3, written by Bill Ayer, Chairman of Alaska Air Group, entitled Farewell, Bruce. After reading it, she passed it on to me.

Jeff Pinneo, President and CEO of Alaska Airlines stated that on June 28th, Bruce R. Kennedy, a former CEO, who had spent 40 years of “extraordinary leadership and service” for Alaska Airlines, died when his Cessna 182 crashed near Cashmere, Washington.

Jeff expressed that Bruce was a man of deep character, and that the wise counsel and powerful example that flowed from that character into the organization would be missed. Bill stated that Bruce’s “caring, integrity, resourcefulness, spirit and professionalism were part of [his] essence long before [Alaska Airlines] adopted them as their formal values.”

While reading the article, I was impressed that this man’s character – who this man was on the inside – had influenced and impacted an entire airline culture that will continue affecting others long after his passing.

A Seattle Times reporter, interviewing Bruce after retiring in 1991, quoted Bruce as saying, it is time to trade “success for significance.” From that point on, Bruce devoted himself to Christian missionary work overseas and humanitarian efforts.

He and his wife traveled to China to teach English with the Christian group Educational Services International, and they volunteered with World Relief and sheltered dozens of refugee families in their home.

Quite a choice, eh – success or significance? Undoubtedly, our North American culture is success driven. Usually, success is seen through material eyes – ie. what car I drive, the house I live in, who I associate with, how much money I have in the bank, being on the Who’s Who list, etc. The Bible calls the man who builds bigger barns to house his wealth a “fool,” for what happens to his wealth when his soul is required of him? Jesus said, “What profit is there if a man gains the whole world but loses his own soul?” There are too few people in this world who understand true riches, or who are in touch with the state of their soul.

 

Bruce Kennedy caught sight of something that most people are blind to. He understood the difference between success and significance. One man said that there will be no success without a successor. Unless one is living their life in such a way as to leave a legacy to another generation, there will be no significance in life. Success is often uni-generational. Unless the “values, vision and mission” are multi-generational in nature, no significance will be left behind.

Values give you character, vision gives you direction, and mission gives you purpose. Einstein wrote, “Try not to become a man of success, but rather, try to become a man of value.”

Where do you connect with values that will leave a legacy of significance? It appears to me, from everything I have read, that Bruce’s values were clearly rooted into a personal experience with God. Wherever he was, whatever he was doing, who he was because of his relationship to God, became the most important thing he desired to leave behind.

Bill Ayer stated that the “little airline that could has flown into significance.” However, that significance was not because of better planes, or because of better trained pilots, but because of better people who carry the legacy of values and character into the next generation.

 

Castanet Article
Thursday August 23rd, 2007
Oh! Canada! Column

I am grateful to be Canadian, to live in a country that values the individual, no matter the race or religion, and protects freedom of expression. I have visited nations from every continent and realize that Canada is a special place. I am not unaware of the fact that in many countries I would not have the opportunity to write articles as I do, addressing issues every week.

For Canada to remain “strong and free” Canadians must take their duty to “stand on guard” seriously. There are two ways a nation can fail and fall: one is through an external power – conquered from without; and, the other is through an internal weakness – collapse from within.

I see Canada embroiled in a war of ideas. Canada is still in a search to define itself. As such, it is open to entertaining new ideas, adopting them and integrating them into our society. Those ideas need to be challenged, for that openness can be a wonderful strength or a profound weakness. The effect of an idea gone wrong can be devastating.

I see Canada as in the early stages of its national development, and my observation is that Canada is imitating the habits of teenagers. Those of us who are parents can identify with that challenging time as teens attempt to transition into adulthood. It is not an easy thing to watch or be a part of. The maturing process can be painfully slow, and often brings out the best or the beast in them.

Canada, in its national adolescence, seems to be attracted to the idea of difference for difference sake. It seems to know more of what it is against than it knows what it is for, and has built its identity around a reaction to what it does not want to be. There have been numerous books written on the identity crisis Canada suffers living next to Big Brother USA. We often take positions against the American mind set just to express our right to create the Canadian difference.

I have seen my nation’s struggle to be viewed as a global leader propel them to be early adopters of new ideas and take on positions that defy common sense. Is our corporate identity enhanced in some way by demonstrating our right to march to the beat of our own drum? Are we somehow strengthened in our national image by disagreeing with the ancient wisdom? Has being an early adopter helped or hurt our international image? Or, are we having an adolescent spasm?

To use a statement from Natalia Mordy’s column on Eco-Friendly Living, my aim is not to be mainstream minded either. As she said, “last time I checked, the stream wasn’t too healthy.” I concur. Canada should not define itself by comparison or competition with other nations in the world. There is an historical wisdom we can tap into for decision-making. There is an internal grid called conscience. There is a law written upon the hearts of the generations of the nations that we all must read.

Canada is vulnerable as it strains to emerge into adulthood and maturity as a nation. Its identity is still in the making. What will Canada eventually look like? What will its core beliefs and values be? What will it eventually grow up to become? How will it be seen by its global neighbours?

The key to the formation of this new identity will be the ideas Canada adopts as its own. Those ideas will form its future. Those ideas will attract visitors. Those ideas will create a DNA for generations as they will be read in our legislatures, taught in our schools and universities, applied in the marketplace, and integrated into our homes and family values.

The future identity of Canada will be forged in the ideas of today. They need to be challenged from passionate Canadians. A confluence of compassion and reason need to come together to ensure that the destiny of our great land and its people is protected. May God keep this land glorious and free!

Castanet Article
Thursday August 16th, 2007
Oh! Canada! Column

 

We are Canadians. This is our nation. We have been called to “stand on guard” for our country. To stand on guard requires that we be personally aware of the very real, clear and present danger facing our country. I submit to you that Canada is under siege, not from without, from some foreign power, but from within.

What I am referring to is an invasion of ideas. Napoleon said that ideas were more powerful than armies. Armies come and go, but ideas can lie embedded in a society for centuries, influencing a nation’s culture, affecting the thinking and activity of generations, and touching their very soul and conscience. Good ideas strengthen a people: erroneous ideas, unchallenged and tolerated, weaken a citizenry.

I had the privilege of seeing the movie, Amazing Grace when it first hit the theatre, the true story of one of the 18th Century’s greatest heroes, William Wilberforce.

The movie’s title comes from a hymn sung in many of our churches, penned by John Newton. He was the son of a sea captain, pressed into naval service at an early age. He deserted, was recaptured, and then flogged for his efforts. At his own request, John was placed into service in a slave trip, which took him to Sierra Leone, on the Windward Coast of Africa.

On a homeward voyage, in the midst of a violent storm, he cried out to God for mercy, and “grace led him home.” Though truly converted, he continued in the slave trade, until he was overwhelmed by a conviction about the evilness of the idea of trading in people’s souls. It was detailed in his pamphlet, Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade.

In it he wrote about the need to suppress the trafficking in human souls with the hope that the “stain on the national character would be wiped out” (pg1). He affirmed that he would have quit sooner, had [he] considered it, “unlawful and wrong” (pg 4). He went on to say that “the Righteous Lord loves righteousness, and He has engaged us to plead the cause, and vindicate the wrongs, of the oppressed. It is righteousness that exalts a nation; and wickedness is the present reproach, and will, sooner or later, unless repentance intervenes, prove the ruin of any people (pg 6).”

He started to speak out about what the acceptance of a faulty idea had cost the Empire. The Slave Trade had created a moral critical mass. Everyone was marked by its evil, and few were standing against its abuses. He pointed to the loss of the soul of England’s sons who were hardened by the inhumanity to humanity, the curse of fever which took both black and white’s lives, the affect on the minds of those involved in the trade, the unmerciful whippings, torture, crying babies being thrown overboard, men stacked like books on a shelf.

In the movie he speaks of the 20,000 ghosts that haunted his soul. They were men, women and children who died trying to make the nine month journey. Statistics estimate that close to 100,000 blacks, both slave and free, were bought and sold annually, that more than 20% died enroute, and those who survived passage seldom lived beyond nine years in captivity.

John joined the Abolitionists, and was influential in convincing a young man, William Wilberforce to remain in politics and “serve God where he was.” Wilberforce spent decades in Parliament fighting a “bad idea” that had gripped the soul and economy of a nation.

It wasn’t extracted easily from the consciousness of England. Men defended it for years: “if we do not do it, the French will glean the profits from it;” “shutting it down will affect the port economy and be a hardship to its people.” The justifications for a “bad idea” were numerous. For years the nation and its citizenry bought into it, drowning out this young man’s voice.

Finally, after impassioned speech after speech, using common sense, force of reason and political wit, truth won out. It was agreed that the trade was “contrary to the principles of justice, humanity and sound policy.” The Slave Trade Act, after twenty years of debate, received royal assent on 25 March 1807. A new idea won out, and has prevailed since that day.

What happens when good men say nothing about bad ideas? What occurs when good ideas are silenced by evil ones? What happens to the soul of a nation? What affect does it have on the corporate conscience of a generation? What legacy is left to its most innocent of citizens, its children? The question begs asking, “Would you have been an Abolitionist in Newton and Wilberforce’s England?”

Let’s make sure that 20,000 ghosts do not haunt our lives, as they did John Newton. Let’s get ready to stand on guard for Canada as we start to expose some bad ideas that desire to invade our corporate consciousness, and ultimately become part of our nation’s DNA.

 

Castanet Article
Thursday 19th, 2007
Oh! Canada! Column

Just a few short days ago Canada celebrated its national birthday. Some of us who have been around a long time can remember when it was celebrated as Dominion Day: now it is Canada Day. We have a lot to celebrate. Our presence on the world stage is being requested, and our opinions seem to be valued by the international community. The nations are noticing Canada.

We have the will, desire and intelligence to tackle the most difficult of problems. It appears that we are not afraid to get up to bat, to face the awesome task of addressing human frailty and social dysfunction. I love that about Canadians. Most Canadians believe the best about their Prime Minister’s heart motivations. They are an incredibly patient breed and magnanimous. Even their criticisms are shared with a desire to be a part of the solution

I don’t ever want to see the essential good nature of Canadians change. However, just as individuals function their best when operating according to an inner sense of call and mission, an essential life purpose, so nations must never lose their sense of intention, or appointment with destiny.

The Bible makes the statement that it is God who guides the destinies of the generations of the nations. Just as individuals have a “manifest destiny,” so does the nation of Canada.

The political party – or the individual – that best captures the national mission that is at the core of the nation’s identity will have the opportunity to impact Canada’s future and call out its best.

One such man who did that in our Canadian history was Lester Bowles Pearson. He received the 1957 Noble Peace Prize for propagating the idea of the present UN Peace Keeping force. The former PM was born in Toronto, Ontario (1897-1972), son and grandson to Methodist preachers. It was during the Suez Crisis of 1956, when he was Secretary of State for External Affairs that he proposed the commissioning of a multinational UN peacekeeping force.

Listen to what he said: “Threats to global survival, though they are sometimes exaggerated in apocalyptic language which makes our flesh creep, are real. The prophets of doom and gloom may be proven wrong but it is a chilling fact that man can now destroy his world by nuclear explosion or ecological erosion….The stark and inescapable fact is that today we cannot defend our society by war since total war is total destruction, and if war is used as an instrument of policy, eventually we will have total war. Therefore, the best defense of peace is not power, but the removal of the causes of war, and international agreements which will put peace on a stronger foundation than the terror of destruction.”

Did his faith influence his passion and pursuit of world peace as a purpose in life? No question. He could have been speaking to the nations of our generation where peace is in very short supply, and is being threatened by small pieces of luggage unattended in a parking lot or inside terminals.

Pearson connected with one of the national DNA strands that I believe God put there when the nation was born. Canadians have responded to more than 40 peace keeping missions, and many have paid the ultimate price. For Canada to remain Canada, there is an ever-increasing need for Canada to step it up regarding its passion and mission to peace make and peace keep.

The honorable Stockwell Day once stated at a Mayoral Leadership Breakfast in Kelowna that he had “faith in Canada because of faith in Canada.” I agree! As a Christian, in a faith relationship to Jesus, I have been given a commission to be a reconciler of men to God and to each other.

The Church in Canada has a pivotal role to play in making and keeping the peace within its borders and beyond. God uses the Church to persuade men and women to drop their differences, and enter into God’s work of making things right between them.

May God grant us peace on our soil because of the potency of our relationship to the Prince of Peace, and may He cause us to become peace makers and peace keepers beyond our borders. This is Canada’s heritage!

 

Castanet Article
Thursday 12th, 2007
Oh! Canada! Column

Congrats, grads! We are proud of you. We honor your hard work, and the commitment you made to complete this phase of your life. We also honor you moms and dads, who faithfully helped your sons and daughters complete and finish well.

Grad days are great days. I can remember the euphoria I felt when I completed high school, and then, went on to graduate from two colleges. What a wonderful sense of relief I experienced. No more classes, no more exams, no more required reading. I was done, in more ways than one!

However, as I ponder those days, I think that my euphoria lasted no longer than one day. It didn’t take me long to realize that graduation, by its very definition, was not an end but a beginning. It was simply the completion of one baby step forward on the road of life. There were many more steps that would be required in the years to come.

In my later years, I have had the privilege of speaking at numerous commencement ceremonies addressing the next generation. I have always felt awe as I looked over a sea of young Canadians. So much promise, so much potential, so many opportunities before them.

I could imagine the time moms and dads invested in their kids proofing papers, providing care, protecting hearts, and projecting what their child’s future could look like. Those were trying, but good, days.

Personally, as a father, I found that graduation was a parental realty check. I was struck with the thought that there was little more that I could do for them now. Where they went, what they did, and who they became was up to them now. I had to trust that what had been deposited in them would cause them to make wise decisions about their future.

Clearly, to many, graduation is spelled R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y. In our Canadian culture, graduation is a social acknowledgement of a young person’s movement into adulthood. They have passed a common test required of all Canadian youth.

However, life after grad is a constant introduction to new sets of challenges to grow up and change. Youth graduate from something to something. There is no vacuum: there is no time to waste. Another cycle of education is ready to begin. There is no getting away from the sense of increased social expectations. More tests lie directly ahead.

Arie Pencovici said, “Graduation is only a concept. In real life, every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life.” I believe that!

Life after grad isn’t just about rights – it’s about responsibilities. Opportunities will come, but I pray that this generation will not pass them up because they are wearing overalls, and require good Canadian sweat. It took good, clean, hard work to give us the Canada we now enjoy. It will take that from every young person entering the workforce to keep it.

Life after grad is about Canadian youth taking their place in society to create a better world. That takes more than being dedicated to make a living: it requires a daily diligence, and commitment to integrity and character, to make a life worth living.

The real test of their education is whether grads have the ability to turn what they know into a personal and social expression of wisdom. Knowledge should be used to serve the city, to put back into the system what has been invested in them.

At the same time, every young grad needs to be encouraged to dream their dream, be the dream, and then, live the dream. Mahatma Gandhi stated, “[They] must [become] the change [they] wish to see in [their] world” [italics mine].

I know that there are many city leaders that are committed to help these young grads succeed. They offer knowledge, experience, skills, values, and discipline. They consider it an investment in the future of Canada. I pray the youth take them up on it, and value it.

The future is now for these graduating classes. My prayer is that they remember this poem, for it will keep them focused on what is really important:

 

“The future lies before you, like a field of driven snow;
be careful how you tread it, for every step will show.”

 

Castanet Article
Thursday 5th, 2007
Oh! Canada! Column

I am concerned for this next generation in Canada! I am a Christian leader who has been leading for 35 years, and I am constantly aware of the impact leaders have upon those who look to them for direction and moral clarity.

I remember my first counseling session, coaching a married couple into reconciliation. As a young pastor, I recall the heavy burden I felt to give perfect advice, knowing that they would probably attempt to follow it and put it into practice. I felt the weight of responsibility that was involved in not only saying the right words but being the right person.

I have also seen the devastation that has occurred within the soul of a community when respected leaders have fallen. It doesn’t have to happen often to affect you for life. Once is enough. Bubbles burst. Questions fill the mind. Trust vanishes. Anger emerges from the heart. The struggle to believe sets in.

The reality is that many people are looking for someone to follow, someone to model their life after. Over the last few decades, I have seen every area of social life morally undermined by delinquent role models. Almost every day we are seeing the real life dramas of the rich and famous lived out in public view: politicians, business leaders, ministers, movie stars, etc.

Remember the global effect on the political world when we heard the truth about President Clinton’s marital affair with Monica? Impeachment proceedings were based upon his lying under oath, not his affair. Adultery was considered a moral offense, not a criminal one. How did we ever get there?

Didn’t engaging a woman, who was not his wife, in illicit sexual acts speak to the greater issue: the willingness to break a covenant, a vow, an oath? Society is now living with The Clinton Legacy: some acts are not sexual, improper or adulterous, if they stop short of intercourse. A generation has bought it, hook, line and sinker.

Christian leaders have failed this generation – Ted Haggard. Often their explanations and justifications have had a greater negative affect than their immoral actions. There is forgiveness, but what about repentance, public accountability, even long term consequence. Talk to King David about Bathsheba and adultery’s effects on generations!

Sports heroes have failed this generation – Kobe Bryant. Listen to Kobe: “This isn’t about morality (it’s all about morality) or crime. I’ll let others better qualified than I sort that out (he didn’t know the difference?). It’s about doing the right thing (there is a right thing) after you’ve been caught doing the wrong thing” (italics mine). I thought character is what prevents us from doing wrong stuff in the first place!

Movie stars have failed this generation. Remember actor Mel Gibson having to publicly apologize for his shameful conduct: ie. drunk driving, swearing and anti-Semitism? This, Mel engaged in, right after producing one of the finest movies on the Passion of the Christ. I know what it is like to live my life under constant public scrutiny. What I do and say, my attitude and behavior, affects people’s lives. A leader can lose their life modeling career in a day – come on, Mel! You know that too!

And, what about Paris Hilton? The heiress was sentenced to 45 days in jail for driving with a suspended licence from DUI, later reduced to 23 days. For unspecified medical reasons – eg. rash, psychological reasons – she was reassigned from her stay in a 12-by-eight foot cell into a 2,700-square-foot Hollywood Hills house arrest.

The Game Show Network (GSN) readjusted their focus and made her homestay a joke. They launched “The Prison Life of Paris” this week, featuring a cartoon version of Paris wearing a prison-issue orange jumpsuit, stilettos and oversized sunglasses. GSN certainly picked up on the spirit of the times. This stuff all sounds like a game than real life. She does her time at home, adding a new ankle bracelet to her wardrobe, and this generation does time watching her!

Does anyone get the picture yet? Is anyone watching the moral radar screen? This generation is looking in all the wrong places for life models. They are being raised without an understanding of a moral plumb line, rights and wrongs, “yes’s” and “no’s”, consequences for actions, internal and external accountability.

It’s got to change! Are there any role models out there willing to pay the price of decency? What ever happened to good manners or common sense? Is integrity, character, and virtue an outdated idea, or is it what this generation desperately needs?

I happen to think that the list of dysfunctional North American idols is getting ominous and onerous. It’s time for a new generation to emerge and show themselves.

 

Castanet Article
Thursday June 28th, 2007
Oh! Canada! Column

 

A few months ago Time magazine ran an article entitled The Spy Who Knew Too Much. It had to do with suspicions surrounding the death of the Russian dissident, Alexander Litvinenko. Doctors suspected that some kind of radioactive agent was causing his illness. Unexplainable things were happening: his body was disintegrating, his hair was falling out, and his bone marrow was failing. Under medical evaluation, gamma spectrometers picked up nothing unusual in his blood system.

However, atomic experts discovered alpha particles, which after entering the bloodstream will destroy everything that they touch. They isolated the alpha particles and found them to come from the rare isotope polonium 210. A nuclear reactor was required to make polonium, and some ingenuity was needed to turn it into a magic capsule that would induce slow death.

Alexander Litvinenko had been poisoned. Just one microgram (one-millionth of a gram) is enough to kill most people. A microgram weighs less than a grain of salt and is more difficult to spot than a period at the end of a paragraph. Once ingested, it leaves an unmistakable dye that can be traced. Put into a drink it produces vapors that can be inhaled by those around.

I have been hearing for years from the experts of our society that a little bit of pornography cannot hurt you: it might even help. A fling on the wild side of marriage may be a good thing and could create a healthy spark to a deteriorating sex life. A few swear words, mixed into television conversation, never hurt anybody: that’s life. A puff of marijuana never killed anybody: let’s legalize it.

Forgive me please if I gag! I am tired of this baloney. I am sick of seeing our children used as guinea pigs as society experiments with theories. I am fed up with the deteriorating health of Canadian people, marriages and families. Just as ingesting a small amount of polonium culminated in the death of Alexander Litvinenko, so accepting a little bit of immorality here and there is increasing the mortality rate of our nation.

I have been a pastor for many years. I have ministered to men who are addicted to Internet porn. I have visited them in prisons as they tried to kick the habit that caused them to molest a child. I have wept with couples who were now dealing with the pain of the discovery of hidden sexual sins. I have counseled children who can hardly speak English but have adopted trash talk as the core of their vocabulary. I have worked with the heroin addict whose journey into drugs started with one joint.

For years I have had to deal with the experts who say that there is little to no connection between heroin and marijuana, pornography and incest, adultery and divorce. Say what? Who is coming up with these stats? Ask your neighbour what he or she thinks? Common sense tells us otherwise.

Many Canadians I speak with are disturbed by the loss of civility in our nation. In Charlottetown, a high school principal took a stand against the “casual profanity” of his students and was hailed as a hero by parents and educators alike. Researchers have found that one in eight people will leave their jobs as a result of incivility: ie. desk rage, verbal abuse, rudeness, profanity.

Yet, we have defenders saying we should not stifle what is a natural cathartic outlet for frustration. It’s better to be sworn at than hit, they say. That sounds good. Let’s follow that logic a little further: is it better to be hit than knifed? Is it better to be knifed than shot? Is there anyone home out there? None of it should be acceptable: swearing, hitting, knifing, or shooting.

I know that we are supposed to be a tolerant people, but tolerance has its levels. Just a little more tolerance of a poison can kill you, as Litvinenko found out. There are some things eating at the healthy DNA of our nation. How long do we play as a people with poison? How long can we allow people to change the labels on the bottles of poison?

What will it take before we recognize that things have gone too far? Who is willing to take a stand against the degrading, deteriorating toxins infiltrating the DNA of our social system? Is it possible that the tide is beginning to turn?

It has been said that evil prospers when good men say nothing. Are there any good men out there? Is there anyone who sees the danger when we as individuals and as a culture imbibe just a little bit of immorality?

 

Castanet Article
Thursday June 7th, 2007
Oh! Canada! Column