Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2008-02-06, Page 66 Times–Advocate Wednesday, February 6, 2008 Opinion Forum News Writer says Christ embodies truth Unity. Peace. Understanding. Tolerance. Co-operation. These are things which all, or at least most, of us want in our world. I'm in favour of all of the above. However, what I'm about to write is going to sound intolerant and probably politically incorrect. Recently, World Religion Day was observed locally. There is a reason why I have annually chosen not to take part in this event. It isn't because I hate any par- ticular person or group. In fact, I follow a risen Saviour who has taught me to love other people. But love does not necessar- ily mean promoting or affirming all ideas and teachings as equally valid. Now, I do realize that the intentions of those involved in efforts such as World Religion Day are pure: "to foster the establishment of interfaith understanding and harmony by emphasizing the common denominators underlying all religions." Sounds good. Sounds positive. Sounds comfortable for everyone concerned. Unfortunately, comfortable messages, while good to hear, aren't necessarily true. Those "common denominators" only go so far, and there's little that underlies all religions. Now, of course, there is some amount of wisdom to be found in all faiths. However, it's dangerous to imagine that all faiths are equally valid ways of getting to God. There are too many inconsistencies for that to be possible. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). Not everybody believes that, but what I'm getting at is: "how can I put my faith in Christ as the Son of God, and the only way to God, and still affirm every other faith at the same time?" It just doesn't fit. Pretty intolerant, isn't it? Why do I believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of the Living God, and more than just another prophet? Because He's the only one who died in my place so I could live for eternity with Him, and He's the only one who rose again from the dead. Muhammad may have been wise, but he didn't do that. Neither did Baha'u'llah, Zoroaster, Letters to the Editor Gautama, Abraham or Moses. Wise and enlightened people they were, but none was God in the flesh, except Jesus Christ. And none other has offered salvation as a free gift rather than something to be earned. One might say that the claims Jesus made about Himself are terribly arrogant. Not if they're true. And proclaiming one belief system as superior to others sounds intol- erant. Not if it's true. And while unity of all mankind is a noble goal, which I share, I also believe in truth. There are three basic ways to achieve unity. One is to compro- mise and water down all the various teachings to the point where none of us really stands for much of anything. Another is to "agree to disagree." But again, where is truth in that? The third way is to unite, once and for all, behind the truth; and you can imagine that I'm going to proclaim Jesus Christ as the embodiment of that truth. "How dare you?" someone might say. Isn't that insensitive to someone who believes differently? Let me ask this: if you knew the cure for cancer or AIDS, would you tell anybody? I believe that Jesus is the answer for all that plagues mankind, so I'm going to tell people about it. Or someone might say, "That's not very loving." Another question: if a close friend or family member is doing something with dire consequences or moving in a wrong direction, would you correct that person? And is that intolerance? Or love? History is full of examples of people who have proclaimed nice, comfortable, mes- sages that people wanted to hear. Those messengers are usually popular, but not necessarily right. Meanwhile, there have been many others who have proclaimed the truth and been very unpopular for it. I, for one, wish to err on the side of truth, even if it be unpopular. That's because I follow a risen Saviour who set just such an example. Finally, one could point to Christianity as a whole and say how fragmented and lacking in unity we are. Any disunity among Christians comes from man-made doc- trines and petty disputes, not from God. Thankfully, we are not called to follow Christians; we are called to follow Christ, who teaches unity, peace, and love, through Him. This has been an intolerant, yet loving, message, brought to you by just one Christian, and has not been paid for by anyone. THOMAS BAILEY Grand Bend Update from South Huron mayor SOUTH HURON — Do you feel you are getting value for your municipal tax dollars? Some of the statements I hear are: • "Are the taxes going up again this year?" • "It seems like the taxes go up each year and we get less and less for our money." • "We sure don't get much for our municipal tax dol- lars." This week a gentleman said to me that he read my article in last week's paper and wanted to tell me that he "loves his munici- pality and wants the services to stay the same and if it means paying a little more for taxes to maintain our great municipality, it would be well worth it." Approximately 35 per cent of your tax bill goes to the Municipality of South Huron to carry out the services that they supply to you, the residents. Taxes are calculated on the assessment of calculated value of your property. I am not going to get into the dis- cussion of whether this method of taxation is fair or not, but that is how it is done in Canada. The municipality needs so much money and that is the method to collect the money. Some services the municipality provides are mandat- ed by the province and some are requested by the public. South Huron provides a road system to each proper- ty. A level of service has been established for the com- fort of our residents so the system can be used almost every day of the year. Police and fire security services are provided. Emergency Preparedness is provided in case of a disaster. Recreation, parks, and community halls all provide for the pleasure of our residents. Planning and eco- nomic development make sure planning and expan- sion of our municipality is done in an orderly fashion. We also have a cemetery. Administration staff looks after the administra- tion of these services as well as public relations to the residents. They also look after the admin- istration of services that are user pay such as water, sewer, drainage, building and landfill. You might say that you didn't use some of these services last year. Consider yourself lucky if you didn't need the service of a police officer or the service of our fire department. Consider yourself lucky to have the service if you did need them. The average amount of tax money from a house to the Municipality of South Huron is approximately $750 to $1,200. Some pay more and some pay less. Compare this amount of money to the money you pay for car insurance, electricity, telephone, cable or gaso- line for your car for the year. You tell me whether you are getting value for your municipal tax dollars Ken Oke Crime of the month EXETER — Huron County Crime Stoppers and the Huron County OPP are asking for assistance in solving a break, enter and theft. Sometime overnight between Nov. 17 and Nov. 18, thieves broke into a garage on Huron Street East in Exeter, stealing a 2006 Harley Davidson Fatboy Motorcycle with an Ontario license #497S1. The motorcycle is black with several after- market chrome accessories and pipes. The value of the motorcycle is $30,000. If you have any information regarding this theft call Crime Stoppers at 1 -800 -222 -TIPS (8477). You will not have to give your name or go to court and could be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000. POLICE BRIEF Tractor taken LUCAN BIDDULPH — A John Deere lawn tractor was stolen Jan. 28 from a property on Whalen Line in Lucan Biddulph. Principal's message EXETER — The weather last week played havoc with our efforts to finish off the first semester and get started on the second, but in the end we were at least able to get the exams finished so we could begin the new semester this week. I would like, however, to respond to a couple of issues that came up on our snow days. The first issue pertains to notifying students and parents about bus and school cancellations: some of the local radio stations have decided not to provide detailed lists of cancellations and closures on air, directing listeners to go to their websites instead. If that is the case with the station to which you listen, then I would recommend you try another station or go directly to the Avon Maitland District School Board website: www.yourschools.ca The information sent to the radio and television stations is posted on the board website, and it is the most accurate and up-to-date source of detailed information. The other issue we face is that the weather varies considerably across our region, which stretches from north of St. Joseph to Grand Bend on the west and from Kippen to Kirkton on the east. Rather than trying to cancel some buses and keep others running, we tend to have them all running or none. On one day last week that meant drivers were facing some streamers com- ing off the lake, a phenomenon quite common in our weather patterns. While the streamers made visibility difficult at times, over all the weather situation was not that bad. However, the weather can also change dramat- ically from 6 to 9 a.m., either for better or worse, which makes it a challenge when we are deciding whether to run or cancel the buses. We make the best call we can with the information we have available at the time, but sometimes a sudden change can occur in the weather as was the case one day last week. I would like to make two final points: when the buses are cancelled, we do not run regular classes because the majority of our students arrive by bus and because many of our staff do not reside in the immediate area, making it a challenge for them to get to school safely as well. Secondly, when we have a snow day cancella- tion, we just jump over that day on the timetable and continue with the scheduled daily rotation on the following day. So if a snow day is a Day 1, the next day will still be a Day 2. That will happen Feb. 18 as well, with the new Family Day holiday that was announced a few months ago. Students in Grade 8 and their parents are reminded of our Grade 8 Information Night, which is scheduled for Wed., Feb. 13, starting at 6:45 p.m. The evening starts with informal tours of the building from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m. , fol- lowed by a presentation in the gym. This will be a great opportunity to see our facilities, meet our staff and some of our students, see the great things we do at South Huron, and get answers to any questions you may have about course selection for Grade 9. In case of bad weather, the snow date for this event is the following Wed., Feb. 20. Students in Grades 9 to 12 will be doing course selection this week. Our Guidance staff will be visiting classrooms to answer any questions students may have about course selection for next year. Any parents who have ques- tions are encouraged to give us a call. Finally, I would like to remind everyone that we have moved the memorial service for Ryan Van Valkengoed to Thurs., Feb. 14, starting at 2 p.m. We will be running shortened versions of all five periods and will dismiss early so that all students who wish to may attend the service. The recent snow days made it difficult for the students planning the event to get things organized for this week, and so we have delayed the service until next week. JEFF REABURN PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE