The Heathen's Rage

The Canadian Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR) has undertaken the monumental task of re-opening the abortion debate in Canada, and pro-abortionists are riled. CCBR has taken a drastic approach to the issue, showing graphic displays of aborted fetuses and massacred children and adults side by side to illustrate the similarities. The images used and claims made have certainly captured attention, and the abortion question seems to be headed back into Canada’s public square because of CCBR’s Genocide Awareness Project.

The project makes use of their graphic displays to compare abortion to the (almost) universally acknowledged butchery of our world, such as the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide, and suggest that abortion is culturally accepted infanticide. The project, and its use of displays, is admittedly controversial, and CCBR makes no apologies for their controversial approach to the issue. Their website simply lists a series of changed-heart testimonials as their reason for tackling the abortion issue this way.

Essentially, the question revolves around the humanness of a fetus. If a fetus is not essentially human, then there is no issue; if a fetus is essentially human, than society must confront the disturbing comparisons and seek to remedy the wrong we’ve perpetrated for several years now. The question is as valid as it is inherently controversial.

Yet, while the question is controversial, and CCBR highlights the controversial aspect in their awareness projects, the manner in which they engage the debate is almost startling in its civility and intellectualism. The advice they provide on their website concerning dialogue and debate includes points such as “Make more statements that end in question marks than end in periods” and “Find common ground”. While the displays are stark and disturbing, the purpose, it seems, is to engage rational discussion and debate that is free from rhetoric and antagonism.

On university campuses across the nation, pro-abortion groups are loudly decrying CCBR’s message with inflammatory rhetoric and mob rage. Unfortunately, none seem willing to engage the debate from a reasoned perspective. A pro-abortion position is purported to be so easily defensible as to be plainly obvious, so it’s really strange that a few pro-life students with graphic signs and a dissenting viewpoint could intimidate campus pro-abortionists. Are they threatened by the message? Because if they’re not, why else would they slink away from an invitation to rational debate, and take refuge in chants, personal insults, and anarchist overthrow?

You might think that’s grossly overstating the pro-abortionist reaction to CCBR’s message. I invite you to watch the first five minutes of Jose Ruba’s attempted CCBR presentation at St. Mary’s University in Halifax.



Notice that he was disrupted before he had even finished his preliminary remarks and gotten into his presentation. Notice also how he was heckled down every time he tried to speak. And notice how his invitation for them to ask their questions at the conclusion of his presentation was totally ignored in favour of mindless rhetoric. This was only the first five of more than thirty minutes of this exchange.

What’s more disturbing? Mr. Ruba and his group were asked to leave the campus. Those who were seeking respectful, open dialogue, were removed from the institute of higher learning in favour of a group of lawless hooligans that had not one rational thing to say.

This is not an isolated incident. About two weeks ago, the University of Calgary charged a campus-approved pro-life group with trespassing when they erected their display on campus. This followed a protracted dispute between the university and the student group on account of the display, which the university deemed offensive to some students. Just today, the U of C Student Union joined with a handful of university clubs across the country to revoke the pro-life group's campus status, making them ineligible to use meeting rooms, university equipment, and available funding to support their cause.

Apparently, open thought is no longer accepted in our institutes of higher learning. This speaks ill of the future of education, progress, and civility. If people are not free to express their views, especially on campuses designed for the advancement of ideas, then knowledge will suffer, and it would not be hard to conceive another dark age. The dark ages were marked by the suppression of free thought and the suzerainty of closed-minded elites over ill-informed masses. Then, as now, it was a religion. Then, it was Catholicism; now it’s humanism. But the end is the same.

The irony in which pro-lifers may rejoice is that CCBR’s message is being advanced far more rapidly because of the controversy and persecution it has aroused than it ever would have through peaceful presentations in isolated lecture rooms. The media attention and universal fascination has generated far more publicity than a small non-profit organization could ever have hoped with the help of a few students scattered across Canada’s campuses.

Pro-abortionists, on the other hand, could learn a lesson from history if they cared to open their minds. Persecution is not a retardant; it is a stimulant. Rome tried to quell the rise of Christianity until, after three centuries of intense persecution, there were said to be more Christians than pagans in the realm. The Catholics tried to subdue national and doctrinal rebellions. After centuries of oppression, they were instead subdued into their more rightful place.

The larger issue is the rampage of the heathen against righteousness. Psalms 37:12 states, “The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.” A more apt description would be difficult to find. “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?” Righteousness will prevail, and the more it is resisted, the brighter and purer it becomes. Hence, another irony: the enemies of the righteous might unwittingly be their best friends, for the ploughing of the wicked serves only to purify the righteous, that they may be evermore fruitful, and their testimony might evermore prevail.

Tertullian said it this way: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church”. Righteousness cannot be beaten. God still rules. He has mercifully granted us a space for reconciliation, but He still reigns over all, and in due season he will break the yoke of heathen vanity. But for those interested in Him, he grants grace enough to overcome any obstacle. So lovers of darkness seek to destroy the light of righteousness by more persecution, but more persecution only means more grace, and more grace produces more light, which only further enrages the lovers of darkness.

So why do the heathen rage?

A Reader, A President

I found this link posted on another blog; I liked it, and I think it’s fitting to re-post here. However you view GWB’s presidency, you’ve got to extend credit for his personal literacy program. If the American President, with all of the pressures and demands on his time, can still read dozens of books in a year, what excuse do we have for any lesser reading accomplishment?

And (although this is not, and will not be, a political blog), I challenge anyone hooked by the popular opinion of GWB as ignorant, unlearned, and dumb to compare their reading accomplishments to his. I bet you’d lose.

Redeeming Fiction

The Globe and Mail published an article last week in defense of reading fiction; apparently, fiction and literature is good for your social skills. A study, which became the subject for the article, intimated that those who read frequently demonstrated more advanced social and communication skills. The reason given: literature sets up dialogue and other social exchanges from which the reader learns and uses to incorporate into actual social settings.

Assuming your choice in fiction is substantial, the thesis of the Globe’s article and supporting study seems reasonable. If you’re unsure of what might qualify, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ certainly would be a worthy benchmark.

Jane Austen is a renowned 19th century writer whose most prominent works include ‘Pride and Prejudice’ (c.1813), a tale that sets Elizabeth Bennett, an intelligent, witty, young woman as the heroine and Fitzwilliam Darcy as the uncannily real, yet often misunderstood, male protagonist.

A romance? I suppose, given that two weddings take place in the last chapter and the opening line of the book reads: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” Yet the romantic element plays only a supporting role to the greater plot of the story, the exposure of true character contrasted with the prejudicial opinions formed on first encounters. Indeed, were all romance novels written with such quality and underlying substance, I venture to suggest that they would not be altogether useless as reading material.

The sheer quality of writing is enough to render this work nothing short of a pleasurable diversion. Austen’s character development, dialogue, and descriptive narrations are a true joy to read, mentally stimulating, provocative (in a pure, thoughtful sense; another blessing in older writing is that it is utterly clean), and satisfying.

Although this was my first Austen novel, it certainly will not be my last. Indeed, fiction of this calibre has redemptive value in that its dialogue and narrative can be absorbed and assimilated into intellectual reality, its content can be discussed with pleasure among others who have read it, and its characters actually expose real character traits from which the reader can gain piercing insight into humanity. In fact, the richness of the characters in this book can actually help one identify character strengths and flaws in their own life, and use that knowledge to enhance their own personal development.

In short, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ boasts superior entertainment that also has potential to make the reader a better person for having read it. This, and other similar works, hold the redeeming qualities that most of today’s fiction lacks and desperately needs.

Personal Humility and Professional Will

Jim Collins is a world-renowned business writer, and his book Good to Great is one of the leading business books ever written. Collins and his research team sifted through more than 1,400 companies to finally identify just 11 that met their criteria for Good-to-Great businesses and then gain empirical evidence to differentiate the habits of the good from the great.

The first concept Collins presents in his book is Level 5 leadership, which is described summarily as personal humility and professional will. Interestingly, CEOs of all eleven subject Good-to-Great companies demonstrated this paradox, while CEOs of the comparison companies were "celebrity leaders" that had all the chutzpah and fanfare but in the end delivered mediocre results at best.

Determined ambition is often accompanied with egotism in the most apparent leaders, but the evidence clearly demonstrates the value of humility in leadership. To maximize leadership potential, one must learn to appreciate the efforts of their entire team and defer credit to others at every opportunity. In the words of former President Harry Truman, "It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."

Collins suggests that Level 5 leaders are most likely to be found in areas where a lot is accomplished and no one is taking credit for it. These rare leaders are not especially comfortable receiving accolades for their accomplishments; instead, they view their work as simply doing what needed to be done. As one executive illustrated when comparing himself to a flashy comparison executive, "He's more of a showhorse, whereas I'm more of a workhorse."

There is far more discipline and far less recognition in Level 5 leadership than conventional leadership; this leadership style is reserved for those who are more inspired by excellence for its own sake than excellence for the sake of personal gain. Ironically, those leaders less concerned with the appearance of success tend to realize the success that the charismatic, egocentric, conventional leaders aspire to but likely will never attain.

The results speak for themselves.

Appendix to Changing Times

I just read this verse, which succintly and reverently encapsulates what I tried to say in my last post:

So teach [us] to number our days, that we may apply [our] hearts unto wisdom. ~ Psalm 90:12

Amen.

Changing Times

I'm preparing to write an important exam in a few weeks that will hopefully complete my accounting program of professional studies. To help prepare, I'm reading the CICA Handbook, the definitive set of accounting guidelines for my nation commonly known as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

Here's the kicker: these rules will be phased out within 3 years and replaced with an international set of guidelines known as International Financial Reporting Standards. So I am currently sacrificing valuable time to study a document that will be irrelevant in about 1,000 days. That really isn't too far away.

The accounting profession isn't all that's changing. In fact, when stereotypically staunch, rigid, conservative accountants (like all stereotypes, a grandiose embellishment on a grain of truth) are undergoing massive change, it speaks to the pace of change that the rest of the real world must be experiencing.

Change in the context of progress and improvement is good (change for its own sake is often foolish), but this whole exercise has gotten me thinking about the importance of using time wisely to maximize my effectiveness in a changing world. What will it profit me to become an expert on accounting rules that will be obsolete in three years? Or worse, what will I gain from devouring today's newspaper when maybe 1% of what I read there will have any value at this time next year or even next month?

Time is a precious resource, and if it is to be invested rather than wasted, it will only be on account of deliberate action in the present. To maximize personal development will require foresight, wisdom, and diligence. Anticipate change, determine what is temporal and what holds lasting value, and relentlessly pursue the latter.

I've got a lot to do.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The names alone are sufficient to evoke rich imagery in the minds of nearly anyone in western society. Robert Louis Stevensen masterfully depicts the struggle between good and evil in his story of Jekyll and Hyde, and even though I could anticipate the outcome from a lifetime of hearing references to them, the read was still fascinating. (By the way, anyone who suggests that this story does not make moral statements is - I can't think of a nicer way to say this - deluding themselves.)

One thing that particularly struck me was how Mr. Jekyll laments that it is only evil that his potion can produce in purest form, not the good. Another profound thought Stevensen weaves into the tale is that the pull toward evil at once becomes increasingly compelling and increasingly detestable until it takes over and entraps and destroys a victim that no longer finds pleasure in its tentacles.

The story speaks a volume of truth to the nature of man. The first enticing tastes of wrongdoing draw out ever deeper passions and lusts. All too soon, though, the thrill of the forbidden becomes an addictive curse that overtakes every thought and action. Long after the enjoyment is replaced by bitter hatred, obssession remains.

O, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?

The story plays out repeatedly in the lives of your friends and mine, perhaps even in you. Fortunately, there is a hope that can transform your very nature; it is the power of the Holy Ghost, and it is available for those who seek Jesus Christ in all his power and suffering.

Stevensen's story ends without such hope; nonetheless, it is a tremendous literary picture of good and evil, and one you owe it to yourself to read.

Re-Discovering the Joy of Reading

Throughout childhood and adolescence, and into adulthood, I have always been a bit of a bookworm. During the past few years, though, the act of simultaneously balancing full-time work, post-secondary education, marriage, and all the other important things of my life has taken its toll, and my reading has been neglected.

Some people that are very close to me are tremendously well-read, and they inspire me to read more voraciously. To them I say thank you. I recently re-organized my bookshelf and counted the number of books I own but have not read. Twenty-two books of various genres, including theological, reference, personal development, business, classical, fiction, and literature, await my attention.

So I started reading again, and while I make no commitments as to my posting frequency, I will try to log my take-aways from books that I read on a somewhat regular basis. The Bible is my primary reading material. I do believe it is God's inspired Word to all humanity, I read it from that perspective, and I intend to reflect that in my posts. I do try to read other beneficial books, and I would like to summarize my thoughts from those as well. Of course, pop fiction would be excluded from this criteria, but it does have its place, and items from that genre may find their way onto my reading list on occasion as well.

This exercise is more for my own benefit than anything else; however, if you end up reading this blog for any reason, I would be interested to hear your thoughts on my thoughts on others' thoughts. If you've read the same things, or not, and you'd like to share your ideas, I would like to hear from you.