Everything Changes

It's maddening, really. The way people read a headline or listen to a news report - and believe it as fact.

Case in point: there was an online news teaser today that read, Islam Now World's #1 Religion. So, of course, I clicked on the link to read the startling (?) news, only to discover that the REAL headline of the Associated Press article reads, Muslims Outnumber World's Catholics.

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion, the Vatican newspaper said Sunday.

"For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us," Monsignor Vittorio Formenti said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. Formenti compiles the Vatican's yearbook.

He said that Catholics accounted for 17.4 percent of the world population — a stable percentage — while Muslims were at 19.2 percent.

But most readers won't even get to the end of the article, much less remember what it says:

When considering all Christians and not just Catholics, Christians make up 33 percent of the world population, Formenti said.

"The most effective propaganda is that which relies on framing rather than on falsehood. By bending the truth rather than breaking it, using emphasis and other auxiliary embellishments, communicators can create a desired impression without resorting to explicit advocacy and without departing too far from the appearance of objectivity."

[ Methods of Media Manipulation | Michael Parenti ]

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had made ready.

And they found the stone rolled back from the tomb.

But when they went inside, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

And while they were perplexed and wondering what to do about this, behold, two men in dazzling raiment suddenly stood beside them.

And as the women were frightened and were bowing their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among those who are dead?

He is not here, but has risen!

[ Luke 24:1-6 | Amplified ]

Yup. That's how warm it was today. 70 beautiful degrees. (Or 20°C for all my Canadian friends. TWENTY!)

Oh, and did I mention the clear skies? And the light southern breeze?

But there IS some good news and bad news. The good news? It is supposed to stay warm while I'm here. The bad news? I didn't bring any SHORTS or short sleeved shirts!

Ugh. I guess I'll just have to suffer and BUY SOME NEW ONES!

;-)

(There must be an Old Navy somewhere around here.)

The talk of our town has been about an article published this week that says that Brantford is the the crime capital of Ontario. The article also places Brantford in the startling position of having the second-highest per capita rate of reported sexual assaults in Canada.

COMPARED TO WHO?!

I was born in the United States and now live in Canada. I have lived in Western New York (home to Buffalo) and an hour outside of New York City. When I first moved to Canada 16 years ago I felt like I had gone back in time! No longer did I need to lock my car door or be afraid to walk down the street alone. Canada was so SAFE! In fact, the crime rate in Canada was so low compared to cities in the United States that I often mocked the evening news. The lead story was usually about the plight of farmers in Manitoba or about the antics of Canadian politics. Oooo... so scary!

No. You wanna know scary? Drive through Detroit! That's what I did today on my way to visit family in the States. But I DIDN'T know that Interstate 75 (which is the highway I needed to take) currently looks like a war zone! There isn't a highway to drive on near the border crossing! No, I had to follow the scenic detour through Mexican Town.

Now hear me out. I don't have a racist bone in my body. This isn't about the Hispanic community or any other people group for that matter. This is about feeling unsafe. YIKES! The I-75 South detour took me through the slums of Detroit!

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm stereotyping - gangs of youth walking down the street, burned out buildings, horrible streets with major potholes and not one person of MY color (which I guess would be NO color) to be found. Again, I don't have a problem with people of color. My family is full of people of color (Korean, African American, Hispanic). I actually wish my town had MORE people of color living there! But today I was the minority. And when you're the minority things "feel" different.

Which brings me back to MY city being the crime capital of Ontario!

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

That is funny.

I think Macleans magazine needs to read an article THEY published two years ago and STOP making people afraid of things they DON'T need to FEAR!

Law bans prayer
Editorial

Ending the practice of reciting the Lord's Prayer in the Ontario legislature is long overdue.

As I am sure Dalton McGuinty is aware, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled, in the case of Freitag vs Town of Penetanguishene (1999), the practice of beginning city council meetings with the Lord's prayer to be illegal and a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights. Saying this Christian prayer in an official government setting is in violation of Ontario law.

By bringing this proposal forward, the premier is acknowledging the rule of law. He is attempting to end the practice of favouring Christians over non-Christians. He is respecting the concept of equality of all citizens.

The next logical step in respecting the equality rights of all Ontarians, of course, is to eliminate the superior education privileges Ontario Roman Catholics now enjoy under the current system, by moving to a single secular school system. Maybe that's next.

Peter W. Jones
Brantford

[ *Psalm 72:8 - Canada's official motto since 1921 ]