Tuesday, July 25, 2006

War and Space.

I was reading about the troubles happening in Beirut, and this thought struck me:
We have grown up in a place where, although we hear of it often, war has never touched us. We may have heard of people having to flee their homes, leaving everything behind in order to save their own lives, but we have never had to leave the safety of our living rooms. None of us homegrown North Americans have seen war on our home soil. We have never experienced the terror of hiding in your bomb shelter, listening to planes and sirens and explosions, and wondering who's not coming to school the next day. We've never sheltered in our basements while soldiers exchanged fire outside. We've never dealt with lawlessness that comes out of uprising. How lucky we are!
Do you ever wonder what life would be like if Canada and America were war zones? Would we have professional football, or endless hours of Friends reruns? Would we be able to buy a Pepsi whenever we wanted to, or a Big Mac? Would we be able to attend church every Sunday at 11:00? Would there still be an obesity crisis? Do you think that we'd still have church splits over worship styles, or lawsuits over spilled coffee? Would we say the same things to our loved ones when they go off to work for the day with the knowledge that they might not come back? Would we still take God for granted?
How lucky we are, and yet we are still to be pitied, for we have lost sight of what is truly important.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Same sex marriage vs. children's rights

Aaron posted a link to this - it's an interview between Maclean's magazine and Margaret Somerville - an ethicist who just received her honorary doctorate from Ryerson University amidst a storm of controversy. I thought it was interesting and somewhat thought-provoking. The basis of the controversy is this: Margaret Somerville believes that same-sex marriage interferes with children's rights. Your thoughts?