Right in the centre - Yes, it's up to us

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Right in the centre - Yes, it's up to us

Details: Published on Thursday, December 22, 2016

By Ken Waddell

The Neepawa Banner

(The following column was first printed in 2006. The circumstances have shifted some but the Christmas message is eternal.)

In a world that seems to go increasingly off course every day, it was somewhat heartening to see some support for a Christmas tradition. It seems that a judge in Ontario decided that a Christmas tree was the wrong thing for people to see as they entered the lobby of her courthouse. Allegedly, the offending tree was put in a side room behind closed doors. It happens every year. Some well-intentioned (or could it be ill-intentioned) soul decides that they are offended by a Christmas tree. Or they decide that “some” people will be offended by a Christmas tree.

This year’s story had a new twist. The head of a Canadian Muslim group came to the defence of the Christmas tree. He is reported to have said we need less political correctness and more Christmas trees. How true! A Sikh leader said that he likes Christmas trees and is reported to have said he has one in his house and his daughters look under it to see if there are more presents than the last time they looked.

Attacks on Christmas and Christians is all too common today. It has ever been thus, but today, in an age of instant communications, we can hear about these little outbursts of anti-Christian sentiment instantly. This year it was refreshing to see some support for Christian tradition from non-Christian sectors.

The Christian community in recent times has been more than tolerant of other views. In spite of the times that wars have been fought over religion and that at times they have apparently even been instigated by Christians, it has over the years been Christians who have taught about love and acceptance. It’s nice to see groups, with widely diverse beliefs about life, death and life after death, provide some level of comfort and concern for each other.

We have a long way to go in Canada and God knows we have a very long way to go in other countries.

I am a Christian, a believer in Jesus Christ. As such, I believe that the only way to Heaven is by believing in the saving grace of Jesus Christ by way of his Virgin Birth, his death on the Cross and his Resurrection.

That statement may rile some people up, but shouldn’t? Because I believe it doesn’t mean in any way that someone else must believe it. We live in a free country. People can choose to believe what they wish to believe. Interestingly, that freedom of belief is exactly what God has done for mankind. We are created with free choice. Even if someone doesn’t believe we are created, that we just happened or evolved, there is little argument about us having a free choice. We can believe whatever we want to believe. The plethora of faiths readily prove that point, we have hundreds of belief systems in place.

The role of democracy is to make sure that we have freedom of religion, even if another person’s belief is far removed from their neighbour’s beliefs.

What has happened in this day and age of political correctness is that we have a hierarchy of beliefs. If you are Christian in Canada it’s OK to be scorned or ridiculed. It’s considered bad to say you are Christian, to want to see a Christmas tree, to want people to go to church, to learn about Christianity. That’s being narrow. Ironically, by accusing Christians of being narrow, the accusers prove their own narrowness.

Christmas is a wonderful reminder of the old, old story. How Jesus, the Son of God, came to be born of a Virgin. We should enjoy that story and all it means. Then we should contemplate what the birth of Jesus means and how in just a few months, we celebrate Easter, the death of Jesus and how he rose from the dead so that mankind can be reconciled with God. Christianity is so complex and yet so simple. And yes, we can choose or reject it. God made us that way. We should settle for nothing less in our society.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our readers. May God bless you and yours.