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Just my opinion

Bill Fox

Bill Fox

By Bill Fox/Columnist

Was Toronto’s Mayor John Tory really upset that the CN Tower recently was lit up in Montreal Canadiens colours? Maybe he thinks the Leafs are all Toronto born and raised versus the lads born and raised in Montreal? Does he know it is really just a business? A team representing a Canadian city is deservedly in the Stanley Cup running. I’m hoping for them to win the whole thing. This is from a Leafs fan that attended the last three Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup parades and for three years never missed attending a Leafs game, though I was in the standing room area for them all…at $2 a game! Go Habs Go! JUST MY OPINION.

I thought Doug Ford and Justin Trudeau did relatively well when this pandemic started. However, now that elections are in the foreseeable future, it is obvious from Trudeau, and especially Ford, that they are more focused now about being re-elected and not looking out as much for the “common good.” JUST MY OPINION.

We are becoming much more aware of the conditions in factory farms where the concern for the wellbeing of cows, pigs, and chickens is secondary to making big profits. It’s no wonder many more people (especially younger folks) have cut back on meat. The way we breed our meat is clearly disgusting. My wife and I will try to no longer buy meat from grocery stores that sell ‘factory raised’ animals. We will try sticking now to local butchers that have Mennonite or locally farmed meat, such as “Off the Cleaver” in Whitby. JUST MY OPINION.

I had the opportunity some 20 years ago to tour the Holy Land along with my wife and 40 other educators from the GTA. Our well renowned Jewish tour guide was the guide to Ted Kennedy, and later to Madonna when they visited Israel.

UN Security Council Resolution 242 on Nov. 22, 1967, stated that Israel must withdraw from the territories it seized in the war, ensuing diplomatic negotiations to ensure two separate countries living in peace. Israel, however, did not accept the resolution and continues to violate it to this day, by building settlements on the territories meant for a Palestinian state. There are now over 600,000 Israeli settlers living in over 250 settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law! Our tour guide had a clear view of what right wing Jews in Israel, including Netanyahu, are doing to the Palestinians. This is similar to some of what was done to the Jews by the Nazis. JUST MY OPINION.

The sad disclosure of what had been happening in residential schools and the discovery of the 215 unmarked graves of children has certainly put the Catholic Church among other churches in a bad light. Not to discount how disgusting this was, but things are not all black and white. It was the government of the day that invited churches to start up residential schools. It was a different day and people had much different views on many things that would shock us today.

Remember when Indigenous people all over the world, came in contact with European “explorers,” they were exposed to many different diseases for which they had no immunity. I’m thinking of small pox, scarlet fever, pneumonia, polio, measles, etc. Many children died from these diseases. They were not murdered. It was common belief then that the unbaptized could never go to heaven.

Those were the days that Catholics were not permitted, under any circumstance, to visit or participate in any religious services of any other denomination. “Mortal sin” was big and the fear of going right to hell was indoctrinated into us at an early age. It was also a mortal sin to eat meat on Fridays. Seems so outlandish now!

The church teachings in those days focused on judgment, not compassion, love and healing. So we would do well to keep history in mind when judging some, not all, of the actions taken by staffs in governments and churches. Still, let me emphasize that this does not lessen the enormous injustices experienced by Indigenous peoples in our country, in the past and still going on today. JUST MY OPINION.

I’m at bdfox@rogers.com waiting to hear your opinions.

 

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