Tell Us Who You Are

Justin Trudeau is now our Prime Minister.  Fine, I can't control that but I don't have to like it.  Media is so busy telling us who he isn't they aren't telling us who he is. He seems to prefer reminding us how he isn't like Harper yet fails to realize that some Canadians thought Harper was a good Prime Minister.  Unfortunately, the East tired of Harper and wanted a change, something they do every few years.  It doen't matter what the West votes if Eastern Canada decides to vote another way.  

     So we're stuck with a forty-something who thinks marijuana is harmless and should be legalized.  I guess I'm assuming he thinks it's harmless since he smoked it only a couple of years ago (see my first post on this blog).  We're stuck with a leader who won't allow pro-life candidates to run for his party.  We're stuck with a leader who claims to champion the middle class but has never been middle class in his life.  I am willing to give him a chance on that one but how can someone who hasn't lived it know what is best for it.

     We're stuck with a leader who is quick to point out the flaws of the Conservative government but has conveniently forgotten the flaws of the last Liberal government.  cough*Sponsorship Scandal*cough Yes, yes I know that was Harper's way of campaigning too but at least he was pretty straightforward in his "attack ads." (American attack ads seem nastier by far, folks and in his own way Trudeau was fear-mongering too.)

     We're stuck with a leader who takes his inspiration for budgetting from the current Ontario provincial government which is heavily in debt and seems to see nothing wrong with that.  Incurring huge amounts of debt is not a good idea.  If I as an individual citizen can't spend my way into prosperity how can the government?
     We're stuck with a leader who, in candid moments, has shown a disturbing level of immaturity.  He made a subtle sexual joke when discussing the Conservative decision to send fighter jets to aid our allies in air strikes.  (Google it! He really did.). He criticized Harper during the election campaign for wanting to be sure no terrorists snuck into our country along with legitimate refugees.  Umm..does anyone else feel safer knowing his stance on that?  Neither do I.  Don't accuse me of fear-mongering, it is a legitimate concern in this day and age.  If you think it could never happen here think again!
      We're stuck with a leader who said he would have an affirmative action cabinet and seems to have made good on it.  I don't know about you but as a woman I would rather get a job based on my qualifications than my sex or ethnicity.  How many of those ministers are wondering if they are really there based on their qualifications?  I wouldn't be surprised if they were too pleased with being a cabinet minister to really care.
    So here I am stuck wondering if Trudeau will be good for Canada as a whole.  He's so busy showing us who he isn't I'm left wondering who he is and why he seems so determined to distract us from it.
     

Thoughts on Christianity

     As I've said in the past, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You might know members by the nickname Mormons.  Because of that nickname or because we believe in other scriptures along with the Bible, or because we don't use some of the same symbolism as other churches, some people say we aren't Christian.  We are as Christian as any other denomination and by that I mean we try to follow Christ's example as we understand it to be.  Some of us are better at that than others.
     I have read about, heard about & seen some truly Christian people and they were not all members of the church I attend.  Take Mother Theresa for instance, she was a beautiful example of Christian service and love, and she was a Catholic nun.  My sister was really sick one day when some Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on her door.  When my sister answered and the women saw how sick she was, they wanted to help her.  They even offered to go to the local store & buy her some groceries (which my sister graciously declined).  They didn't care that she was not a member of their church.  They saw someone in need and wanted to help her out.
     My sister has more experiences with people of different faiths than I do because for many years she was a newspaper reporter.  She has worked in a few different communities for weekly newspapers.  In one of her first communities she had a Baptist congregation praying for her.  In her last job as a reporter, she knew a Catholic priest who would bless her every time she saw him.  She adored him and wasn't bothered at all by the fact that he was Catholic and she was Mormon.
     What brought on this musing on who is Christian?  I read a recent post on Facebook.  It was a quote from the pope about how the cross teaches us a different definition of success.  Someone I know shared it and was appalled at the way the pope worded some of what he said.  I truly believe that this friend misunderstood what the pope was saying.  We aren't Catholic and some of our knowledge regarding the nature of God & Jesus Christ is vastly different than Catholic beliefs, hence the reason many people see us as non-Christian.  Still, even with those differences, I don't believe the pope was saying what my friend thought he was saying.  However, that wasn't what really got to me and prompted me to write this post.  One of the commenters on the post called the pope a joke and said he was not a Christian.  Excuse me!  Who are we to say who is or isn't Christian?  We, who are often denounced as non-Christians, should be the last ones to call anyone, especially the leader of another church, not Christian.  Heavenly Father looks on our hearts.  We don't know each others' hearts.  Yes, our words and actions show what is in our hearts but sometimes those can be misunderstood by others.  It is up to us to follow our own beliefs and try to be like Christ as we understand Him.  It goes against my beliefs to belittle another because their understanding is different.
     I will be the first to tell you that I can be judgemental but I am trying to be more Christlike especially as my circle of friends has grown to include more people outside my own faith.  I try to share my beliefs but I don't judge my friends & acquaintances by my beliefs.  It wouldn't be fair.  As I have grown and matured, I have learned that good people are to be found in all walks of life and we should not assume that we have the monopoly on true Christians.