Light your candles and celebrate Christmas but do it quietly and secretly. You dare not make too much noise or somebody will report you to the police.
Two years ago we peacefully obeyed the laws which we rightly assumed we could know without reading them because they were only the formal statements of common law and common decency which are the soul of our common culture here in Canada. Our multifaceted and multi-cultural society is self-governed by a culture and tradition which history has blessed us with, a system of law which runs smoothly because it conforms closely to the law of justice in every heart. All of us, people born and raised here, new immigrants and aboriginal citizens, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists… all of us, we obey the same laws and enjoy the same rewards for our peaceable behaviour.
These rewards really consist in the government not interfering with us if we are not in violation of the law of common justice we all know from childhood. We do not steal, or otherwise hurt anybody or act with unfairness toward anybody. We are not criminals, people who do these unfair things, so we need not fear the police. We thought that and lived by it. Where does this sense of fairness come from, really?
I was blessed by being the father of three children. The first thing my child taught me was that there is justice in every heart. It’s not fair! That’s what every baby says when she’s treated unfairly. Every newborn child is a democratic revolutionary determined to see reality with sovereign eyes and be treated equally. That’s why kids are all the same where ever in the world you go.
Our common cultural norms here in Canada work well for everyone here because though they are derived in great part from Judeao-Christian norms this tradition adheres well enough to the sense of justice in every heart that believers in every religion or none find it easy to live within it. It’s simple. Don’t be a criminal, don’t hurt people. No need to read the law on the books or the Constitution.
Now is the time of the year when our general culture celebrates Christmas.
There is a fashion among us spreading faster than a virus, an artificial fashion which hates Christianity so it’s becoming almost forbidden to say Merry Christmas. Do you know where Christmas is most fervently celebrated today? That’s in war-torn Syria. Syria is far more multi-cultural and multi-religious than we could ever be. In Damascus, that ancient city where at least two of the Christian Gospels were composed, there are many Christian Churches side by side with Mosques and bistros. Christmas is big in Syria along with all the Muslim holidays. Muslim men dress up as Santa Clause and hand out candies to kids. Muslim families gleefully bring their children to shops glittering with Christmas ornaments. The people of Damascus and most of the rest of Syria have been lately liberated by the sacrifice of their young men from the cruel mercenaries calling themselves “Islamic State” who murdered and oppressed Christians and Muslims alike. So Damascus and Aleppo and the other liberated cities celebrate Christmas and Ramadan, New Years Eve and Al-Hijra, with a renewed fervour. Respectful tolerance is given by all and in return it is enjoyed by all.
But here in Canada we are oppressed by our own version of ISIS. We thought our parliamentary representatives were elected to ensure our rights as citizens but they’ve handed our government over to a self-righteous, puritanical blackmailer and given her sole authority. Two days ago they published the preamble to her new round of cruelty and joylessness. These are the new blackmail demands from Bonnie Henry issued on December 22, just in time to suck the joy out of Christmas and New Years.
Blackmailers do that, you see. They always come back for more after you’ve given in to the first demand. Didn’t you know that? Didn’t you ever watch crime dramas on TV? As soon as the victim has something she values the blackmailer sniffs it out and threatens to take away or destroy the beloved thing so the victim will keep on paying ransom. A blackmailer, an extortionist, is a torturer. Blackmailer Bonnie Henry is backed by the force of the police which our self-styled democratic representatives of our provincial government have given to her. Bonnie can take away our joy and peace and happiness we were about to enjoy at Christmas time and at the celebration of the New Year. She pretends not to love this power she has to hurt us and depress us and threaten us. That’s what disgusts me most about her, the gooey sweet talk she lullabies us with as she stamps her cruelty down on us.