My House, Caronport, Saskatchewan
Taking a Break to Chronicle recent events, 4:49 PM
Weather = Cloudy, Windy, and Cool (trees have started budding)
This has been an historic week.
It began Sunday morning in Britain when the prince and future king of Britain and Canada, William married the fair lady Miss Catherine Middleton, now Duchess of Cambridge. The wedding took place Friday, April 29 in Westminster Abbey. Every official as well friends and family of the royals filled the cathedral along with royal musicians, choir members, full clergy, and dignitaries from around the world. The entire event was televised so that the world could see from start to finish. It's not every day that you have a royal wedding after all and everyone wore their very best. It was a sea of royal dresses and incredible hats, of decorated military uniforms and tuxedos. Meanwhile outside the church were the unending crowds, many of which had camped in position for days ahead of time just to see Prince William and Kate on this momentous day!
This was high Anglican Church at its very highest! Yet for all the pomp and ceremony there was a clear presentation of the Gospel of Christ as well as a sermon on the sanctity of marriage and the consequences of sleeping around.
The entire event seems astounding to me and symbolic of many things. I am heavily reminded of the future wedding feast of the Lamb when Christ will marry his bride, the Church. From the glory of the cathedral, the priestly robes, the red carpet, the trees on either side of the walkway, and all the people together in their very finest I am reminded of heaven. Such an incredible picture, what a stunning metaphor.
Then there was the royal honor guard of the military and a full body guard of royal cavalry. I must have played far too many Real Time Strategy games because I recognized their formation and all I could think of was how it looked just like the Total War series.
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Then the United States had a historical day. On May 1st President Obama declared the death of Osama Bin Laden, the international terrorist who founded Al-Qaeda and claimed responsibility for masterminding the 9/11 attack on the United States. He had been hunted by the American military for ten years after the attacks in 2001 and then he was located in a secure compound in Pakistan just outside of Abbottabad. A team of US Navy SEALS raided the compound and in the middle of the fire fight Bin Laden was fatally shot. His body was taken aboard a US military vessel where it was identified and then buried at sea.
It was all over the news, Bin Laden was dead. The news brought on an interesting contrast of emotion. I saw video footage of young Americans running to the White House and celebrating, waving flags, dancing in the streets, and singing their national anthem. Bin Laden had been all but demonized, and the atmosphere created by the news of his passing was similar to "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead." I also remember Obama's and then Harper's sobering speech about how justice has been done but they were not rejoicing over a fallen enemy. Then I saw this play out in Facebook and comments on YouTube. At first I saw lots of jokes about Bin Laden dying and lots of loud and proud American nationalism. Then I began to see this quote pop up from Martin Luther King Jr.
"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
Personally I find this a time for quiet contemplation. How much did we actually know about the situation. Wasn't Bin Laden a human being like you or me? I was actually shocked that I could find the official death photo online everywhere. It was unnerving to see the face of a dead man shot through the head. I did not add that photo because I think it is disrespectful if not graphic. This man was created in God's image and I begin to wonder if he was afraid, if he was in pain at the end, and I also wonder about the people he is responsible for killing. I wonder what words Christ said to him, or will say to him at the judgment (I am unsure if it happens at death or at the end of time). All in all I find this sobering and not a cause for joy, but maybe relief that it's finally over.
Was he really the sole man behind all that the American press has put him behind or was he just the figure head that we chose to name and make an example of? He had motivation and lots of people rallied to his cause, it is more than just simple unmotivated evil, they believe in a cause and they believe in it strong enough to kill their own people as well as people from other countries. Did Bin Laden stand for madness and murder or was his message against political and economic evils that we have participated in on a national level? He is dead now, but his cause lives on. For how long? We shall see. Already the conspiracy theories are beginning.
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Then Canada had another big historic day, the surprise ending to an election that everybody thought would change nothing. Some people thought that maybe this time Harper and his Conservatives would get their majority government by a few seats but most of us were sure that this was going to be another minority government with nearly the same amount of seats for each party that they had at the beginning. Then the chances were that the other parties would band together against Harper again and either force another election or attempt to form a coalition government. What we got instead was a major political shift.
First of all, the Conservatives did get their majority with 167 seats. Harper no longer has to cater to the other three parties to stay in power, he can do what ever he wants now. Some people find this a complete travesty and look to the next 5 years with dread. I think it's finally high time that Harper was able to do what he's always wanted to do and kick some serious bureaucratic butt. For good or for ill, we now get to see that secret agenda that everyone has been scared of since 2004. It's no secret that the Conservatives are all about chopping deadwood out of public spending but we will see if he actually intends to privatize Health Care, outlaw Homosexuality, and Ban Abortion. There are a few things for certain though, Good bye Gun Registry, Good Bye threat of high taxes, and Hello 5 years of national prosperity.
Secondly the NDP hit an historic high with 102 seats and have become the official opposition! Jack Layton swept Quebec and has a representative in every province of the country! For a party that everyone thought was a joke they have become a well oiled political force with teeth. Nobody expected the surge of the NDP and it was in part thanks to that that Harper has his majority. In ridings where the votes were close the NDP split the Liberal vote and a Conservative was elected instead. Jack was all smiles on election night and he was in fine form for the entire election. As much as I disagree with NDP ideology I am glad that they are the opposition. They will stop the Conservatives from going too far right and will be a tenacious voice for the underprivileged, minority groups, and our Public Health Care.
Thirdly the Bloc got destroyed! For those not familiar with Canadian politics we in Canada never conquered the French way back when in Quebec, we half unified with them. Quebec has had its own political party since the beginning of Canadian politics, the Bloc which represents the interests of Quebec which are often diametrically opposed to the interests of everyone else in this country which is quite frustrating for everyone. The Bloc almost succeeded in separating Quebec as its own nation in the 90s and their existence almost always guaranteed minority governments from the other parties. Well, this time they only got 3 seats, and their leader, Gilles Duceppe, didn't even win in his own riding. This has never happened before. They all voted NDP instead of Bloc and now the Bloc doesn't even have party status anymore. Right now Canada is more unified than it ever has been and nobody expected this.
Fourthly the Liberals got smashed to pieces and only got 34 seats! For those not familiar with Canadian politics, the Liberals were the first party of Canada and almost always been guaranteed a government. Historically it has been between the Liberals (Grits) and the Conservatives (Tories) to decide who runs the country, this time though they lost to the NDP! Words do not describe the humiliation of this situation... they lost the NDP! It gets worse though, Liberal leader Michael Ignatief didn't even get elected in his own riding, a Conservative did. Personally I look on this historic moment with satisfaction, growing up I did not like the Liberals. I saw them catering only to the Greater Toronto Area and Quebec and left the rest of us to rot. I saw them bring in money wasting policies, I witnessed the big scandal after Jean Cretien, and they planned to finance their big spending (which benefited the east) by overtaxing the western provinces. Good bye for now, and as far as I'm concerned Tiamat can stay dead and leave the governing of this nation to more intelligent and less arrogant people. Their stronghold in Toronto was stolen by the the Conservatives and their stronghold in Quebec was stolen by the NDP. This has never happened before and a lot of new blood gets to flow through parliament.
Finally the Green Party got elected with 1 seat. Yes, the Green Party. Elizabeth May was elected in her riding from Victoria Island way out on the West Coast. Every national party had to start somewhere. The NDP started with 2 seats and now they are official opposition. I know that the Green Party has a real platform and that they take themselves seriously, but I still have trouble doing so. A national party that fixates on taking care of the environment that is founded on the West Coast (read 'Hippy-Land') that is mostly supported by Art students outside of their just makes me shake my head. To her credit Elizabeth May is an intelligent woman with tenacity and teeth to rival Jack Layton, but her performance at the last election debate made it a circus show. So once again, this has never happened before and we will see what comes of this.
So yeah, an historic week. As one of my friends stated, this week has embodied a wide range of emotions from the whole human experience. The joy of marriage, the excitement of the Royal Ceremony, the sanctity of the High Church, the excitement of victory, the sobriety of the death of an enemy, the elation of overwhelming election, and the pain and disappointment of humiliating defeat. What will happen next I wonder?
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