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The real measure of progress is counted in improved quality of life I ife is hazardous to your health d society-at-large. _ A - _ If it isn't abusing our children by letting them ride school buses and breathe toxic fumes, it's treating them IO an ice cream cone, a major source of fat with all of its risks like hypertension and heart disease. Even a few weeks of R, and R. at the beach, recent research shows, can result in as much as a 20-point drop in am 1.0. and that's not even citing the obvious like drunk drivers who kill {our Canadians daily. Despite the minertelds lurking around every corner, our life expectancy continues to soar, thanks to medical science that has a pill for every ailment and a spa for every ache. A visit to a nursing home housing many in their nineties and a surprising number beyond the century mark should ason Retzler does well to want to speak out in defense of the Christ- tan position against homosexuality (Aug. 13, utters, Waterloo Chroni- cle). However, I must dis- agree with some of what he has said. In particular, I dispute Retzler's claims that the Catholic church is "the original Christian church from which' all other denominations come." " also disagree with his claim that " is "the only church that completely honours the scriptures," but just one argument at a time will sumce for this day) _ Catholic church is not the 'original' Christian church. What we today call the Catholic or Roman Catholic church. is itself only a breakaway from the original church of Jesus Christ for which His apostles worked and were martyred. Several of the early fathers. whom Ret- zlet honours and l do also, would not have known the institution of which Retzler is a mem- her and likely would have questioned the authority Retzierattributes to it. "ThepointisthatRetzitis daimisuttrsfyuntrue and His apostles had died. divisions of opinion and circumstances between the several existing Otris- tian communities had only worsened since the would time and result- ed in a general and geo- graphic division between Some time (not long, historically) _aftter Chris} lrrrlHl them into eastern and western camps. On the east were what we now call the "Orthodox" (origi- nal teachings) churches. and on the west those col- lected together as what we call the "Catholic" (universal) faith Since then, the Catholic church has Bout- ished well, becoming for a period at least. the dorm inant Christian player in the world. This was and remains thanks primarily to political connections and traditional sentimen- tality as opposed to theo- logical persuasiveness. In the meantime, the Orthodox churches also enjoyed significance and growt,h mainly in south eastern Europe and large parts of Asia. including Russia. and continue to do so today. Since about 500 (give or take a few) vars ago. a third body of believers entered the mix. These are the Protestants: some who sought only to reform the Catholic church from within (some of whom have succmful- ly done so) and others who sought to start the church anew (many of whom have also success: fully done sorThe Protea- tant churches (of which there are now more than any sensible person would care to count) are the only diuretics that ttt Retzler's description of churches that "come from" the Catholic raise questions about the wisdom of extending life when it's obvious that quality has taken a backseat to quantity. The golden age of retire- ment is a cruel, painful joke where the aged resemble the product of a construction crew with new joints and cardiac plumbing But the greater threat to our well-being is the fiscal one as an increasingly smaller number of employed shoulder the load of pro- viding pension for glut of boomers soon to draw CPP and old age. Pay- roll deductions will fly off the scale and governments will suspend mandatory retirement for a work- until-you-drop approach. Our health care system will collapse, as it's already crying out for more money to maintain basic services. Min will reap a grim harvest from insisting on fiddling with. the )THE CHRONIgg COMMENT All this ignores the scads of "heretical" groups through history whose faith and beliefs also support traditions going back to the times and teachings of Christ and the apostles Now we come to the present day, in which we must also consider a now fully matured phertome- non that used to be called "the rise of the new reli- gions." Amongst these "new" faiths are several new Christian sects which. while having nec' essary connections to prior Christian history and theologies (both orthodox and heretical), set a new course for Christianity not necessar. ily derived from any of them. These include such groups as the Jehovah's Witnesses. Christian Sci, enlists and, my faith. The Church of [can Christ of utter-day Saints (IDS). The LDS Church, for example, claims to be a restoration of original Christianity. " does not rely for any authority or guidance on the Catholic. Orthodox or Protestant traditions. although we certainly consider the members and leaders of these faiths to be our friends and brethren in the faith of Christ. (Note. for example. the LDS church was a pivotal pl!- ticipsnt in volunteer activities and provided Boml decoratiorU for the Pope's with to Toronto n the H mm my.) controls. Research. driven by the multi-billion dollar drug industry, must play God to keep the funding coming as we, the naive public. stand on the sidelines cheering for a future cloning and genetic engi- neering. Technology exists to empty our prisons by weeding out those unborn who statistically will have a criminal leaning and adjusting their genetic make-up. Legislators pretend that laws banning cloning are sufficient. knowing that it's money and not laws that drive thiswodd. The real measure of progress is counted in improved quality of life and not in quantity, proof of which can be found in nursing homes where grin and bear it is the order of the day. That being said, and Retzler being thus to my satisfaction corrected, it now behooves me to stand beside Retzler in saying that it is also my view that homosexual relationships are wholly inconsistent withn the teachings of God as repre- sented in scripture and in the words of Christian prophets, both past and present. lam opposed to the re- definition of marriage to include homosexual rela- tions. I have read the judgment of the Ontario Coun of Appeal and think that while its legal analy sis is sound, its funda- mental reasoning is immature. I also consider the whole exercise to be unnecessary and ulti- mately self-defeating, Redefining marriage, civilly or otherwise, will not. I believe, give the gay community or its couples greater or even as great dignity in the eyes of oth- ers or even. ultimately, in their own eyes, than any number of other less con- tentlous changes to the law might have done. I also understand that not all who consider themselves followers of Christ will agree with this Like Rem I consider that to be an inconsistent position with scripture. 'T,'g,,1t,tiet appears. is all that peop like new and I can say. Perhaps it ought "In Newton, New Dundee n any recent Ontario election campaign, the collapse of a ILiberal lead in the polls is as predictable as the sudden appearance of red, orange or blue lawn signs in your neigh- bourhood. The Ontario Liberal Party is quite adept at main- taining strong support between elections, but that's about as useful as a sports team that wins every game during the pre- season while losing every year in the playoffs TWO weeks ago, political commentators were saying that this election was Dalton McGuinty's to lose; he appears deter, mined to prove them right by losing it. With a campaign that seeks to borrow the more popular elements of both the NDP and Conservative platforms, McGuinty seems incapable of sounding convincing - likely because he's changed positions so often, he no longer knows what he believes. Take McGuinty's stance on one of the key issues in the NDP platform, power generation and distribution. While he now claims to be in step with the NDP's push to keep the system public, McGuinry's record of support for privatization and deregulation is well-documented. As Liberal energy critic in 1992, McGuinty presented a petition calling on the then-NDP government to "promote economic and social accountability by permitting competition to offer an alternative to the monopoly now held by Ontario Hydro." In 200] ' he told a radio show that "We believe you've got to go towards deregulation. That's the way to bring this thing to heel. That's the way to introduce real on - W ’ , _.- ’ , '“ competition." In the same year, when inviting energy industry executives to give money to the liberals, the party noted that "Throughout Ontario's electricity restructuring process, Dalton and the Ontario liberals have been consistent supporters of the move to an open electricity market in Ontario." Con- fronted with evidence that he'd flip- flopped on hydro, McGuinty could only tell reporters: "I honestly believed I'd never said that, I didn't recall at the outset that I'd said what I'd said." How eating that people like Buzz Hargove continue to present the Liberals as a viable electoral option for members of the CAW and others. In pitching the same failed strategic voting plan that failed in 1999, Hargrove promised that he's "going to pin down the Liberals and the New Democ- ratic Party on where they're at, We want anti-scab legislation back to defend the interests of working people in this province" But, Mangrove already knows very well where the parties stand on this issue.The fourth of l0 points in the NDP's platform promises that the party will "immediately increase the minimum wage to $8 an hour, prohibit scabs and treat injured workers fuirty." In a survey conducted by the Ontario Iederationofuboureadierthisyear,partieswere asked ifthey would reinstate the anti-scab law. The NDP gave a one-word answer: "Yes." In contrast, the Liberals stated, "We will not bring back anti-scab legislation" (then went on to obfuscate for several more sentences), The choice for people who care about workplace democracy couldn't be clearer. sdii,therearesomeNDPvoterswhoarebeingseducedby the argument that a vote for the liberals is the best way to oust the Tories from power. The strategy won't work this time either. That's because it focuses solely on moving NDP votes to the Uberals. instead of seeking to convince people who voted Tory in 1999 to change their vote. More than a few New Democrats hetdtheirnokandmadethechangeintheutstelection,but the Tory vote held steady in riding; such as Kitchener-Waterioo and Wgtedoo-hWltington, where the Totes have achieved dose to or mmetun5opercentofthevote.Themath doesn'twork any better than the "strategy." In 1999, in the ridingof DonVaBeyh%st (one being touted as a potential breakthrough for strategic voting), David Tum. bull pulled in we: 50 per cent ofthe vote for the Tories, and had a plurality of 3,169 (more than the 2,152 votes that the NDP candidate receivedl Ttrwintheridingthiorne,theubemisen'trredtt?work on the 2,152 NDP voters the 312 who voted for the Indepen- dent or the 224 who voted Natural Law. They need to work on the soft Tory voters and give them a reason to switch their votesiandrtotwttmcottuctedbypolistersbetween elections). So hr, they havent done so AamuaasiwantEmieitvestobedefatedort0ct.2,the realotgecttvehngtottechamgngthedestructiver?otkiesthat have plagued the province since 1995. I'm simply not con- vtncedtutrshonMcGuintrmruiddothat,eenifhedoes rn-tOper-cam-ttbusiest-ttdirection Hey voters.' Strategize this'. hs a New Democrat. I find it trus- 'aatruituumesorxseim - a,