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WHITBY FREE PRESS, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1988,.PAGE 5, "I'have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility, againat every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jeferson Advi se <a>nd D.issen Al UH.RINoiivii MESS~AGE Christmas is special. The many diverse traditions of Christmas, the carols, the trees and other decorations, the Christmas concerts and pageants, ail help us to forget the bitter- ness in the world around us and bring us dloser to the message of Christmas. 1Yet elsewhere in the world the feeling is fieeting. Every year at Christmas time, the lead news stories are about thecéeasefires in the various war zones of the world. For one day of the year, people heed the message, that Christ 'lived and died for. Every year, the message rings out "Peace on Earth and goodwill to ail men." and the next day, they start shooting agaîn. Christianity like ail the world's religions is a very mixed bag. The world's greatest art - works by Michaelangelo, Raphael and Da Vinci - have been inspired and commissioned by the Christian Church. The great cathedrals of Europe were built for the love of God. The great works of religious music - the Christmas carols that we love so much, the requiems, the oratios like the Messiah, are an inspiration to us ail, religious or not. Yet this same force that has fostered so much that is beautiful and heartwarming and inspiring has at the same time led to in- credible evil. Apart from the World Wars of this century, more people. have, been, kiiled in -the name of G 'od than for any other reàAsn:'ý the Inquisition, the Thirty Years War in Germany, the Crusades, the Witch Trials in Ne w England - the Iist is endless. And the klllng continues - freland, Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Pakitan are ail reUious battlegrounds. The schisms within reigi'ns -produce the bitterest conflicts - Catholic versus Protestant in Ireland and Shiite versus Sunni throughout the Moslem world., These wars have their political side but their roots are religious and the killing is done in the name of God. Christ's message, "Love thine enemy", has been forgotten by His church. His foilowers, do not turn the other cheek - it's kilI or be killed. I was brought up in the United Church but the ambivalence of western religion - its willingness to remain cloistered within its hallowed wails while the rest of the world festered and, bled - tur- ned me off. I was shocked by the one-day-a-week hypocrisy of most .church goers. I went through'a period of agniosticism but' now I workship God .in. my' own way., I accept the central teachings of ail religions: love, tolerance and charity. I. despise the religious bigots who use the Bible to defend intolerance.t ("The devilcan quote scripture to, suit' his purpose.*") The parable of the Good Samaritan is known to everyone, yet how many practise it? SAlmost 2,000 years ago+, (the historians can argue about thec exact date or place) a man was born who changed the world.a Whether his father was God or whether his 'mother was a virgin is to me basically irrelevant. he was one of the great in- spirational figures of ail time - a totaliy unselfish man who lived fi and worked amnong the ordinary people but whose charisma and strength transcended his humble origins and became the basis of 'ti a world mov 'ement. It is interesting to note that most of the iasting movements of history have. centered on gentie selfless men who moved civilizations with nothing more than the strength of their per- sonalities. Buddha and Christ are enduring forces in the world - ri Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon and Genghis Khan are history. .Unfortunately, the purity and simplicity of Christ's message Y, has been lost ini the massive infrastructure and self-serving IR bureaucracy of the many denominations, branches, sects and cý subseets of the Christian religion, ail claiming to, have the true R message. Christ would be ashamed of the pettinessof His ti tfollowers. -l Christmnas is the time of year when loving and giving and CI selflessness transcends the divisions that permeate our W nomial Crsin society. Mi W.itasi h only tiine of year when the Christian message on love, toleranc e and charity - is consistently preached WC ,hrugoï Christendom, the only timewhen the guns faîl silent. d 1 guess one day of the year is better than none. P Peace on Eat n odilt L e WITH OUR FEET UP By Bill Swan This is the story of Christmas Eve and Santa's workshop and glue and clamps androuters and elves and Mrs. Claus and long terni planning. Our story begins in the afternoon of Halloween. Mrs. Santa,' with an elfish fetish, has begun to worry and plan over Christmas. "&Always,"? says Mrs. Santa, "-we get into the last minute rush that just leaves us al exhausted. By the. tinie we get your sleigh packed, we are aIl basket cases." "Plenty of 'tue," says Santa, still planning to carve the pumpkin. " You always say, 'Lots of time,', but it's the elves andI who have to carry the lot. ", "Ho, ho, ho. But what's this list? Doil cradles? Y'ou are going to buy doll cradles? At $25 a whack? Why Santa's workshop can make those for a frac- tion of the price. " "Sure," replied Mrs. Claus. "But will you? In mime?" "Leave it to me," said Santa. "Four cradies at $25 each would be, let's see, uhh, $100. 1 can buy the wood for those for $25 and be $75 to the good. " "Plus your tue. Oirthe elves. Whatever." "Plenty of tume before Chiristmas. ll get-on it right away." "Sure," said Mrs. Claus. "You always do. Mind 'ou don't screw up again. " (Santa lias been known to "screw Up" before.. Remember two years ago when Susan wanted a Cabbage Patch Doil and Santa didn't deliver? Lemember the letterliead stationery for Grandad bat he forgets to order every year until it is too ate? The roll of film processed in JuIy with the 1983 'lristmas pictures on it?) As behoves a good engineer, Santa planned lis vork. He sketched and measured and planned and neasured and scliemed. He Iisted aIl tlie number «e pine lie would need. He listed aIl tlie tools he vould need. lie listed ail the paint and decals and lads lie would need. Then lie put the list aside, confident that the whole ,oject was under control. On Dec., Mms Santa said, "110w are you coming with those doii craoè.ies "Lot's of tume. Ijustgot cauglitwitli a secret rush on ugly ducklings. Get on it this weekendill ,' So tlie next weekend *Mrs. Santa. asked again, "110ware those cradles cêoming? ",,But she.asked sweetly, s0 it didn't sound like nagging the way it does wlien you read it. And Santa said;' "Fine, fine," Next day at the lumber store lie found number one pine would cost $15 a cradle while number two pine would cost $7.50 each and in spite of the knots would paint up just as good and no one will ever know not even Mrs. Santa whom lie neyer did tell. He took the $30 of wood to his'"worksio p to age for a few days. Tlien Santa took lis pattern, traced, a few lines on the wood, and made a few passes at it with lis duil circular saw. So he went out and bougt a new saw blade ($14.76). "Mglit's well do it riglit, " he said. Then lie cut out the ends of the cradles with the new sabre saw blade ($2.79 each and lie needed tliree). Then Mrs. Claus said softly, between lier teetli, liardly moving lier lips at ail, "Weil, there's only one more weekend left before Cliristmas, and 1 hope you get those cradies built because if you don't I can't buy thern now because the store ls sold out." "Today," mnumbled Santa. Then lie took lis new $15.99 router bit to the workshop to properlý cut the grooves into whicli sides and bottomn would nestie like sugargplums into the ends. And found that the sliortest distance between two points is neyer found by a router. So four days before Cliristmnas, there was Santa, witli the router work to complete, the cradies to glue ($5.89), give two coats of paint ($9.98) and dry before Ciistmas. In timne to be wrapped ($2.67) and put under the Christmas tree ($20). The economy-minded wil note that Santa lias displaced the original $100 value for only $85.19. Tliat's only $28.39 eadli, since now only three are needed instead of four, the parcel post deadline to the Maritimes liaving come and gone. If lie did it, we ail have t?9 believe ,in, modern Christmas miracles.