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As | see if by Bruce Arnold The greatest cop out young people can become victims of today is the one in which they denounce all relgion as being old fashioned without bothering to find . out what they are talking about. _ This cop out reminds me of a line from a movie I can never remember the name of. The story involved a young man caught in a frustrating love affair. The young star's frustration was increased by his belief that he could not talk to his father about it because the old man was too "old fashioned" to understand. Finally the father reminded his son that "'I was not born old." Old fashioned? Don't you believe it. Religion has been around a long time but it is as up to date as Rev. Martin Luther King and Pat Boone. Before judging it too quickly let us take a minute to see what we are really talking about. **And it Shall come to pass in the last days that the mountains of the Lords house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exhalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow into it . . . and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not rise against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Isaiah 2:1 & 4. Now you know what Dr. King meant when he said, in the last speech before he was martyred, "I have been to the mountain top. I have seen the promised land, and I have a dream that some day all men, rich and poor, black and white, shall join hands around the world and cry; Free at last. Free at last. Thank God alive we are free at last." That's today's dream man. That is Christianity 1973. Anyone who allows himself to believe that faith in God is old fashioned simply does not know who God is. If anybody does know it must certainlv be St. .John "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is Love." 1 John 4:8. Is love old fashioned? My grandfather is 83. He has loved the same women for 60 years. She died some time ago; but his love still lives. He was not born old either. And this love is not old fashioned. It's beautiful. It's right up to date. : During the ten years, between the ages of 19 and 29, that I spepgepseaching about the Spirit who calls himself Love I was often frustrated by middleaged types who wanted to rewrite the Bible and reorganize religion to suit their own bigotry. I avoided them as much as possible, and sought instead, young people who could embrace a personal faith for the first time with the same freshness they have for their first love. Perhaps for the unloving religion is old fashioned. Perhaps for the bigotted, God is dead. But so long as there are young people like the one who, a few years ago, designed a bumper sticker which read, "My God is alive. Sorry about yours," who believe in the God of Love true Christianity will survive. So long as there are men and women able to dream. So long as people are willing to go to Dr. King's mountaintop, Isaiah's mountaintop, the moutaintop perhaps where Jesus went to deliver His sermon on the mount, God will live. And some day bigotry will die. Someday poverty in the midst of plenty will be only a bad memory. ° Someday swords will become plowshares, spears will become pruninghooks and all men will journey to that lofty city where the Prince of Peace lights mens minds and the God whose name is Love dominates every heart. Dr. King died for that dream. I live for it. It is a young dream. A Christian dream. It is today. ~~ a NAN ~~ PORT PERRY STAR ~~ Company Limited EA G CNA 2 (oma) : 2 NY 7 8 rary Serving Port Perry, Reach, Scugog and Cartwright Townships P. HVIDSTEN, Publisher-Editor J. PETER HVIDSTEN, Advertising Manager WM. T. HARRISON, Plant Manager Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Member of the Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association Published every Wednesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd., Port Perry, Ontario Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for payment of postage in cash Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 RQ Subscription Rate: In Canada $6.00 per year. Elsewhere $8.50 per year. Single Copy 15¢ | You bse some / BILL MILEY UGAR AND Srice We all have to stand up and be counted sometime, even though we manage to duck out of it until the last trumpet sounds. People who express their honest opinions are not always popular, but I never aimed for that, so here goes. My opinions on some of the burning issues of the day. Open winters. I'm in favour of them. We've had a beauty this winter, with only a few cold snaps, only a few feet of snow, a peachy January thaw, and lots of sun. I'd like to say my heart goes out to the skiers and snowmobilers, but it would be a lie. I don't care if their snowmobiles sit in the back yard and rust, or if their skis warp into pretzels. I have normally moved about twelve feet of snow from one place to another by this time of winter. This year I've moved only about three feet, and I'll settle for that: Men's clothing. Modern trends nauseate me. There's nothing in the stores but yellow and purple shirts, hidous ties that would go with nothing except a wino's eyes, and checkered pants with a flared bottom. What ever happened to the white shirt, the modest single-shade tie, and the well-cut gray flannels? Most of all, I hate those great fat ties. They're about four inches wide and made of stuff as thick as a great-coat. Trying to tie one in an elegant knot is about as easy as trying to lace your shoes with half-inch rope. Nieces and nephews. I'm all for them. We had some of ours for the weekend and it was a delight to see their minds and talents developing. Jennie and Sue played a ripping flute duet, as well as their piano pieces. Little Steven spent the weekend chasing our cat, who was just as anxious to avoid his caresses as he was to give them. Finally, in perplexity, he said, "Hey, Uncle Bill, do you know what kind of cat this is?"' I muttered something vague. "She's a scaredy-cat" he stated triumphantly. Toilets and tires. It never fails, but they do, nearly always when you're expecting guests and need both. Saturday morning, armed with huge shopping list, went out and found a flat tire. The garageman raised his eyes when he had to clamber over two loaded golf carts to get at my spare, in February. Sunday morning, with seven people on deck, the toilet blocked. No plumbers available. Now that we've dealt with major issues, let's take a look at the minor ones. A great deal of ink and hot air is being squandered these days on two of them: the Montreal os Olympics and capital punishment. I'm against them both. First, the Olympics. Isn't it rather significant that the last two Olympics have been held in the countries with the most booming economies in the world, Japan and Germany? Maybe they could afford them. Canada, in my opinion, cannot. Our population is too small, and. our national debt too big, to take on an » international extravaganza noted chiefly for its bickering and back-biting. Not to mention murder in Mexico and Munich. Who needs the Olympics, anyway? It's a great spectacle, but so were the Roman games, with their chariot races, throwing lions to the Christians, and such thrilling events. Canada needs the Olympics about as much as it needs another set of Rockies. And they'd cost about the same, and be of as much use. The chief difference is that the Rockies remain, and we can look at them. The Olympics will be here today, gone tomorrow, with nothing to show for it but a _ big, fat bill. We had our day, with Expo. We showed the world that we could put on a really big show. And we're still paying interest on the money Mayor Drapeau diddled out of the federal government for that one. You don't see Britain or Fran ce or even the U.S. scrambling to get the summer games. They can't afford em. Nor can we. Prime Minister Trudeau has said that Montreal will not get more than a token support from the Federal government. That is so much you-know-what. There are ways and means and the wily M. Drapeau knows all of them, and some that haven't been thunk up yet. And the whole concept of amateurism is an international laugh, what with totalita- rian countries employing their best athletes in the armed forces, where they can train all year round. It's probably too late to stop the juggernaut, but it's not too late to throw some sand in the wheels. If the citizens of greater Montreal were told that they, personally, had to foot the bills for the games, Mr. Drapeau would probably wind up at the bottom of the St. Lawrence River, with all the other sewage dumped in it. Oh, yep. I'm against capital punishment, too, but I'vé run out of space. Maybe next week. 50 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 22, 1923 The boys in Port Perry dressed up in skirts, tied one hand behind each of their backs and took on the girls, who wore male clothing, in a hockey game. The Star commented that 'Helen and Francis Mellow were a great defence when they weren't playing forward' Final score; 4 - 4. Mr. and Mrs. Rupert Werry of Blackstock became the parents of a son. Mens tweed overcoats were on sale for $20. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 19, 1948 The Port Perry Yatch Club sponsored a model building competition for youngsters. Mr. and Mrs. J. Green- wood of Prospect had a baby boy. . As an early sign of spring crows were seen and heard near Myrtle. Work on a town water supply was progressing "favourably". Over a mile of pipe had been laid and the pumping station was almost completed. Kiss and Tg¢ll starring Shirley Temple was playing in Port Perry. You. could buy a spring mattress in town for $27.50. 15 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 20, 1948 Uxbridge Township Coun- cil received an estimate of $91,021.72 to furnish Ux- bridge Cottage Hospital. Guides and Brownies ob- served "Thinking Day," part of scout and guide week, with a parade at the Port Perry Anglican Church. Persons who had gone visiting were stranded, school buses were unable to travel and at least one area school was closed due to an unusually severe SNow- storm. Fred and Dorothy Denure announced the birth of a son, Raymond Scott. Mr. and Mrs. N. Malcomb of Blackstock had a baby boy. Pick up Alley starring Anita Ekberg was playing in the area. Six 15 ounce cans of fancy peas were $1.00. 10 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 21, 1958 The Lieutenant-Govenor of Ontario, Hon." J. Keiller MacKay, was guest speaker at a meeting of Port Perry Masonic Lodge. Port Perry Councillor Bruce Beare reported that the fire department con- sidered the corner of Crandle and Clark Streets as a suit- able location to build a firehall. Mr. and Mrs. Edward Andrews announced the birth of a son, Michael Andrew. Mr. and Mrs. Gary Tummonds announced the birth of a daughter Karen Marie. Mr. and Mrs. Emile Donnelly of Manchester had a baby boy. Port Perry's midget hoc- key team won the lakeshore championship by beating Stouffville 3 - 1. Jerry Lewis was starring as Sad Sack at an area theatre. Bacon was 69 cents a pound.