Comments on: My Husband’s Not in Prison!!!

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:15:48 +0000

I am glad that Canada is so strict with their gun laws, and I do hope the USA follows suit. It is bad enough trying to live in this country without having a bunch a gun-toting rednecks driving around with weapons. I wish Canada had been a bit stricter with your husband instead of just a slap on the wrist. He needs to learns that guns are not the answer. I believe Jesus would agree.

By: Deb

Deb — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:12:40 +0000

Hi,
Wow, I am glad that your husband made it back safely.
I just wanted to comment on the Canadian lady who said that everyone gets treated for healthcare. I am really curious about that as we frequently have people who can afford it come to the U.S. for treatment as the wait list in Canada is so long that death often happens before treatment. Also, I don’t believe that everything is treated and I think there is an age cutoff which may be quite young in our current society. There is a reason so many people from so many other countries come to the U.S for healthcare. I hope that we don’t lose that with policies that are being implemented.
Hope all turns out well with the baby.

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:45:35 +0000

I’m not sure who is the “everyone” who labeled Canada as *totally* socialist. Two of my comments specifically state that I understand there are varying degrees of government control.

I’m going to be very honest. I personally have nothing against the concept of “socialism” or communism, for that matter. Actually Jesus taught a form of socialism and the early church (at least in one instance) practiced it(see Acts 4:32-37). And before that, the Israelite nation practiced a form of “socialized” care. The concept of socialism was God’s first. It works if people willingly participate under a just and righteous authority structure.

The problem is that unregenerate humans are not naturally capable of following God’s pattern. If the government kicks God out of the equation we are left with “people” and even the most well meaning people are fallible at best.

Fewer guns may very well translate to lower gun-related deaths. But laws restricting gun ownership/usage are not a guarantee of overall lower crime rates. If a person is bent on murdering another, he will find a way to do it. The Bible tells us that the first murderer used a rock.

I don’t recall anyone here advocating firearm-based violence as the way to send our government a message of any sort.

The issue is not “guns” or “health care” or Social Security or any other single facet. I think that the concern here is over the path on which we, as a nation, set our feet when our government begins stripping us of rights (without majority consent) that have been granted by our Constitution.

Whatever God allows is what Christians need to accept. He has His reasons. However, it may not be prudent to be “asking” for any more government intervention than we already have. There will most likely come a point when the demands of our leaders will directly oppose those of God…I would prefer to be able to continue to obey both in good conscience.

By: Rachel Falaschi

Rachel Falaschi — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:02:44 +0000

Christine,

It is obvious that what you value is different than what many of us value. What would research have to do with anything? We know where we differ (national healthcare) and we believe that where we differ makes you look backwards. As far as the book being upside down, that is exactly what our founding fathers wanted. They turned the world and the idea of government upside down. Instead of being ruled by a king they believed it best that the people were ruled by themselves. Revolutionary idea. I’ll take it.

By: Christine

Christine — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:04:12 +0000

First of all, I find it interesting that everyone considers Canada to be a totally Socialist country. Because it certainly is not. The free market is alive and well here. More so than the American free market is at the moment, if you’ve read a newspaper since mid-2008. Our market is in fact what is referred to as a “mixed market” which is exactly the same as the type of market in the USA. Look it up. The success of an economic system is defined, in my opinion, by its health during an economic crisis such as we have right now. Why are we a relatively financially healthy country right now, while American banks are not doing so hot? A slightly higher level of control on financial institutions. Which the American government is considering emulating.
I’ll keep my slightly higher “socialist” economic policies if it means less people in poverty and less home foreclosures.
As for gun control. It’s been mentioned here that Canada has a “socialist” health care system. We do. It works well. It means rich people wait the same amount of time for a non-essential surgery. But EVERYONE is treated. This also means that the government has it in their best interests to keep people from dying and getting hurt. How do we do this? One way has been through gun control laws. Even within Canada, gun ownership varies. Ontario has the lowest percentage gun ownership. It also has the lowest percentage gun related suicides, homicides, and accidental deaths. Coincidence?
I’ll keep my gun control if it means a few more people will be alive at the end of the year.
Ben would be happy to know that in Canada, violence is not the answer and if we want to “resist the government” we have unions that can strike and make those above them (often the government) see their point of view. We also have elections. Much more frequently than the USA. Look it up. We also have extremely easy access to our government representatives at all levels. What I’m trying to say is, in Canada, we have pacifist, “Christian” ways of approaching our government when we see the need for change. We don’t need to threaten them with guns.
Also. Having attended ONLY public schools in Canada, I can tell you that those government representatives I was talking about visited my schools a total of four times during my 14 year government funded education. These visits were always a forum for the students to say what they wanted to see done in their home town, not the politicians telling us what we wanted. I have been encouraged by the PUBLIC, GOVERNMENT FUNDED education system to question the government since I was six years old. One of those schools was a Catholic school. So I feel that your comment that inferred that the Canadian “socialist” government prosecutes Christians is incorrect.
Isaac, the same would have happened in the empire state building, I promise you.
My point in all of this? Do your research before accusing a country with similar culture and values to your own of being backwards. Maybe you’ve got the book upside down?

By: Isaac

Isaac — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:17:45 +0000

Unbelievable! My wife and I traveled to Ontario last year and experienced something similar in Toronto, although not nearly as traumatizing! We went to visit the CN Tower and as we were going through security a guard happened to notice my pocket knife clip in my pocket. He stopped me and proceeded to take all of my personal information down and then confiscated my small little two inch pocket knife! Still makes me mad when I think about it…

By: KB

KB — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:24:08 +0000

Kelly,
Wow, I go AWOL from the Internet for a couple of days and missed all of this!!!
Please, please, please keep us updated on what happens with your husband’s case.
The good that I can see coming of this (I’ve been trying to do this more often lately) is that those of us who weren’t aware of how crazy things are have a serious wake-up call. We live pretty far from the Canadian border, and in our neck-of-the-woods gun ownership is pretty much a coming-of-age requirement . However, this just lets us know we shouldn’t take such a thing for granted.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:13:34 +0000

Here is an interesting video that explains the different systems of government, what the US is supposed to be, what we’ve become, and where we may be headed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DioQooFIcgE

By: Word Warrior

Word Warrior — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:14:55 +0000

Heather,

Very well said. I’m completely astounded as to why so many people think socialism is “harmless and good”. It’s as if people on either side of the debate are from two different planets, or talking about two different things altogether. *shrug*

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:50:33 +0000

Oh, Ashley,

I want to be clear that I am not trying to debate with you or try to “prove” that socialism is worse than communism. Your original question was directed to Ben’s statement and I don’t know what he is thinking about that.

My perspective is that the main difference between socialism and communism is simply a matter of degree of government control. And it wouldn’t be all that steep of a slide to move from moderate socialism to full-blown communism. Therefore, it seems pointless to try to make a huge case over the name by which the particular economic system is called.