So, without having followed Rob Ford all that closely, I've been leaning toward the view for some time that much of what has been written about him is overblown, that some people just don't care for him and want him out of there. Mind you, if it turns out that there are more serious allegations to come, I would think that he would lose much of his support. I would expect that involvement in organized crime would be a game-changer for most people, though to date the only evidence is a recorded one-time use of crack cocaine (or ties to questionable company). Not that even a one-time use of crack cocaine is laudable, of course.
But you know, for me the interesting thing with the Rob Ford crack scandal, is to hear people whom I would assume are left-leaning, express their moral outrage with candid vigour. I was on my way to work the other evening and I heard the tail end of a CBC program and one of the commenters said something to the effect that if this is what conservatism has been reduced to, balanced books, then there's something wrong. I kid you not, she said that on national radio. I'm paraphrasing, but in essence what she said appeared to be demanding that conservatives become more socially engaged. It warmed my heart it did, and I was encouraged. As a social conservative who has often known discouragement, who has sometimes thought: "I've compromised all I can without selling my soul outright." It gave me hope, when I was at the end. It turned my lies into truth again, in short, it was just what I needed to hear, someone seeing a value in my social conservatism. But of course I can't say it better than Anne Murray can sing it, especially the part about being almost able to see eternity. Oh, you'll have to listen to the song, but thank you, someone on the CBC, and thank you CBC for being there, our hard earned tax dollars at work, standing up for and uniting Canadians from left to right. I can't thank you enough (sniff).
But honestly, I am so accustomed at this point to feeling like the world has no use for me. I'm one of those dang social conservative evangelical Christians that everyone wishes would just go away. I read something very similar to that recently about pro-lifers." Can't these people just go away!" Is that what they really want? For every voice that says that there is something unquantifiable about human life, to just go away? Is that what they want?
It reminded me of a lecture I listened to a while back where the professor was commenting (again I'm paraphrasing) that the left doesn't really want the right to just go away. They want the right to say all the things that they're too afraid to say themselves. He went on to tell the story of an acquaintance who would occasionally respond at a dinner party, when someone would make a comment about those sexually repressed conservatives, that we should indeed indulge every facet of potential sexual possibilities, encourage every repressed urge, in thought and deed. Why not? Why not, because nobody really wants their daughter getting pregnant at 15 or swinging half-naked on a pole for any stranger off the street to use, do they? Nobody really wants that, and as much as I hear the left defending drug abuse as a health issue, something that should not be a criminal offense, nobody really wants a crack smoking mayor as a consequence, do they? It's refreshing to realize that we're all in this together, liberals and conservatives. None of us want our kids tripping over needles at the park, no one wants to lose the cherished value of human life or human liberty or human dignity, and that's something that's good to remember. As for us social conservatives, trudging along, used to being kicked around and misrepresented, used to being unappreciated, for once it's just nice to be needed. Thanks again, it made a difference.
Blessings to you and yours,
M.A. Harvey
Here's Anne Murray:
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