Author: jplett

The French philosopher Pascal collected his thoughts in a list and it was published in a volume called Penses (‘Thoughts’). Sometimes this format is more conducive to putting together several distinct but varied ideas about a topic. There were so many different topics being discussed regarding Charlie Kirk and I had thoughts about all of them, so rather than reply to each of them individually when I saw them, I have put them all in one post. For those interested..

1.
Charlie Kirk was a sinner.
All sin deserves death (because God is holy).
But it is God who must repay, not us.*
Rather, our job is to love everyone, acknowledge sin where it exists, work for change, always remain willing to forgive, and share the message of reconciliation with God (1 John 5:11-12).
(*In fact all sin was ultimately paid for by Jesus’ death because God wanted to simultaneously uphold the attributes of justice and love.)

2.
Kirk’s choice of president is suspect, not so his choice of Lord. Trump is guilty of many things which, in my view make him unfit to govern, even though he has made some good policy decisions and it may end up that his collective platform may ultimately be shown to be the lesser of two evils. But to put someone in power who is mostly ego is like playing Russian roulette with a presidency (no pun intended). I don’t believe Christians should promote Trump, certainly not without qualification, and absolutely not as a Christian president – He is not one. However, who your Lord is, is another story, as it goes above all other allegiances. Understanding Jesus’ claims and making Him one’s Lord, personally, is the most important decision anyone can make and I would implore everyone to make it. He is a loving and holy creator, saviour, invisible spirit, and the all powerful Son of God.

3.
Some people used Kirk’s stance on gun control (that some gun deaths are “acceptable”) to suggest he deserved what he had happen to him, but let me show you the flaw in that reasoning. The argument (whether or not he was able to properly voice it) is not that some deaths are acceptable with this platform and therefore are good or neutral events, but rather that some deaths, which are always tragic, will happen with this platform and do not impact the overall argument for the platform because of the claim to greater value brought by it. To greater clarify this, consider the parallel claim someone could make with ambulances. A certain number of deaths happen every year with ambulance accidents. Someone could claim (as most of us would) that the deaths are “acceptable” in order to have the greater good of ambulance service. But if you or I died in an ambulance accident, it would remain heartless to say we got what we wanted or got what we deserved. Rather one must evaluate a platform based on the evidence for the good claimed vs the evidence for the negatives, and base assessments on that. I personally believe we need wise gun control laws, but I live in Canada where there aren’t many guns.

4.
Was Charlie Kirk a Racist? There is an effort to suggest he is. What constitutes evidence for this kind of claim? Is there a difference between hating one specific person and a whole group of people? Other than knowing he was a YouTuber who did public debate stuff, I didn’t know who Charlie Kirk was before this, so I couldn’t have said one way or the other. I often let others do research for me and I wait for the headlines (which can sometimes save time). I’ve now seen many video headlines of people who have done the digging and see no evidence of a racist orientation.

5.
I don’t believe the left is rejoicing over Kirk’s death the way some on the right are suggesting. There’s always a fringe group that acts in these extreme ways and it is manipulative to characterize the whole group based on these few. Both sides must be responsible to put accuracy first when showing responses from the other side.

Applying the “Russia filter” to this situation would perhaps lead us to see how the Russian social media farms are working overtime to foment extreme views and further divide the US (and the west). Always look at things you see on social media through the “Russia filter”, especially extreme views or views that encourage hate of the other side. Their comparative strength is increased the more we tear ourselves apart and weaken ours.

6.
Free speech works both ways. But some ideas are more destructive than others. Destructive ideas take more effort and attention to combat, but should always be done without violence. Also without hate towards the people who hold them, but rather understanding. If both sides battle with understanding we can still live together at the end of the day if we still disagree.

Free speech works both ways. So companies cannot arbitrarily fire people but they can have standards and have a right to fire who they deem in violation of their standards. If they get the temperature wrong with the application of their standards, they will lose business. Leaders should never coerce companies (directly or indirectly) to fulfill their political ends. This is a violation of power that Trump is guilty of.

7.
What do you do when you see your “opponent” violating a ground rule? Do you simply call them out, or do you begin to violate the same rule? Choosing to violate, in any context, means you don’t actually believe in the rules. Rules, if they are indeed rules, are meant to be in place and held, always, regardless of what others are doing. If we put our human inclinations under the microscope, I believe we see that deep down part of us wants to violate “rules”.. for the benefit it will bring us in the immediate situation of our lives.. If we can get away with it.. And if there isn’t a God who is keeping track. But there is a God who is keeping track.

8.
Somehow we know that murderers deserve hell (there’s a certain moral logic to it), but Jesus said that even if I hate someone, or mock or defame them (call them a fool), I am engaging in that which will be judged as murder (Matthew 5:21-22). Words can crush, this we also know, but Jesus is teaching something even deeper, that God sees the same root in someone hating someone as someone living out the maximal action of that root – there are no illusions with God, even if there may be with us. Societies must make laws with gradations of punishment based on degree of crime, this God acknowledged too (Luke 12:47-48), however when it comes to final judgement before the great marriage supper (a celebration that will go on for eternity), it is meant to remove all evil people, that is people with even a hint of evil within. Except for the immense grace of God’s salvation plan, this would exclude every single one of us. But the good news is that with Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, God paid the debt for all sin AND offers the necessary evil removal (promising to eventually remove, via lifelong process, all evil from within those who accept the gift of forgiveness). I could never do this removing of evil myself, but God is working on me (amazingly at times) and he promises to finish me before the celebration (which is the only way I could ever be part of it).

9.
You are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Does this make you perfect? Of course not, we still have free will (which is another aspect of how we are made in the image of God), and the Bible is clear that we all suffer from corruption of this ideal state, even as the image never fully goes away.

But what exactly does it mean that you are made in the image of God? It means that stirring within your thoughts and inclinations are inclinations towards God’s thoughts – automatic, pre-packaged orientation towards the good and the perfect. This then is why we want to protect children and the weak, help the less fortunate (at times with generosity, and other times with education and growth so they can help themselves), and to stand up for truth and justice… and when it comes to justice, it means this: we want to remove wrongdoers from society, and also give wrongdoers the best chance to reform rather than simply eliminating them, if at all possible. All of these inclinations are God’s good desires, therefore when you feel one of them, you’re feeling something that by nature is good and appropriate – the only problem that arises is if you misapply one of these when an opposing inclination is warranted. It is not we who get to decide which of two opposing responses is the correct one to apply, but God, for He knows everything.

And beyond an opportunity for reform, God begins with an opportunity for amnesty from all the wrong we’ve already done – and reform is meant to come out of that (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). To accept this amnesty, just believe all that Jesus claimed to be and to do on your behalf, confess Him as the Lord, and continue to acknowledge His personal presence in your life. Then it’s best to find a good church for encouragement, since the world and the devil will throw everything at you to hinder this decision – the world, because it doesn’t understand it, and the devil, because he does.

Though I’m certainly more conservative in my thinking, there is no party that exactly represents my political preferences. I see beneficial liberal policies – support for Palestine as an example (not to the exclusion of support for Israel), and I certainly see problems with some forms of conservatism (the current US brand, or anything that suggests vaccines don’t work), but when it comes to the ideology and culture of our current government, and the trajectory this sets us on (the whole being more important than the parts), I think the choice of who to elect becomes straightforward…

Here are my thoughts on the election, which I have decided to do in Pascal’s Penses style…

On the Liberal Party:

Liberals tend to preach equity and equal opportunity, however, when it came time for the Liberal leadership race, instead of even allowing Ruby Dhalla (a young, ethnic, female candidate) to run (and potentially defeat the party planners’ favoured selection), they disqualified her based on reasons she claims were fabricated (https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ruby-dhalla-liberal-leadership-1.7465430), also revoking the nomination for MP Chandra Arya, without any reasons given (https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/liberals-revoke-aryas-nomination-after-removing-him-from-leadership-race/). In other words, the party decided to go with merit (and another rich, white, male), making it a foregone conclusion, possibly because they saw him as better-abled to dance with Trump. Or rightfully so?

An equally shocking betrayal of public decency happened with the liberal decision to eject Jody Wilson-Raybould from the party when she blew the whistle on the corruption occurring in the SNC Lavalin situation. The reason given? “If we don’t do this our political rivals will succeed.” (https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberals-wilson-raybould-philpott-caucus-1.5080880). In other words, instead of cleaning house of the actual corruption, we will eliminate the people trying to get rid of corruption. Imagine the example this gives our young, aspiring politicians in this country. Far from this being Trudeau-only culpability, the liberal MP’s in Parliament, most of whom are still serving, met this decision with a standing ovation (see above article).

Intentionally working against our oil and gas production while we continue to use and import oil and gas, is the height of ideology over care for your people. Make new energy technology, yes (this is essential), but don’t hamstring the economy while doing it. To do so is more than insulting and runs ragged the pride, worth, and identity of a large section of the population.

It is ideology, not Trudeau, that has lead to the state of the economy and serious societal issues we currently have in Canada.

We can’t try the same thing and expect a different result – what’s that the definition of again?..

On the Trump Threat:

Trump is unfit to lead a country if he talks about annexation of other countries, be it a business tactic or a face value threat, either way it is completely inappropriate for a world leader to broach this vile suggestion in any context. Countries must be left to fix their own problems by their own political process, which we have the opportunity to do now in Canada.

It’s true that Trump may just be doing the whole “51^st state” thing as a business tactic, but the problem is that people don’t know this. And worse, now there are young people and members among the party faithful whose minds are being influenced to actually believe it is okay to annex countries for economic reasons. This means that if everything blows over with this playbook, and it turns out he was just looking for a 5% better deal in NAFTA or something, Trump 2.0 is rising up somewhere, in only a few short years, ready to play for real. (I sometimes think the only thing holding back Trump/Trump 2.0 is our prayers.)

Carney may be an experienced negotiator, however Poilievre is best suited to meet this threat and protect Canada from a policy perspective – he won’t give in to Trump, and he will strengthen Canada’s economy so we won’t look like a lame duck, and people won’t believe that joining the US can help us.

Trump has said Carney is his favoured choice for PM, however it is far more likely that Trump wants Carney in power so that destructive Liberal policies will further cripple us economically and, create unrest among the population, foster a desire to separate among certain conservatives, and then strengthen his rhetoric that Canada is “communist” and needs to be taken over – or that we vote to join the US (an unfortunately real possibility on the provincial level).

Trump doesn’t care for either Carney or Poilievre – he said Poilievre is “not a MAGA guy”, which is a more honest assessment than what he’s said about Carney. (https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/i-am-not-maga-poilievre-freeland-respond-to-latest-trump-attacks-3/)

On the Environment:

Global temperatures ARE indeed rising due to carbon emissions and therefore new energies clearly must be developed, but it is not the internally-solved crisis that the Liberal party has carefully indoctrinated people into believing. In effect, they have held Canadian minds hostage in this way to keep themselves in power. This is incredibly dangerous because once it becomes seen that you’re manipulating a situation in any way (even a real situation), it fuels the sentiment that everything about a crisis is a hoax, a sentiment which we are already seeing in some fringe groups.

A leader who was not concerned primarily with staying in power, but was only concerned with the good of the people would support maximizing oil and gas FOR THE PURPOSE of increasing economic stature sufficiently so new environmental technologies could be developed.

Canada, who produces a minuscule amount of the world’s carbon, would do far more good to combat global warming if we ramped up oil and gas and then pumped all of our effort and money into producing solar panels, and shipped them to China and India at low cost – this would actually, tangibly affect the world’s carbon emissions. Keeping this liberal government in power for ten years, did nothing to affect world carbon emissions, but it did weaken our economy.

If you believe that the Liberals under Carney are now supportive of oil and gas and will be consistent with this, you might as well get angry they made you believe otherwise for ten years. But it is far more likely that they will keep their environment playbook, and are just playing politics with things like (ending/pausing/revamping) the Carbon Tax.

On Social Programs and the Economy:

Even if there are several social issues that are as-or-more important than economic development, it has always been the case that we can’t make progress on these issues if we don’t have an economic foundation from which to operate out of.

Social good without a healthy economic foundation is a recipe for debt, and ongoing debt is a recipe for owing others that which we cannot repay. If you owe others that which you know you can never repay, it becomes more and more legitimate to say that you must somehow give up your right to keep what you have.

I pray it never happens that Canada breaks up, but the forces which would seek this don’t go away because we put “elbows up” while staying economically vulnerable, rather, the only thing that will help is to have the strength to stand on our own feet.

A few months back (June 29, 2021) I decided to go hiking in Canmore. This time, to the more obscure, and “difficult”-rated Bald Eagle Peak. The ascent did indeed prove moderately difficult, with progress being slowed because of the dense forest terrain (the path isn’t always easy to discern depending on which path you follow), and the degree of incline for the upper portion of the mountain. I often use All Trails for navigating, especially when I’m on a lesser-known hike like this one, and the strange thing about the path on All Trails when I did the hike in June (shown in red on the image) is that it had a different path down than it had up. [NOTE: I have since noticed that the path for this hike on All Trails is different now.]

Loops are common in hikes, but the top loop portion (still shown as a black dotted line on the All Trails map) proved.. problematic. Even though it was during our summer heat wave and was an incredibly hot day (35 C), I had prepared adequately for the conditions. I was able to follow the path marked on All Trails, often requiring the GPS overlay to help keep me on track, as the forest portion had no discernible trail other than the occasional ribbon. I had noticed that there was in fact a trodden path that showed up when looking at the mountain on Google maps, but it basically led straight up the mountain, making it a difficult slog I’m sure. The All Trails path that I had, sent me west to the drainage creek where I connected with the west-southwest corner of the mountain, the beginning of a subtle ridgeline that must spread the elevation gain more evenly over the forest portion compared to the direct route – fair enough – this path may be properly thought-out for this reason, however either path eventually leads you to the upper ridgeline that takes you to the top. The upper ridge is a full-bodied clamber over rocky outcroppings all along the ridge (but nothing too extreme),  and provides truly breathtaking vistas all the way up. The peak itself is a short, chimney-type climb that requires the use of hands to climb, and careful foot placement. The pay-off at the top is huge, and well worth the journey.

After spending 20-30 mins at the top, I began my descent. As you notice on the image, where the ridge meets the base of the chimney, the downward path splits from the upward path, leading you beneath the ridgeline for several hundred meters to eventually reconnect with it. I’m not entirely sure – it’s possible that this path is slightly easier going downhill – but what I am entirely sure of is that if you deviate from the path, even slightly, by drifting downhill, YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO RECONNECT WITH THE MAIN TRAIL – moreover, as I so memorably discovered, YOU CANNOT EVEN MAKE IT DOWN THE MOUNTAIN. I had no idea it was this imperative to stay on the designated path (a path that has no visual trail on the ground) so I was not too careful, thinking I could always just correct my direction and get back to the path, and so I ended up drifting downhill (something that’s extremely dangerous at the top portion of a steep mountain). When I noticed I was off the path, I tried to adjust by angling back in the direction of the trail, but still going downhill (because who wants to go back uphill when you’ve started down a mountain), but little did I know that every step I took downhill, was a step away from the only point I could have taken to reconnect with the main trail – and the main trail, as it turns out, is the only way down the upper portion of the mountain. The entire upper half of the mountain (the area beneath the upper part of the ridge) is steep, rough, shale terrain that includes several impassible sub-ridges. The whole area filters down into a main gully that serves as the east edge of the lower half of the mountain. Being that this area is just the raw face of a mountain, there is no “easy path” to take because of the brush and loose shale together with the fact that it is still very steep. So steep, that any misstep would be a slip and a rough slide on loose rocks – not deadly, you’d be able to pick yourself up – but when you’re in danger of this kind of slip with every step, you tend to go slower. My stride shortened to about 6-inch steps for most of this area, which as you can imagine, slowed my progress down the mountain immensely. At times steps became so uncertain that I had to sit down on the rough terrain and slide, each time tearing my shorts a bit more (eventually they were completely shredded). Normally, when a hike takes you 4 hours to get to the top of a mountain, you can count on the trip down taking about 3 hours or so, however with my slow pace, I reached three hours and I wasn’t even a third of the way down the mountain. It was quickly beginning to look like I was going to spend my whole afternoon and evening on my descent. What made matters worse was my water situation. It was still 35C and knowing this was going to be an issue, I started severely rationing my water. I also began to pray for deliverance from this situation which now seemed to me to be bordering on emergency. And for the first time in my life, I began to call out “Help” in hopes some other hiker might hear me – but knowing I was way too far off the trail for that to be an actual possibility. I kept trying to cut over towards the main path, but to no avail. Ridges kept blocking my path over, and kept forcing me on a path down the mountain. Eventually, I gave up trying to cut over (as it was more time consuming to try) and decided to just follow my downward path to the main gully that everything filtered into, in order to let that take me all the way down (or so I thought – as I found out later, you should never follow gullies down a mountain). It was yet more gruelingly slow progress on the terrain, but I finally made it to the gully. The smooth stone floor of the gully, finally made it a little easier to walk, and so I regained a little hope that I would make it down that day (probably by late evening), however my bigger problem was hydration. Going on 5 hours on my single rationed bottle of water, and the temperature still sweltering, the bottle was almost empty. My prayers became more intense. Then, when I was down to my last swig of water, I came to a small runoff pool – a sink-sized indentation in the rock, filled with water. Normally I would not touch standing water on a mountain but I had to make a decision – do I risk getting sick from beaver fever or do I risk heat stroke? The water was clear and there was no plant or animal matter in it whatsoever, so I decided to fill my bottle.. and took a small sip.. it tasted gamey (not good) but I did not start to feel sick (not that I know how long it would take to feel the effects of beaver fever) and decided to fully hydrate myself as I was simply in too much need. It might have saved my life. Thank you, Lord. I continued down the gully, noticing that I was encountering some vertical drops. Then, all of sudden, still only about a third of the way down the mountain, I hit the clincher: a smooth 20-foot drop, straight down, with no hand holds to climb down. The ridges on either side of the gully where much too step to climb and find a way around, and I was way too exhausted to climb any amount back up the mountain (I would have had to climb all the way back up to where I originally deviated from the trail!).. So I realized I was fully at an impasse. I wasn’t going anywhere. Either I was going to spend a night on the mountain and begin climbing back up the next day – with little food and water.. or I make a call to 911. I had thus far avoided it, though many might have tried to call much earlier given the situation – but I did not want to risk a presumed large bill for a helicopter rescue.. But at this point I knew it had to be attempted. I looked at my phone and I didn’t see bars (I think I had the single base triangle which on my phone is really tiny). This was likely due to the high ridges on either side of me – rising several hundred feet, with me in a narrow gully between them.. the call was choppy but it went through. (Take note that if you think you’re going to need to use your phone for an emergency call, keep an eye on your signal strength as you go and don’t get caught walking deep into a location that has no coverage.) In a few minutes they connected me to Canmore mountain rescue, and explaining my situation to them, they agreed I would need a rescue. Using my GPS location app, I was able to share my exact coordinates. After about 30 mins, I heard the helicopter. After another 10-15 mins they were lowering the rescuer. He harnessed me to himself, and after a most-harrowing day on Bald Eagle Peak, my feet finally left the earth that had them bound for almost 10 hours. (I felt like Frodo getting rescued from Mt. Doom by the eagles.) In less than five minutes I was down at the parking lot where I parked my car. They unhooked my harness, took a photo of my drivers license, I thanked my rescuer, I waved to the helicopter pilot to thank him as well. I then walked to my car, thanking my Lord for staying with me (as He always does) and for keeping me safe in a situation that could have gone differently. (I know I’ve got a home with Him whenever I do leave this life, but I’m thinking He wants me around a bit longer.) I then drove into Canmore for a cold beer and supper. Here are some very important things I have learned (or re-learned) in regards to hiking preparations: 1. Always tell someone where you’re hiking, especially when going solo; 2. Buy some water purification tablets or a filter straw and put them right next to your bear spray in your backpack whenever you hike; 3. Think twice (and do careful research) before following the All Trails path on lesser-known hikes; 4. Consider downloading a GPS coordinates app to your phone so you can always be ready to communicate your exact coordinates to someone by phone or text if you need to; 5. Don’t follow gullies down a mountain; 6. Maintain awareness of your cell phone battery level and signal strength. MY ADVICE FOR HIKING BALD EAGLE PEAK: Take the same path down that you took up (the ridge)! If you do try to follow the alternate path down, stick to it like glue and make sure you reconnect with the main ridge because if you don’t, and get caught drifting downward from the path, it’s a dead end and very probably an emergency situation.

Psalm 139:1-6

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.