Natalia Toronchuk:
Sexuality is a visceral issue, part of every person’s identity. I agree with the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s views on the significance of sex – it is a culmination of self, or as Rilke puts it: the splendour of “gathering one’s self for one’s highest moments.” Because sex is one of the tools to express the best “gathering,” and because sex is an intimate and transcending, yet gut-deep experience, a great amount of identity interlocks with it, and along with this then, human dignity.

“When I hear the stock market has fallen, I say, ‘Long live gravity! Long live stupidity, error and greed in the palaces of fantasy capitalism!’” I read these words in a Wendell Berry poem one evening here in Uganda, only to find out that the American financial markets had crashed that very day, with banks closing, markets failing and from what little I heard, Americans panicking.

After over 20 hours of travelling, I had slept on bananas, been thrown from the roof of a car into a ditch, waded through mud, and lost three pairs of shoes. But I finally got there; El Nido, a cove on the northeast side of the island Palawan, nestled between the mainland and the Malaysian and Indonesian islands. Known for its extraordinary dives, underground rivers, secret lagoons, unique flora and fauna and breathtaking sunsets on beaches, I hardly believed it was real. I had heard tales of the island’s beauty, untouched by man-made structures.

It is no secret that some Trinity Western University students break community standards. When Mars’ Hill started our Freshman PostSecrets project our desire was not an attempt to expose some dark underbelly of rebellious student leaders, but rather to shine a light on our own secrets and open a discussion on what they said about our community.

Recently I was having coffee with a single friend of mine, an older student, who expressed her frustration: “the last time anyone in a Christian setting spoke to the fact that I’m a sexual being was in a college and career group when I was 18, where the smiling leader told me in a chipper way that ‘true love waits.’ Well, almost a decade later, I’m still waiting. And it isn’t so straightforward or simple.”

Many commentators have opined in the past few days that the Oct. 14 election called by Stephen Harper’s conservative government on Sept. 7 was a waste of time and $350 million dollars in election funding because it didn’t significantly change the format or likely output of parliament. It is impossible that Stephen Harper could have known the course of the election or the issues that would take center stage. However, as a referendum on his leadership of the country, the election did a wonderful job of confirming the increasing trust Canadians have in the Conservatives; it also proved the distrust Canadians still hold for the Liberal Party and the lack of trust in its leadership.

The response brought forth an inner chuckle denoting a hint of sarcasm. When I posed the question, “Why should the American election matter to Canadians?” to a friend, the colourful honesty of this intelligent woman surprised me: “Because it’s much more exciting than the Canadian election!”

Dear Editor,