Niccolo Machiavelli argued that one of the most difficult tasks for a ruler is the introduction of new modes and orders, in other words, the rules by which we govern society. There has perhaps never been a bolder attempt at such a shift than in 1948, when the United Nations set forth their principles for a future global order in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Intentionally or not, the UN created a conflict between the formerly dominant concept of state sovereignty and the currently popular idea of universal human rights. Only one could legitimately dictate the direction of international politics.

We live in a society surrounded by salesmen. Everywhere we go, someone is trying to sell us something. From the moment we leave the door, or turn on the TV, we are lambasted by language saturated by sales pitch after sales pitch for someone’s new fangled gadget or philosophical truth. Television is telling you about the thrilling joys of the newest toys. In the classroom, every professor is proffering their own take on the world (implicitly or explicitly, whether or not they admit it, “objectivity” is rarely achieved). At church, every pastor is preaching their own revelation and interpretation.

RE: Behold, I make all things clean

The Bible is the word of God. This is not up for question. If we don’t believe this, then our faith is in vain and we may as well abandon TWU right now. Why do we believe the Bible? Because it alone reveals to us all that we need to know for salvation. Because without we are lost. Because we in faith accept that it is not simply the work of a man, or men, but is inspired by God.

Walk down the street of any major city in Canada and you’ll hear a mosaic of languages. The 2001 census showed that there are more English, Chinese, Cantonese, Punjabi and German than there are French speakers in British Columbia. While it is a minority, French is constitutionally protected in Canada.

The Constitution Act of 1867 determined that both French and English are to be used in Parliament, establishing the equality of the status of English and French language in federal institutions and guaranteeing the rights of English or French linguistic minorities in Canada. When Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec) united, they were of one heart, but two tongues. In order to work together it was necessary to recognize French in federal institutions.

I never really thought about the sacredness of language until I worked at a camp this summer at the University of Michigan. Eight of my thirteen campers were from Mumbai, India, several of whom practiced Jainism—an ancient faith from the 6th century BCE. One day, a few of them came into my dorm room to find my runners, discarded from an afternoon jog, thrown on a few papers near my bed. They looked at me, wide-eyed, and moved the shoes and the papers apart, with mutters of, “This is not good, not good.” When I inquired of them why, they explained that paper is the medium for words, sacred entities in themselves, and should not be contacted with the dirtiness of our feet.