How Reformation Affected Your Life

It doesn't matter if you are Christian, atheist, or agnostic. Reformation affected your life. It is 500

years to the day since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, a modern equivalent of a Facebook post ( yes you can thank Martin Luther for Facebook), which began the Reformation.

And though Roman Catholic Church still mourns this historic event as a  tragedy that brought division to their Church, and a wave of violence to Europe, it also brought the Western world civil liberties, freedom of conscience, science, modern democratic values, and a sharp increase in both knowledge and the standards of living among ordinary people. All the things you enjoy everyday and take for granted.

In standing up to the papacy in matters of faith and conscience and encouraging people to know God and the Bible for themselves by translating the sacred texts into German, Luther began a spiritual and literary revolution in Germany, and the rest of Europe. People wanted to learn to read, so they could read the Bible and the writings of Luther, as well as other reformers. Soon political leaders also began to stand up to the papacy since people stopped believing in their ability to condemn them to hell for any act  of disobedience which eventually led to separation of church and state, which we so value today. The Catholic Church could not control people like they used to since the priests were no longer the only ones who could read and interpret the Scriptures, so they began to enjoy not only freedom of faith, but also became free to discover the world around them and how it worked as their expression of faith thus beginning the scientific revolution, which makes it quite ironic today for some atheist scientists to accuse Christians of being anti-science when it was them who laid the foundations for it.

There was also initially a big wave of violence against the Church and state, but it was not as much a result of Reformation ( Luther never incited anyone to violence) as the result of  spiritual, economic, and political oppression the common people endured under the Roman Catholic Church and Aristocracy controlled by it. Many people sought revenge. It was like taking the lid off od the pressure cooker, but once it ebbed away Europe was on a path to much more prosperity and advancements in every area of life.

You might even say that Luther began the first social media revolution comparable to invention of the Internet. His writing written in common German circulated all over Germany  thus unifying German language, and the same happened in other countries and their languages. Puritans took the ideals of Reformation to America, which made it into  the most powerful and prosperous country in the world. I dare say that America would never become what it is today if Reformation never happened, so whether you knew it or not Reformation affected your very life in countless ways. What changes did one man bring into the world! It is amazing when you think about it. One lowly unknown priest in a little unknown university town changed the world.

But then, so did Jesus. He also came into this world as a lowly carpenter  from very little esteemed Jewish village of Nazareth. Didn't He say that whoever believes and follows Him will do great things? Do likewise. Be the light to this world. Your words and actions have more impact on the world around you than you know.

Author's Note: Photo of the Martin Luther statue by John Rallison

State Mandated Values For Canadian Professionals?

Does it sound like something the government of North Korea would do or what? But the problem is

that it is happening and it is not happening in North Korea, but in Canada, a country that prides itself on the human rights and freedoms.

Millions of people have left their countries of origin in search for freedom from their homelands' oppressive actions, only to now wake up under oppression of different kind in Canada, a place that was supposed to be safe from such oppression.

So what happened? The lawyers in Ontario received a note that government of Ontario mandated on their profession's regulatory body basically asking them to prepare a statement of their personal values in order to continue practicing law. Their personal values now have to be in keeping with the government's vaguely defined values of diversity, openness, and inclusiveness.

it was a measure taken after reportedly a " systemic racism" was found in entire legal profession. The problem is that these findings have no credible basis in the first place, and accuse all lawyers of being racists by default. Now Ontario lawyers find themselves in a place where they have to "prove" that they are not racist just because they are lawyers. To say that it is unfair and even offensive id an understatement, and more worrying than that is where this could lead if this is not challenged and becomes a precedent.

Not too long ago an Ontario Law Society declared that they are not going to allow  the graduate of a British Columbia law school to practice because the school unlawfully mandated their students a certain code of conduct while studying there, but now the same body mandates certain values on all their lawyers and this seems to be O.K. to them.

Where this could lead if it allows to stand is in fact a secular form of inquisition where certain individuals who do not profess and do not wish to promote state mandated values cannot work in their professions despite the fact that they have professional credential and have spent  thousands of dollars for their schooling, and years out of their lives to get these credentials. This means that certain groups of people like Christians, for example, who do not wish to promote homosexuality or transgenderism would be banned from most professions thus being forced into lower classes of society.

This is  a direct violation of Canada's  Charter of Rights and freedoms, but the problem is that the judges these days are not required to simply make sure that the law is enforced, but they are free to interpret those laws as they see fit. It means that if anyone is accused of racism, or homophobia, the lawyers are required to automatically rule in favour of the offended party to "protect" their rights.

Dr. Jordan Peterson recently interviewed those in law society who decided to speak out against it and discussed the issue in more detail. I will provide the link to that discussion below. Please make other Canadians aware of this problem because if we don't stand against it now, we might not be able to recognize our own country in couple of decades...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGC3y1BPzwA