PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

The short version of this message is the following three points:

1. don't catch the 'why bother' flu bug
2. avoid the 'politically correct' foot and mouth disease
3. speak out and get involved

Why is it so difficult to pick up the telephone to make a phone call or to pick up a pen and piece of paper to jot down a few thoughts? In just the past couple of weeks, I have, personally, thought about doing both, but must admit, as of yet, I have not done either. Mind you, the matters that currently concern me are really only minor irritants, which I guess is my excuse for doing nothing.

Unfortunately, however, this 'why bother' attitude can easily be applied to all matters, great or small. It can become a dangerous epidemic in no time at all. For example, only 20% of the population voted in the Saskatoon fall civic election. Only one parent wrote the local Catholic School Board to ask that its annual Halloween UNICEF collection be switched to benefit Mother Theresa's work, which I am pleased to say they did. Low numbers of people attend pro-life events. This - 'don't know - don't care - don't have time' - mentality makes a lopsided society as the anti-family forces don't let up on their activity.

Another contagious disease, which we have all experienced in one form or another, has a strangle-hold on all of society from government and media to churches and schools to individuals. It is hard to avoid the 'politically correct malaise' for it has spread across our land. Voicing one's own opinion can sometimes be a courageous act, especially on certain issues, but we must be a witness to truth.

You will realize that I have carried the above examples to the extreme, but I do it to make my point. A point, which I mention often in this column. We must consistently speak out to defend and promote the traditional values of family and marriage. No one else will do it for us. As usual, this issue of Reality has suggestions for individual action. Please take pen and paper (or phone) in hand to speak out for pro-life, pro-family values.

Edmund Burke's words of warning are as true today as the day he coined the phrase:

All that is necessary for evil to triumph,
Is for good men and women to do nothing.

In closing, I extend the following greetings to all our supporters on behalf of the national Board of REAL Women of Canada:

We wish you and yours a blessed and joyous Christmas!
And may the love, peace and happiness of the Christmas
season stay with you throughout the New Year!

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