Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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inding a aith to live by When Gods die, Jlen Die also. No civilization has ever surrafred after the doninffalt of its Gods. I ts doom comes about uihen the faith and idealism which formed the bases of its laws and its arts and the meaning of its life are challenged by scepticism and then aban- doned in disbelief. ns QUOTATION written by a famous English Journalist, Sir Philip Gibbs, proves that civilizations need a faith to live by. This not only applies to civiliza- tions but to individuals. Individuals also must have certain ideals and beliefs to look up to in order to maintain a strong and staunch character. Now stop for a minute and think about the seeming trivialities that separate our different religions. Let's look first at the Baptist Religion which prohibits dancing, smoking, and the wear- ing of lipstick. To most of us here these things seem silly and even ridiculous, probably because we do not understand the reasons why. However without thinking We might condemn everything Baptists believe in. Now in the Mormon religion a man is allowed to take several wives. Just the thought of having to support more than one wife scares most of us - - into say- ing I would never be a, Mormon. Roman Catholics believe that it is wrong to read books and see movies that have been censored by the church. The Hindus believe that 'the white cow is holy and sacred. They place the lite of this cow above their own lives, and this tor us, is very hard to understand so we think of the Hindus as strange people who go around worshipping white cows. This is the only side of their religion we see. And again, there is the danger that we will condemn the whole religion because we do not understand this seem- ingly peculiar point. As my last example let's take a look at the Doukhobors whose means of pro- testing is to take oft' all their clothes and walk around naked. If Pickering were a Doukhobor school and it all of us were Doukhobors- when most of us didn't like the lunch that was served we could get up and march around the dining room, naked - to protest our meal. Ot course this would look ridiculous to say the least. Again this is the only part ot their religion we are familiar with and we would probably overlook the important aspects of their religion. All these incidental aspects ot' the various religions are extremely insignifi- cant When compared to the moral values that each religion offers. Do not let these oddities blind you to the worthwhile things. It you investigate all religions you will find many factors in them. These factors to me are the most important part ot every religion. These are the things that are the basis oi' all religions and even if we don't agree with all elements of any religion we must believe in these things. For example: Every man on earth must be charitable. XVe must be able to go out of our way to help others. Charity is a quality that is handed down through the ages and has become a part of every religion and it must also become a part of our lives. VVe must find a place in our hearts for the other man and stop thinking about ourselves. Twenty-tlm'ce

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Freedom noxusn FREEDOM is so vrraii to us who live here, I have chosen to speak about it to-night. Not only is it vital to us here, but also to the world around us. It is a very difficult word to define as it represents many different things to differ- ent people. If, however, we ask the following questions, we may catch a glimmer of the essential part freedom plays in our separate lives. What are we free from? What are we free to do? Are we free from persecution? Are we free to share equally with others, the responsibilities of the human conununity. Are we free to worship as we desire? Have we liberty to think, speak and act as we see fit within the laws we ourselves have made to preserve human health, safety and justice? And if we have these liberties, are we developing them? Do We treasure them as something a.s essential to us as breathing? It is not enough to make speeches and write articles praising freedom as something good, great, and noble. Freedom is more than a poetic word. It is vital to our lives as human beings. We enjoy many freedoms, some won in older times and others established within the memory of persons still living. 'We have freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of association, and so forth, all subjected to the laws of the land, we all have personal freedoms dating back to the Magna Carta. All these liberties were stated by John Stuart JIM in his essay On Liberty. This is the most complete argument in favour of the individual concerning his liberties or freedoms. I have told you and asked you about the many aspec'ts of freedom. You may think this concerns the adult world only, but that is where you are quite wrong. I would like to show you why. There were two yotmg people about the same age as you and I. We will call them Igor and Peter. They were of average intelli- gence and both had a tendency to be quiet. These boys were very much alike. In fact there was only one big difference. Peter lived in a democracy, Igor unfor- tunately was in a country without freedom. So, Peter attended High School and later was able to go to the university of his choice, and choose his own career. Igor could only go to secondary school and afterward, his career was picked for him. He had no choice but to consent to his superiors wishes. This could ruin a person 's life as he may thoroughly dislike the oecupa.tion which he is in. This is just one ol' the many thousands of examples, and that is why everyone should be concerned about freedom. Not only will your education and profession be affected by the freedoms 'that you possess, but also your social life, family, belongings, and every- thing sacred to you. Freedom concerns everyone in the world. It is something no one can really define, something tangible, yet so intangible. It is knowing that you can say anything, do anything, or go anywhere without being questioned as long as it is within the law. It is something we cannot live without, and still be happy. It is the goal of most leaders, and should be the goal of everyone of us. VVe are tight- ing to preserve our freedom now because if we lose it, it may never be regained. If you make freedom your business, it will be lasting. JOHN PALMER Twenty-two

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Courage: We must be able to stand up for what we believe in and not let other people sway us into doing what we know is wrong. Truth to me is one of the most important things in our lives. We must be able to respect the word of others but above all we must have our word respected by others. Thus we see that such qualities as charity, truth, courage, and helping one's fellow man are found as common factors in all religions. - Do not do as many young people do, turn your back on religions because of certain insignificant peculiarities that you may think absurd. As the opening quotation states - lack of a positive faith or set of beliefs leads to doom. If no one religion appeals to you adopt the common factors. Charity, truth, courage, tolerance, and love of your fellow man. RUSS RADCLIFEE In Bpen GMU!! ' d d HERE wAs A VERY INDEPENDENT boy here a few years ago - perhaps some of of you remember him. He was so independent, in fact, that he would be kicked out of classes two or three times a week. He would be kicked off his athletic team a. couple of times a year. He went to bed when he felt like it, and he was always giving someone a piece of his mind.-In short he did pretty much as he pleased- nntil he was asked to leave Pickering. This boy seemed to feel sure that he was right and the rest of the world was wrong. His counsellor and his friends tried to explain to him why his actions and attitudes were mistaken. However, he would just ignore them and say some- thing to the effect that he was Independent and didn't need help from anyone. I said previously that this boy was independent, but as the example illustrates -Q he was over-independent. If he had thought of his actions, and their effects on other people as well as himself, he might have realized that he was only causing trouble - hurting others and hurting himself. But he was over-independent. - As a result he didn't see the need to correct his ways. All he would have had to do was to think of the damage he was doing to himself and others, and he might have toned down his over-independence. But h-e just didn't think about it. Thinking is the important thing. Here is a field in which we can be as independent as we please. VVe can think about anything and everything we want to. There can be no restriction placed on thought, by anybody, whether it be a person, a committee, or a government. It is a good idea, however, not to express your thoughts in such a way that they will unnecessarily hurt another person or group. - Here is an example: Suppose we disagree with some aspect of our life at Pickering - and we probably do A- just talking and grumbling about it in 'bull-sessions' only causes under- ground discontent 'and distaste - and really accomplishes nothing. This is bad. lt. hurts the school by lowering its morale - and therefore it hurts us all, because we all live here. XVe should bring our complaints out in the open, by bringing them up in assembly, or writing an article for the school paper. This way we get better results and nobody gets hurt because of people who express their thoughts only in the negative ways that cause our morale to be lowered. This example shows that the Twenty-four