Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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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

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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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only restriction which should be placed on Independence of Thought is that we must use common sense and judgment in connection with the expression of our ideas. I have been discussing over-independence and its effects -- no-w let's switch to the other extreme. This is the matter of being too dependent on somebody or something. We all know people who are too dependent. They are always asking for helpg always asking what to do next. They are afraid to make any decisions of their own, no matter how insignificant, for fear that they will be wrong, or for fear other people won't like their ideas. XVe should realize, that when we have finished school and are working, there won't be anyone to make our decisions for us. - Thus the best thing we can do while we are in school is to learn to take the responsibility for our actions, and make our own decisions. It is good training for the future. VVe should never be too dependent in thought. By this I mean that we must always be thinking our own thoughts about something. If we don't, and let other people do our thinking for us, wc will soon find ourselves unable to think independently. In closing, I suggest that we try to avoid over-independence in our actions. We should be independent in our thoughts - but should not express our thoughts in such a way as to cause needless sorrow. XVe should also avoid being too dependent on any one person or thing, and we should always think for ourselves. Thus we must try to create and maintain a balance between Dependence and Over-independence. In this way we can develop the beneficial quality of independence. Don't be a simple fellow who docs what anyone tells him and believes every- thing he hears. Don't be a cock-sure 'know-it-all', who never listens to what anybody says. Be an independent, thinking, human being. ROLPH Davis THE ANNA BELUGIN MEMORIAL PRIZE This prize is awarded each year to a student or students who were considered to have shown a thoughtful approach to academics and lively intellectual curiosity. This year there were four awards made to Jim Beer, Dick Blackstock, Henk Blankestijn and Ron Veale. Twcrtty-five