The darkness within the human heart, and the hope in foolishness

Cain standing over his brother Abel

Canada's left-leaning "creative class" is in shock after unbelievable allegations have shattered the public image of one of Canada's coolest feminist men, CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi. Until recently, Ghomeshi was a national icon, the darling of liberal progressives. He was so everywhere. 

And then the bomb: 10 women recently came forward alleging that they were beaten up, punched, choked and otherwise assaulted by the king of the sensitive left. Turns out he has probably been faking his way through for years, speaking up for women-power while actually beating up women in his spare time. That is more than enough deception to make one sick.

The whole pathetic story has made me sad too. Not because I ever liked Jian Ghomeshi, but because his double life is just more evidence that much of humanity is deeply disappointing.

We are all children of Cain, to be sure. And we have the hearts of darkness to prove it. The evil that lies dormant within the ordinary person is not just frightening but downright sickening. We get glimpses of it popping up now and then like a groundhog. If only we could smash it to pieces with a mallet once and for all.

Only parents can end the culture of bullying

There have never been more public campaigns against bullying, so why is bullying a national epidemic? Yet another victim died in Fort McMurray this June, a 13-year-old girl who took her own life on the first day of summer vacation, in deep despair after an unbearable year of bullying in grade 6.

Her name was Morgan Dunbar, and she was bullied by her classmates mainly over Facebook. A further sad twist in this story is that Morgan was an identical twin, and her twin sister is the one who discovered her body at home. Now her sister has post-traumatic stress disorder, and she will surely be affected for her whole life - it's almost like two deaths instead of one.

Social media is a huge enabler of bullying, and cyber bullying is arguably even more insidious than in-person bullying. There is no escape from online bullying, there is no refuge. It allows evil and hatred to invade your safety zone at all times of day and night. It degrades and humiliates you not just before a small group of snickering squash-heads but in front of all your online friends. It is no wonder that Facebook bullying can rip people's self esteem to shreds.

We can learn to love failure, and we should!

Next to "death," the word "failure" is perhaps the most feared word in North America. Now, there are two main kinds of failure. The first kind of failure is just a temporary setback, such as a student's failing of one class among many, or a failed first job interview.

In general, our society is lenient towards the first kind of failure. We value entrepreneurship and persistence, along with the motto "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." After all, we all know stories of inventors like Edison who worked his way through 1,000 ways to not create a light bulb.

Then there is failure with the sting of permanence, that is, when personal success no longer appears possible in a person's lifetime. For instance, when a person is fired from a job they've held for decades, or when the stock market erases one's lifetime earnings, and so on. I also include in that category those who have spent decades in and out of jail, those with mental illness or other debilitating health conditions, and the very poor.