(Link here to 2012 Christmas Wish)

Getting Ready for Christmas

Decorating for Christmas is just plain fun but when friends and neighbors get together to make it a collaborative experience, it gives a whole new meaning to the Season of Joy.

It all began in early December as a result of encouragement coming from Sam and Jacob, two ROMS students, and their dad, who thought it would be a great idea to enter our street in the Times Colonist Lighting Contest. Our two families have been in a bit of a lighting contest for the past couple of years and so decided to combine our efforts. We checked with the other neighbours and after finding everyone was on board, the decorating began in earnest.

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Including a Discussion of the Points
Raised in the Stein Article

Above Photo: The Nativity Scene is likely one of the most enduring Christian Christmas symbols and while Christmas trees are much more in evidence during the season, they predate Christianity by many centuries and were of pagan origin. Trees are now representative of both Christian and non-Christian cultures. Finally, Christmas songs, both Christian and Secular, have become as much a part of Christmas as the Crèche and the tree.    (October 15, 2017, 3800) (Jan 2018, 3842)

Victoria, British Columbia
December 16, 2011

This is a post about how the words of people can be bent and twisted to serve the special interests of those who seek to tear our society apart. If you have a few minutes see how the words of Ben Stein were used in this manner.

The above photo with Ben appears on the Web Site, A Livingdog.com. The letter purported to be by Ben Stein, is posted as it was circulated.  Although the letter does use some quotes from Ben’s article, they were only added to give authenticity to the post. The other highly inflammatory words were added by an unknown author. The entire letter was designed to incite hate.  My commentary follows:

Re: Ben Stein’s ‘Confessions for Christmas’ (Most posts title it “Confessions for the ‘Holidays”‘). I have used both.

If we use Facebook, Twitter, other social media, use email, we will often receive attachments such as this Stein article. Many will be forwarded without the sender having given much thought as to the content or, after reading the beginning paragraphs, generally agreed, so post or send to family and friends.  All kinds of misinformation and outright lies are passed along in this manner

While some of these forwards provide reasonable commentary, others, such as the Ben Stien Christmas Post, make some pretty outlandish and inflammatory comments. After re-reading this article a couple of times, it struck me there was no real sense of cohesion, it was as if separate, unrelated statements were strung together to make the whole. This made me wonder whether Stein even wrote and published this article.

After completing a search of the Web, I am now satisfied a great deal of editing took place with respect to the original comments recited by Stein on the CBS Morning Show back in late 2005.

It also became evident some of the statements attributed to Anne Graham Lotz (Billy Graham’s ministering daughter) were used to modify the original Stein document. The statements made by Lotz, as opposed to those by Stein, were very negative and cynical.

Further checks revealed the entire second half of the document was made up of comments written by a person or persons unknown, seemingly with the intent of inciting as much dissent as possible. Whatever the source, it is interesting these statements, some of which I now believe to be outright fabrications, appear to have gained a widespread following over the past few years given the number of ‘forwards’ received at my end.

As mentioned, this is not the first time articles of this type have crossed my desk. Often, after doing a bit of research, I have found many to be doctored and falsely attributed before being posted on the Web and then circulated by email. An example is statements purported to have been made by the Australian Prime Minister about Muslims and other immigrants entering Australia. While a few statements were correctly attributed, many of the most highly inflammatory were inserted and distributed by unknown others.

There are several Web Sites that can be used as a means to check on the authenticity of articles such as this, one being: www.snopes.com. You can link to the discussion of the Stein article at Confessions.

With respect to the “Confessions” article, I do not think the majority of the statements serve to advance the interests of Christianity or of promoting “Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men” as is befitting of the Christmas Season. I have taken time to address each statement with the hope that a few will again read the article and, perhaps, look at the statements from a different perspective.

Why, you might ask, would I take so much time to write a response to a transient item that flowed into my inbox? In short, I have a keen interest in many subjects and wish to clarify my own thoughts and beliefs. I do that best when I sit down and attempt to put my thoughts in written form as I have done for this post. Also, I wish to encourage people to take a less divisive approach to discussing these matters.

Many of you will likely have different thoughts on this particular subject or others on which I have written. I would appreciate hearing any comments you may feel inclined to share. You can do that at the foot of the article or, more privately, by email or FB, if you so wish.

Yours truly,

Harold McNeill

My Confessions for the Holidays

Stein’s article is now divided into three parts. In each part, whenever possible, the statements have been attributed to the author.

Part 1 Comments correctly attributed to Ben Stein although some were taken out of context.

Points Discussed: Joy of celebrating differences. Are Christians and Jews being pushed around? Have celebrities replaced God? Is the United States an explicitly atheist country?

Part 11 Comments correctly attributed to Anne Graham Lotz (daughter of Billy Graham). These comments were not part of Stein’s original article.

Points Discussed: Has God been pushed out of government and out of our schools? Did many people die after Hurricane Katrina (or the WTC) because God backed away from his people? Is that why so many people around the world have died in natural and man-made catastrophes?

Part 111 Comments by unknown authors inserted in the Stein article.

Points Discussed: Has the suggestion by Dr. Spock that spanking children is a poor method of discipline lead to a ‘permissive’ generation? Are children today killers without conscience? About spreading hate through jokes and inflammatory statements. Are times getting worse?

Part 1 (Stein)

Ben Stein: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are, Christmas trees.

Harold Response: The above photo shows Ben getting ready to celebrate Christmas. It looks to me as if the Santa hat has been photoshopped into the scene -perhaps not, as Ben is known to have a keen sense of humour.

Many of my family and ancestors were/are Christians and it does not bother me a bit to watch, listen, discuss or participate in the celebrations of others. No one should feel threatened unless they choose to feel threatened.

Many groups have different beliefs and traditions that are worth celebrating and we agree that respecting the beliefs of others, even when those beliefs diverge from our own, is important. This includes atheists respecting the beliefs of theists and vice versa. Highly inflammatory remarks from either side do not help.

Ben Stein: It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

Harold Comment: I agree. Most of the controversy about Christmas trees and other Christmas themes being excluded from the public
is largely created through unfounded rumour. Within those countries that celebrate the Christian Christmas, traditional practices permeate the culture. I know many non-Christians who participate and even attend Christmas church services because the words (for the most part), songs (always) and traditions (usually) are warm, welcoming and comforting.

Photo: President and Mrs. Obama stand with the White House Christmas Tree. Occasional emails and posts state Christmas Tree’s are either not allowed or have been renamed ‘Holiday Trees”. That is simply not true.

Ben Stein: I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.

Harold Comment: Ben, you are demonstrating a good bit of paranoia. Over the many years, I was a practicing Christian I never once felt threatened or ‘pushed around’ because of my beliefs. To the contrary, I met many, many wonderful people from many faiths as well as others who were non-believers. Not one person ever threatened or pushed me around. I bet not one of the Christians within our extended family have ever been ‘threatened’ or ‘pushed around’ because of their sincerely held beliefs. I am not sure why you should feel so set upon.

Canada and United States (the United States in particular) is far from being Atheist. Do you perhaps confuse ‘Atheism’ with an attempt by democracies to maintain a separation of church and state? Perhaps you consider everyone who is not a practicing Christian or Jew, to be an Atheist? In your original article, I did not see any reference to other theists.

Many developing countries that have faith-based systems are desperately trying to achieve a separation between church (or faith) and state in an attempt to remove the sectarian violence as various faith-based groups seek to control the political agenda. I think many religious leaders in democratic countries (Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc.) would agree it is important to maintain a fairly clear divide.

In Canada, Quebec is probably the best example of a Province that was largely run by a church as recently as two or three decades back. Quebec is now among the most secular of our Provinces. That does not mean religious groups have faded away, it just means that one particular group does not control the political agenda to the exclusion of all others. Freedom to participate (or not participate) in the religion of one’s choice is at the core of our democratic system. I think most would agree it would be wrong to use one particular religion or set of religious values as the framework for our system of government.

As for the USA, religion remains a ‘hot button’ issue when it comes to separation of church and state. You likely watched the multi-part PBS series “God in American”. The series tracked four centuries of conflict between various Christian groups and leaders as each sought to become the dominant faith controlling the country with their ‘particular’ brand of religion. That that long battle is still being waged tends to reinforce the need for maintaining a clear separation between church and state.

A present-day example of religion being twisted to political ends is highlighted in the current Republican leadership contest. The contenders are willing to say or do anything to woo the religious right into their camp. For the men and woman seeking the leadership of the party, it seems God is little more than a means to an end, that being leadership of the party and a shot at gaining the Presidency.

In Canada, the Conservatives have largely shelved the religious ideologies that were very much a part of their early platforms when it became crystal clear the majority of Canadians would not support any party that attempted to push those ideologies to the forefront.

Note: From this point forward, someone modified Stein’s comments by removing humorous references to two individuals known as ‘Nick and Jessica’ whose faces appeared on a cereal box cover. Instead, they became referenced as “celebrities”.

The following comment is the actual lead-in comment made by Stein in the CBS interview (it was not included in the forwarded article):

Ben Stein: Here we are at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart. I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I’m buying my dog biscuits. I still don’t know. I often ask checkers at the grocery stores who they are. They don’t know who Nick and Jessica are, either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they’ve broken up? Why are they so darned important? I don’t know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I don’t care at all about Tom Cruise’s baby.

Harold: Ben, I must agree. I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica might be and why they are so noteworthy. Maybe if I purchased more dog biscuits I might learn the answer. I like your sense of humour.

Following are the above comments as inserted in the Stein article and, at this point, a contrast to God is introduced:

Unknown Editor: Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren’t allowed to worship God? I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

Harold: Now where did this come from? This transition appears to have been inserted in order to suggest the worshiping of “Celebrities versus God” as a means to ratchet up the rhetoric.

It is my guess, if you surveyed a large group of Christians, Jews, Muslims or any number of other faiths versus a similar sized group of non-believers, you would find an equal number in each group that placed celebrities far too high on a pedestal.

Whether we like it or not, celebrities, in one form or another, have been with us for centuries. While there is nothing particularly right or wrong with that, collectively we seem to pay too much attention to the words and actions of those with celebrity status.

Using Stein as an example, think about this for a moment. If an ordinary person wrote that which was written in in the original Stein ‘confession’, do you think it would ever see the light of day let alone be read on the CBS Morning Show? Probably not as the article was at best just some talk show humour by a “celebrity” guest.

Now spice that original with some inflammatory and highly controversial comments and this cleverly rejigged article will draw far more attention. I have used part of this technique in the title of this post. It is now indexed on Page 2 of Google in an area that will provide a greater chance of a ‘hit’ than if I had titled it Harold McNeill Revisits Christmas Confessions. Like, who is Harold McNeill and what is his claim to fame? (Google Link)  Even as of October 2017 (7 years since it was posted) it is now posted on Page 1.

Part II (Graham-Lotz)

Statements made by Anne Graham Lotz, were not part of Ben Stein’s original comments. Along with other comments, they were added by a person or persons unknown and then first distributed before Christmas in 2005.

The following comments (properly attributed to Anne Graham Lotz) were made during a National TV show shortly after the WTC attacks of 2001 when Anne was being interviewed by Jane Clayson. Again, only parts of Anne’s comments were inserted and a few of the lead-in statements were altered by persons unknown.

Anne: In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny, it’s intended to get you thinking.

Harold: I agree Anne. There are far too many tasteless, insensitive jokes, not just about religious groups, but also about other minorities (Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, Aboriginals, etc). I have been guilty of the practice myself. In past centuries similar type jokes have been passed around. Which reminds me, did you hear the one about the Saxon Warrior…?

Many messages landing in my inbox since 2001 relate to Muslims, immigrants and generally visible minorities. In any case we both agree it’s not right and as for getting me thinking about the issues, your words have certainly accomplished that Anne.

Moderator Clayson: How could God let something like this happen? (regarding Hurricane Katrina) Note: The original reference was to the World Trade Centre attack of 2001, not to Hurricane Katrina. The comments made in the Clayson/Lotz interview were made well before Hurricane Katrina. Anne then continues with her original comments.

Anne: I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?’

Harold: It is my observation and experience that God is well represented in our schools. Just down the street from our home is the large Pacific Christian School and a little further on, the Catholic, St Andrews School.

I have spent time in both and they wonderful schools with motivated and caring teachers as well as attentive students. Across Canada Christian Schools and Universities seem to be well represented and well populated. I just read a report yesterday that over 600,000 kids attend Catholic Schools in Ontario. That is a sizeable school population for just one faith-based system in one Province.

Christine (our  youngest daughter) just finished two years of teaching Grade 6 (one of eight Grade 6 classes) at the Khalsa Sihk School in Surrey, BC. Students in the school study their holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, as well as attending weekly prayer sessions. Many parents actively sought to have their child placed in Christine’s class even though she did not practice their faith.

One of the neat things Christine found particularly inspiring about the school was the fact they promoted the idea that a ‘belief in God’ was more important than the particular religious group to which one belonged. Not many faith-based systems are that generous.

Muslims, as well as many other groups, also provide private schools for members who wish to help their children become better acquainted with the history of their people and the beliefs of their forefathers. In Victoria, we have a very fine Chinese School (est. 1908) with about 300-400 students. This is a wonderful part of living in a multicultural society.

As for our Public Schools and Universities, it is true they do not hold prayer sessions or have religious studies (other than generic courses such as the History of Religion). This is done for a very good reason – if you wished to hold religious services, which God and what particular set of books would one study – the Koran, Bible, the Book of Mormon (this is an issue as the Republicans search for a leader), the Guru Granth Sahib or some other text and which prayers would be approved?

In Christianity alone, there are hundreds upon hundreds of belief sub-sets holding very diverse beliefs. I think it would be chaotic to give every system time to spread the word of their particular brand of faith in our Public Schools and Universities. What do you think?

Now, Ms. Graham, as for suggesting that God failed to prevent the tragedy of Katrina because “being a gentleman, he backed away” seems to suggest your God is a bit petulant. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson made similar claims about why the World Trade Centre bombing occurred. It must be nice to have the inside track to God’s thoughts about these tragic events.

Photo: Whether it was the 9/11 attack or Hurricane Katrina, the effects were the same. Hundreds of people died. Perhaps the woman in this picture was a Christian, perhaps not and her baby is certainly to young to understand the concept of God.

In the case of Katrina, as well as thousands of natural disasters that have occurred over past two thousand years, it seems someone is always compelled to list the cause as a ‘lack of faith’ and, perhaps, link that with God abandoning His people. Today more people are dying in single major events simply because there are now more people living on earth than having lived in the entire history of our planet.

In my mind, many hundreds of thousands of those who have died in the past, or will die in future catastrophic events, were or will be strong believers in Christianity, Judaism or some other faith teaching. Why would their God hold those hundreds of thousands of faithful responsible for the ‘misdeeds’ of others to say nothing about the thousands of innocent children that have died? I cannot believe any God worth his salt would hold children responsible for the sins of their father, let alone those of some stranger. To me, your statements are uncaring, insensitive, and not befitting of a woman who takes to the pulpit and purports to be a spokesperson for God.

December 17, 2011.
Dear Anne,

Today hundreds of men, women, and children were killed when a typhoon hit one of the Philippine Islands. By your way of thinking those poor people died simply because their God abandoned them. Do you think this is a reasonable assessment of your position for any of the hundreds of thousands of people that die each in natural disasters or is it just the people of the United States that fall into this category?

Part III (Authors Unknown)

As far as I can ascertain, everything from this point onward was either a modified version of what Anne Graham Lotz stated or was entirely made up by a person or persons unknown. Over the years several different comments, all along the same theme, have been inserted in what was purported to be the Stein confession.  As of 2017, the comment flow still remains on the original website, A Livingdog.com.

Author Unknown: In light of recent events…. terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Photo: Madalyn Murray O’Hair (note the correct spelling) was a well known American Atheist and founder of the Organization of American Atheists.

Harold: So you are not saying it was ‘everyone’ who was at fault, it was just Madalyn Murray O’Hair and perhaps others who held beliefs similar to hers. Personally, I think you are laying a lot of responsibility on that woman. She must have been a powerful voice in order to get God so upset that he backed away from everyone, including his loyal Christian and Jewish followers! Her tragic death had nothing to do with her Atheist beliefs.

On the final sentence of the paragraph, you make a good point. If theists and others would spend more time practicing the many good things that appear in the Bible or their particular books of teachings, and choose to love their neighbors as themselves, particularly those who do not share their beliefs, there would be a lot less strife in the world. Most of the messages in this crafted ‘Confessions’ article certainly does nothing to bring that value to the forefront.

Author Unknown: Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about. And we said okay.

Harold: Ok, I guess we are now leaving the Christian/Jewish discussion and moving on to a discussion about disciplining children.

I don’t particularly subscribe to Mr. Spock’s suggestions but he does have a message and he took the time to write a book about something in which he strongly believed. That’s not a bad thing to do and is far more than most of us will ever do. Thousands upon thousands of books have been written about child rearing.

At one point in my life, I taught a program called “Developing Capable People”. I liked the program message and so did the several hundred parents who participated in the series.
Spankings were not a recommended means of discipline, however, as individuals everyone is free to accept some points about parenting and reject others. The same can be said about Christian teachings.

Photo: Dr. Benjamin Spock (1903 -1998), a graduate of Yale University and an Olympic Gold Medalist, wrote his book “The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care” in 1946. It became an instant best seller with over 50 million copies sold worldwide after it was translated into 39 languages. He later wrote three more books about parenting and in each case, he was attacked a promoting ‘permissiveness’, a claim he soundly denied.

As far as spankings are concerned, I don’t think it is the best method to handle discipline but, I confess, I handed out a few during the time we raised four children. Our children, four in number, are no worse for it but I choose to think they simply overcame my bad example and it was the thousand other factors that were part of parenting that lead to what I think is a very good result.

Take a look at the extended family that surrounds our mother in the Introduction to this Blog. A lot of different methods were used to raise those children, some received spankings, others did not, yet they are all wonderful, caring people. It was the totality of the parenting, not just one particular aspect, that led to that result.

Just as a side issue, within Canada a man could physically discipline domestic help (usually a female) for poor performance and misbehaviour as late as the 1970s. The law was finally changed. Not many years before that those same men could discipline their wives for similar transgressions. We can observe that the discipline of woman and children is still prevalent in many male dominated societies. I think it is good that our society finally decided to make those acts illegal. Do you really think not spanking a child would lead to the downfall of our society?

As for throwing in the suicide bit, I find that is contemptable particularly as it never happened. A grandson (Dr. Spock’s son’s son) did commit suicide and while the full reason for that suicide has never been fully understood, it is reported in a biography that the young man, twenty-two at the time, was schizophrenic. Do you not think there may be a good many ‘god fearing’ Christians and Jews who wrote books on some aspect of religion and whose children later committed suicide for some reason or other? Would it be fair to suggest they did so because their dad or mom had written that book? I think not.

Author Unknown: Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Harold: During my lifetime (71 years next month) I have known a large number of the children within our extended family and over the decades have met hundreds of children and teens through sports, school, and my time in the police service. The vast (vast) majority were good kids and over the decades I believe kids have been steadily getting better. They are better educated, have much more experience in the world and have largely been raised by caring, thoughtful parents.

Yes, we still face many challenges, but for someone to make a general statement that children have “have no conscience … they don’t know right from wrong and … it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves” is simply wrong.

In thirty years of policing, I met some very bad people including a few young people who did terrible things and will be spending most of their lives in jail. An article appeared in the Times Colonist today (Dec 16, 2011) about one such person. Thankfully, I did not let that young man colour my view toward the majority. I hope the person who wrote this statement did not become a policeperson, social worker, teacher, or enter any of the other ‘caring’ professions.

Author Unknown: Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with ‘WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.’

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Harold: Whoever wrote this appears to be a very cynical Christian. Most of the Christians I know try to remain positive by focusing on the good things in the world rather than the bad. If we all tried a little harder to do that, do you not think the world would be a much more peaceful and caring place? Do you not think the world is gradually getting better?

Given a choice, who of us would prefer to live in any other past century, perhaps as a Christian in the Roman Empire, or during the Dark Ages? Perhaps, during the Crusades, or at the time of the Black Plague or one of the many other diseases that killed fathers, mothers, children, Christians, Jews, Atheists and others without discrimination?

How about during any of the dozens of centuries when death would was likely to visit sometime before a person’s late twenties, or even early in the last century when millions upon millions of innocent people were killed in just two World Wars? I think not.

While extreme poverty still exists in some parts of the world, a great majority of the people are much better off now than at any time in the history of our planet. The challenges we face will best be solved when Christians, Jews, Muslim’s, Atheists, Agnostics and others play the positive cards to which we all have access rather than taking the view that the world ‘is going to hell in a handbasket”.

What possible harm could it do to accent the positive rather than negative? We are all free to take issue with things we perceive to be wrong or with which we disagree, but we must do so in a respectful manner, not as a ‘rant’ as is so evident in most of this fraudulent Stein article.

Unknown: Are you laughing yet?

Harold: No, I most certainly am not. I was born into a world in which we have been afforded opportunities beyond our wildest imagination. It is and has been a life about which many in the world could only dream. Most of us have two pairs of shoes; we have freedom and can practice the religion of our choice without fear of persecution. For myself, I love the people in my extended family as well people in general and I have people who love me in return. What more could I ask?

Author Unknown: Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it. no one will know you
did. But, if you discard this thought process, don’t
sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is
in.

Harold: I will forward this message as far as possible and I have no fear that anyone who knows me will think less of me for having done so.

Whoever crafted this message did so with a great deal of malice and, apparently, with the goal of sowing the seeds of dissent among people. I suppose in many ways that person has succeeded as this same message has been circulated far and wide at just before Christmas for the past six years.

What kind of person would surreptitiously build a message of despair and then use the names of relatively well-known persons to ensure the message gained widespread attention? That is nothing short of contemptible and we should, at the very least, attempt to correct this wrong by alerting others.

Harold McNeill

A few photos from Christmas in our Neighbourhood

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An upside of being a policeman was being afforded the opportunity to get the upper hand on some idiot who cared nothing about the effect his actions had on innocent people. It might be as simple as traffic violation but in many cases, it also involved more serious criminal events.

Perhaps you have at one time experienced the feeling of being screwed around by someone but there was not a damn thing you could do about it? How good it would have felt to turn the tables. Hollywood has made dozens of movies on the subject although most dealt with violent crimes where retribution was meted out by an ‘off the rails citizen’ as in Law Abiding Citizen, or by that ‘no rules apply’ policeman, Dirty Harry.

The case at hand in this story was much tamer but never-the-less a crime that caused considerable anguish for the victim. In this house burglary in south Oak Bay, the owners was away on holidays. The crime was discovered by a neighbor doing a perimter check and although we had no idea what might have been taken, in the master bedroom we noticed a mess on the floor as if a pile of soot had been scattered about¹.

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The woman’s eyes were filled with tears as she watched her husband’s body being wheeled away on the stretcher. With her life-long companion dead, the woman knew everything had changed and it was not until I spent a little time talking with her and comforting her, that I realized just how much her life would change.

In those early the years, when the Fire Department provided the only ambulance service in Oak Bay, the police always attended to assist as needed. On this day I was dispatched to the residence where an elderly man had been found in the back yard by his wife after he had collapsed while gardening. As it seemed certain the man was dead, I stayed at the residence to assist the woman, his wife, in contacting a family member or friend to come over and assist in her time of need.

The couple had been living in this upscale south Oak Bay home for several years, but when I inquired if a family member, friend or neighbour who could come over and assist, the woman said there was no one. She was correct, there was not one friend, neighbour or relative in the Victoria area the woman could call upon to help. On the wall I noted a family portrait with two young men and inquired if they were her son’s.  She stated there were and I learned both were professionals working back east, but had not visited home for several years. 

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Photo (Web):  Back in the 1960’s there were still plenty of homes in Oak Bay which could be dressed up like this. On this night I happened to pick one.

Have you ever dreamed you were drifting into a scene that might have been plucked straight from the pages of a Stephen King novel? In the dream you come face to face with a decaying, paint peeling mansion, blanketed in darkness; a cold wind is blowing and rain pelting down as you pick you way through the leafless, gnarled trees in a weed strewn garden. With each step you can’t dispel the feeling that death lurks in the darkness, but on this night you are given no choice but to enter that dark, forbidding place. Then, suddenly, the nightmare becomes reality.

With less than three months on the job, with very little training and working alone on night shift, I found myself climbing a set of stairs directly into the novel. Why was it that people often waited until the wee hours of the morning to call the police to check on the welfare of their loved ones?  In this case they hadn’t spoken to the woman for several weeks.

My Sergeant, the only other person on shift, was booked off downtown visiting his cronies in the Victoria Police Detective office.  Over the two months I had worked with this Sergeant, he often disappeared for hours on end and officers who worked with him were expected to pick up the slack. By now he and his friends likely well into an order of Chinese food while sharing a few drinks in some non-descript back room in Chinatown.

When I climbed from my cruiser, I could barely see the residence, perched high above Beach Drive about 500 feet back from the eastern banks of the boiling waters of McNeill Bay. As I surveyed the scene, spray from the giant breakers pounded against the seawall, flew across Beach Drive and onto the nearby homes.

The ‘South-Wester’, roaring with gale force off the Strait of Juan de Fuca and over Trial Island, also brought with it sheets of pounding rain. As I tooked at the long, brush-strewn, darkened stairs that stretched through the shadows toward the residence, I knew there could be nothing good at the other end. While I was not a particularly fearful man, this place sent tingles up my spine as I made my way up the moss covered steps with a flashlight in one hand and my dated Webley .38 in the other.

While climbing, I occasionally stopped to scan the darkness and listen, but could hear nothing beyond the howling of the wind and pelting of the rain. At the top, I found the veranda piled high with rain soaked newspapers, books and bags of garbage while somewhere around the corner a shutter was banging in the wind. I knocked hard and hollered, never expecting an answer. I tried the door, then pushed it open on rust crusted hinges.

Inside the stench of cat feces and urine was nearly overwhelming. It was place fit only for the walking dead as no person from the world in which I lived, could possibly find comfort in this place. Fortunately, it was early winter and had been near zero for several days, so the acrid smell was somewhat suppressed. It was not possible to imagine how badly this place might have smelled during the heat of summer.

After trying a several light switches, it was clear the power was off and while making my way across the living room, the hardwood creaked with every step. I stopped and stood frozen for a moment as I heard scurrying noises in the background. Scanning the room, my small flashlight captured the ragged outline an emaciated cat, running past a doorway. Cats I can handle, even emaciated ones, but rats are another case. I could only hope those poor, sickly looking cats had taken care of any rat that might have tried to invade into this decrepit house.

In the kitchen, over a dozen haggard felines scrounged inside the open cupboards among the dishes, pots, pans and open jars and tins that contained mold crusted scrapes of dried food particles. Many of the cats seemed near death and scanning the garbage strewn around the floor, it was clear a few had already succumbed. Those still living were willing to take whatever meager scrapes they could find and it seemed certain that someone, likely a very dead someone, must be in this house as no one would have deliberately walked away and left the cats to starve.

Photo From the Web: This scene is very similar to that in the house on Beach Drive. Over the years, this was not the only house found to be in such a desperate condition where an elderly woman lived with dozens of cats. 

After giving up on avoiding the feces, I went back to the living room where a narrow, winding staircase, lead to an upper floor. As I climbed, several pairs of eyes reflected back from the darkness below…perhaps they knew something that I did not.

On the way up I called out several times but never seriously expected anyone to answer. At the top and on approaching the first door along the hall, I paused only for a moment to listen, gave one last call, and then pushed it open with my foot. Holding my gun in one hand and flashlight in the other, I slowly scanned the room and although I expected the worst, it still startled me when my light illuminated a human arm hanging from the side of a bed.

On closer inspection, the arm was attached to the body of an elderly woman who apparently had died in her sleep. While there was no immediate evidence suggesting the death was anything other than natural, it was still an unsettling experience to be standing there in the darkness next to a dead body (my first on police call), while not having any backup and with no radio contact to the outside world.

As procedure required a Doctor attend to pronounce death before the body could be removed, I spent a few minutes searching for the phone, but finding none, retraced my steps from the house, down the stairs and back to my patrol car where I radioed the office telling the dispatcher to contact the duty doctor and to shake loose the Sergeant from his nighttime revelry. Thirty minutes later both the Doctor and a disgruntled Sergeant, arrived at the scene.

When the investigation was complete, photos taken and body removed, I made a quick trip downtown to Government and Fisgard to the only all night convenience store in the city, grabbed a bag of cat food and headed back to the residence. After dumping the full bag on the floor, I put out water and left those cats to finally taste something better than scraps on which they had existed over the past few weeks.

A few days later, the medical reports arrived and, as expected, listed the cause of death as natural, likely due to heart failure. It was also learned that while the woman was of considerable means, over the past several years she had absented herself from her family and friends, preferring instead the company of her cats. It seemed sad for this woman to die while all alone, but not likely as sad as a call I attended just a weeks later.

Harold

Link to Loneliness, Life’s Last Companion

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A few ways of looking at Burglar.

I. Background on the Suspect

Some people are not cut out to become successful criminals whether they be Bank Robbers or Wall Street traders. Why? Perhaps because a deeply ingrained sense of right and wrong overwhelms them when doing the things that must be done if they planned to become successful in their chosen trade. Such was the dilemma faced by Lawrence, the thirty-something, neer-do-well who, try as he may, could not bring himself to hurt an older lady who lived alone and who reminded him so much of his own mother.

Lawrence could never quite find a real purpose in life. Neither good nor really bad, the fact he was never able to find a job that suited him and never willing to put in more than the minimum effort to get by, he began with petty crime as that seemed to best suited to his lifestyle.  While some who followed the same path may have suffered from a debilitating and ongoing life challenge, Lawrence suffered from a lack of motivation.

From Lawrence’s point of view, if you could steal a meal, record, or tape, or some needed household supplies, why pay for it? Not ‘gonna’ hurt anyone is it?  How it all began, who knows, but over the years for many who travelled the same path, their lives often spiralled downward. Sometimes it was drugs, and when this was the case, the need often escalated into more brazen, and often dangerous, crimes. The outcome was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Shoplifting, to this point his most regular extracurricular from of employment, was seldom profitable enough to pay the rent. It was easy to steal stuff but when the street market value might be as little as ten cents on the dollar, it was tough to raise enough. It took a lot of stealing to make a buck and getting caught meant a trip to the police station, court dates and either fines or jail followed by probation.

With a list of petty crime convictions to his credit, he needed a more regular income. Then one evening over a toke, a friend suggested he try his hand at breaking and entering into private homes. It was easy to see that, for his friend anyway, it provided a much better payday. While Lawrence had concerns about getting into this line of work, he decided to give it a try.

2. The Crime

Now, on his sixth trip and as many break-ins in Saanich and Oak Bay, he was searching for his seventh. His foray into this new line of work actually provided a more regular source of saleable items than did shoplifting. One of his bigger challenges was not having a car so he usually travelled to distant parts of the area by bus as a taxi, even if he could afford it, did not seem like a good idea.

On this day, after getting off the bus near the Estevan Shopping Centre. he sauntered towards Beach Drive. Even though he had broken in six other homes over the past two weeks, that familiar pit in his stomach began to grow. He was just as nervous now as he was on that first trip and didn’t know if he could keep up the pace.  The only thing that kept him going was knowing that he would likely walk away with a pretty good haul.

Reaching Beach Drive near the Esplanade, he headed north towards Uplands Park, scanning houses while looking for those which suggested no one was home and that provided a bit of concealment from the prying eyes of neighbours. It was not difficult in North Oak Bay, as many of the lots were big and the homes well established with plenty of trees and shrubs.

Although he had not come close to being caught while in someone’s home, he was still apprehensive about the prospect and was not sure how he would react if confronted by the homeowner or police. He guessed he would run but, then again, his stomach was so upset who knows what might happen.

At that moment he was shaken from his reverie when he spotted a good possible nestled into Uplands Park a few properties south of Cattle Point. He walked to the front door and rang the bell with the plan that if someone answered, he would either ask for directions or inquire if the homeowner needed any work done around the house or garden. For daytime burglars, this was the normal routine.  Strangely, for Lawrence at least, he was not averse to washing a few windows or pulling some weeks in order to pick up a little extra cash. As it was a nice day, that might even help to settle his stomach.

However, after waiting for a time and ringing again, it seemed there was no one to put him to work as he had become pretty good a spotting unoccupied houses. A full mailbox, newspapers, parcels or flyers by the front door or on the porch, drapes pulled during the day or open and no lights on when getting dark. Not seeing a car in the driveway was not a reliable sign as many homeowners in these larger properties parked in their garage. There were dozens of smaller hints that every experienced burglar would soon learn. If the door was locked there might even be a key under the mat or in the mailbox.  The one thing that might be a deterrence was an alarm system but for an experienced burglar that was not necessarily the case.  Lawrence, on the other hand, was an amateur and an alarm would cause him to leave.

Photo from Web: Burglar prepares to pry window with his favourite tool, “Mr Crowbar”. Locked houses, even those with alarms, provided little defence against a burglar. The guy in this photo was obviously not concerned that window in the neighbouring house looked directly onto his job site.

When no one answered, Lawrence, moved around the house looking for an easy point of entry. Finding everything locked, he selected a well-hidden, low window that provided easy access to the kitchen, smashed the glass with a small pry bar he carried in his ample backpack, unlocked the hasp, pushed the window open and climbed in…

3. The Victim

The homeowner, Flora Johnson (a fictitious name), was now in her mid-eighties. She had been widowed a few months earlier and was still coming to terms with the loss of her husband of sixty years. To fill the days she often drove to the Monterey Seniors Centre for events or to play cards, have coffee and chat over the occasional lunch. Some days she did not return home until after 5:00 pm. and while she was never fearful of living along, she always took care to lock the doors and windows of her stylish single level home.

On returning home one day she sensed something was wrong the moment she entered the house. There was a blank spot on the hallway wall that was once filled by her late husband’s favourite oil painting. It only took a quick glance into the living room to note several other small paintings were also missing including a few painted by her late husband. As the initial shock subsided, Mrs Johnson remembered advice she had been given at a recent Neighbourhood Watch meeting – leave the house, get to a phone and call the police.  She left and went next door to phone the police.

Within minutes two officers arrived, quickly determined the burglar was no longer in the house and began the investigation. The point of entry was noted and an identification officer called to dust for fingerprints and secure other physical evidence. After compiling a list of the stolen paintings the officers circulated it around the city in hopes that someone might phone in a tip.

The modus operandi (MO) of this daytime burglary was similar to half dozen others that had taken place over the past couple of weeks, but as of yet no leads had been developed in Saanich or Oak, and the files reassigned to the Detective Office.

4. The Police close in

Three days after this latest burglary, Detective-Sergeant Fowler and Detective McNeill attended the residence after Mrs Johnson reported receiving a phone call from a “nice young man” telling her he had her paintings and wanted to return them. There was a catch – the man wondered if there was might be a ‘reward’ for returning them.

The woman was skeptical about the call as the story of the theft had appeared in the Oak Bay Star and other papers. It had also been mentioned briefly on the TV news. Photos of one of the paintings had also been widely circulated. She told the man to call her back later as she had company and did not want to discuss the matter while they were present. The man agreed and on hanging up she immediately phoned the police.

When Fowler and McNeill arrived, a tape recorder was attached to her phone and Mrs Johnson was coached as to the general arrangements. “Ask the man to describe each of the paintings and if it appeared they were hers, tell him to bring them to her house as it was hard for her to get around. Let him bring up the subject of the reward and when he did, ask him how much…” were just a few of the suggestions.  This woman was an amazingly quick study and we had no doubt she would ask the questions no matter which way the call went.

An hour later the phone rang, it was the suspect, so the discussion began. The woman was calm, collected and very astute with her questions and answers. She never gave the slightest hint of the police being present and was able to lead the man along with considerable ease. The culprit described the paintings in detail and told the woman a $2500 reward would be in nice. Naturally, the caller did not want a cheque and he agreed he would bring the paintings to her home the next morning at around 10:00 am.  Mrs Johnson arranged with a friend to bring her the money after telling them what was happening.  The woman was amazing and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the change of pace in her life.  She would certainly have some stories to tell if all went well.

In preparation for the next day, Fowler enlisted the aid of the CLEU (Co-ordinated Law Enforcement) whose office was nearby on Cadboro Bay Road in the Willo-o-way shopping centre. They agreed to provide two or three unmarked units to cover the area in order to watch for the arrival of the suspect. The detectives had no idea how the suspect might be travelling, whether he might have accomplices or whether he might be dangerous. His voice on the tape suggested he was younger, was nervous and yet sounded as if he was really concerned about the victim getting her paintings back. He did not sound the least bit dangerous on the phone.

The next morning, and well before the exchange was to take place, Fowler and McNeill entered the house to make sure Mrs Johnson was prepared and to go over the last minute instructions. For the detectives, the safety of the woman was their first order of business and then, if all was going well, to affect an arrest if the paintings were turned over.

If an immediate arrest was the best path, a few alternatives were considered – if there were no paintings but sufficient evidence of a shakedown, the suspect would be arrested. Alternatively, if it appeared the suspect had stashed the paintings at another location, and depending on how the conversation went, he might be allowed leave and the CLEU teams would keep him under surveillance.  In any event, no matter which route the man took, he was walking into a heap of trouble and was clearly headed for jail sooner or later.

Just before the appointed time, the surveillance team reported a lone male walking north on Beach Drive from Estevan Ave. The suspect was carrying a large bag that could well be the paintings. He also seemed nervous and was clearly out of place in this area of affluence. It was assumed he must have travelled to the area either by transit (getting off somewhere around Estevan Ave.) or, perhaps, had parked a car some distance away.  We still could not rule out others being involved and waiting in a car on some side street.

While Mrs Johnson was nervous, she never once hesitated to meet with the suspect. The doorbell rang and on answering, the young man was polite and respectful of the older woman. He introduced himself and stated he had her paintings and it was clear the voice was the same as the caller of the previous day.  As pre-arranged, the woman invited the man into the living room where he displayed the paintings by carefully leaning them against a chesterfield and a few chairs. Sgt. Fowler and I maintained a listening post just around the corner and had our weapons at ready. We were also recording the event for ‘posterity’.  (Note: No, Mrs Johnson did not have a Munch, I just borrowed a copy from the Web and I’ll return it someday)

The young man apologized for the inconvenience he had caused the woman but made no statement suggesting he had been the burglar.  After the victim agreed all paintings were present, the man asked about the ‘reward’ at which point the woman presented him with twenty-five, crisp, one hundred dollar bills which she carefully counted for the benefit of the tape. This was one very cool lady.

5. The Arrest

When the suspect took possession of the money, Fowler and McNeill entered the room and with their guns pointed at the man, stepped between him and Mrs Johnson and ordered him to put up his hands in the air. The scene was almost comical as when the man lifted his arms high he was holding about half of the $100 bills in each hand. The look of shock on his face will long be etched in my mind. We handcuffed, searched and bundled him off to the police car while another officer remained with the victim to tidy up things at the scene and take photos of the pictures and the setting.

At the office, the suspect readily identified himself and it soon became clear he was not a hardened criminal. In fact, he seemed genuinely remorseful for all the trouble he had caused. He carefully explained that he had run into some hard times after he had lost his job and could not seem to land another. He then explained how his bills were piling up and he started shoplifting to make ends meet and how he slowly graduated to the occasional break-in including this one in which he took the paintings.  Most of his ill-gotten goods ended up at various pawn shops but had used one pawn shop in particular, a Fort Street business where the owner was known to be a shady character who never asked any questions and was more than willing to take property that was obviously stolen.¹

Lawrence told us that a couple of days after the break-in he had read a news story about some of the missing paintings having been family treasures and how the owner was very upset about there having been stolen.  After thinking it over, he decided to return the paintings and to instead seek a ‘reward’.

After concluding our initial interview, Lawrence took us to his apartment near the Tillicum Mall where he pointed out numerous items that had been stolen over the past weeks and months.  Most were small items shoplifted from stores in various malls and of a type that would be difficult to identify (e.g. kitchen utensils, pots, pans, bowels, towels, linens, knickknacks, bathroom supplies, etc.). It was rather touching how he had comfortably outfitted his entire apartment almost entirely with stolen property he had picked up a garage sales.

The detectives boxed up everything, arranged for a truck to pick it up and returned the lot to the police storage locker where it remained until after the court case was concluded. Lawrence opted to plead guilty to all charges so the officers had little contact with him after the original investigation.  All identifiable property was returned to various owners but the property which Lawrence said had been sold at the Fort Street Pawn Shop was never recovered. For all the items that could not be identified, Lawrence signed a release and it was turned over to Goodwill Enterprises. The case then faded into history.²

Footnotes

(1) Several years later, Detective Sergeant Pittam and McNeill had a run-in with the owner of the Fort Street shop after several major silverware burglaries in North Oak Bay as well as parts of Esquimalt. Much of the property in those high profile cases was never recovered but the case was particularly interesting in that it involved major criminal from the United States who periodically visited British Columbia for a little R&R and, of course, to pick up a little extra travel cash.  It was his Florida Penitentiary ID Card that eventually led to his downfall.

(2) Three years after the Beach Drive burglary, McNeill was reading the Times Colonist Want Ads while looking for farm supplies as he and his wife Lynn had a small farm in West Saanich off Interurban Road). In the paper, he when came across an interesting item at a farm sale they could put to good use. The couple popped over and, low and behold, the young man who greeted us was no other than Lawrence.

The McNeill’s chatted about his life since we had last met on Beach Drive and he told us that after spending several months in prison, he decided to make a clean break from a life of crime and was now learning the saddler trade. He harboured not an ounce of resentment as his life had been turned around and he seemed to be doing well.  Whether Lawrence was able to continue following the straight and narrow is not known.

Note: Fictitious names were used for both the victim and the suspect.

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“To the top of the world to the top of the wall, fly away, fly away, fly away all.”  (Modified from the verse “Two Little Dickey Birds” that accompanied a sleight of hand trick taught to us by our mother). The verse sums up the brief tour Lynn and I made to Switzerland and our visit with the Hanggi family. The next three posts describe that incredible visit.

Above Photo:  A Rose Frozen in Time, an Ice Sculpture original by Bruno Hanggi

From the moment we arrived in Interlaken to the moment of departure, we were hosted in grand style by Hanggi Family – Bruno, Nicole and their daughter, Sandra.

Our connection to the Hanggi family came through their other daughter, Claudia, a delightful young woman who worked for BC Soccer in Vancouver, during my terms as a member of the BCSA Board of Directors. Claudia spoke lovingly of her mom, dad and sister and told Lynn and me that if ever we touched foot in Switzerland (which she insisted we must), a visit with her parents and sister was the order of the day. Now, when Claudia told someone, even a board member, to do something, it was as good as done.  Of course, in our travels, we did as she directed and the week spent with the Hanggi family was a week we shall long remember.

Photo (2010): We caught up with Claudia (and her friend) by the Winter Olympics Skelton Track in Whistler.

At our stop in Interlauken and on first meeting Bruno, his words of greeting were: “Claudia told me to meet you, and she told me I had better show you a good time! Now, I always listen to Claudia because, if I don’t, I know I will never hear the end of it…” It is safe to say that Bruno and I were on the same page in that regard, and so began our friendship with the Swiss Family Hanggi.

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Welcome to the McNeill Life Stories Blog

Most of the Photo Albums Linked to a story appear on the
McNeill Life Stories Facebook Page
LINK HERE

Above Photo Taken July 2008. Laura Skarsen (McNeill) (Wheeler) surrounded by her immediate family at her 90th birthday party that was held in Cold Lake, Alberta.

Back Row (L to R): Jin An (partially hidden) and Lorin Yochim, Sean McNeill, Mark Yochim, Greg and Merle Yochim, Frank Yochim (standing behind Merle), Stephen Yochim and Pam Dong Yochim, Charlene Yochim, Krista Miron-Rabideaux (McNeill) and friend, Candice Yochim.

Second Row (L to R): Ed Walker (holding Grayson) and Kari Walker (McNeill), Jesse Rabidoux (partially hidden behind Grayson), Christine McNeill, Jay McNeill, Louise Yochim (McNeill), Skyler Yochim, Dianne McNeill, Shawna Buenaventura (Yochim), Lynn McNeill (Davis) and Harold McNeill, Karena Yochim, Stephanie Yochim, Jamie Yochim, Laura Skarsen (McNeill) (Wheeler), Ashley Price and Luna, Kelsey Yochim and Landon, Cassandra Rabidoux, Brooke Buenaventura.

Front Row (L to R): Amy Rabidoux, Sydney Buenaventura, Carmen Yochim, Connor Schumacker, Francis Buenaventura and Brody.

Not Present: Michel Payeur (work commitments) and Kaiya McNeill-Payeur (traveling Europe).

Development of the Blog

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