Towering Arrogance?

For more than three decades the CN Tower stood as a record-holder, an iconic structure that came to represent not only Toronto but also to a great extent the nation of Canada. Along with the more practical benefits for building the tower, such as improving communications and television signals, the structure was built to put Toronto "on the map." For 57 million Canadian dollars, CN Railways (Canadian National Railways) intended it to be a landmark demonstrating a great achievement for Canadian industry and setting the city apart from its neighbouring cities across the border.

Recognisable around the world, it is seen as one of the great engineering achievements of Western society and was declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World (CNTower.ca). Constructed primarily from 40,500 cubic meters of poured concrete, which had to be poured continuously for almost a year by a team of 1,537 construction workers, it also contains 998 kilometers (or 620 miles) of post-tensioned steel and 4,535 metric tons (5,000 tons) of reinforcing steel.

In the same year the tower was superseded by the Burj, engineers installed an LED lighting system running up its full length, including its antennae. Each night, as the sun sets, the tower lights up paying tribute to Canada's colours. Throughout the year, its lighting changes to recognise "citywide events, charitable events and causes, seasons and special holidays and a special program to honour repatriated Canadian soldiers" (ibid.).

Towering Pride?

It has been said that the tower is a symbol of pride for Toronto residents and all Canadians, so many thought it fitting for the city to use the nation's iconic symbol to be lit in rainbow colours each year celebrating Toronto's Gay Pride Week.

The CN Tower is not alone in such display. Structures across North America also light up with rainbow colours in celebration of homosexual pride. From the White House, to the Empire State Building, to Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World, historic and cultural landmarks are used to show support and solidarity in Western society's promotion of the LGBT agenda. This year in Toronto, a new milestone will be heralded as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joins the city's "Gay Pride" parade. Sitting front and centre along with Mr. Trudeau will be homosexual Syrian refugees recently welcomed to Canada as part of the event's focus on the "queerness of Middle Eastern cultures" (Arshy Mann, "Justin Trudeau to be first prime minister to attend Pride Toronto," DailyXtra.com, December 17, 2015).

Western advances in industry—as demonstrated by the awe-inspiring, engineering marvel in structures like the CN Tower—now sit in the shadows of towering achievements from the Middle East. Towering over the Burj, Saudi Arabia's planned Jeddah Tower is set to be at least 1,000 metres (3,281 feet) high, soaring in an almost perfect juxtaposition to the tumbling morality of nations like Canada, which at one time struggled to uphold the core values found in your Bible. How poignant it is for Bible-believing Canadians when they see their nation's iconic structure, built to put a city on the map and identify a nation, now being used to promote a way of life contrary to the God who blessed this nation.

Tower of Shame?

In Genesis 11 we read about the construction of another tower in the Middle East. "And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth"' (Genesis 11:4). In the land of Shinar, located in modern day Iraq, the first kingdom recorded in the Bible set about to construct a city and a tower, as it says, in order to "make a name for ourselves." Led by Nimrod, whose name can literally be translated "to rebel," this kingdom sought to create a society contrary to God's law, to literally supersede His authority with their vain attempts of constructing a city and tower which would reach up to the heavens. Dr. Douglas S. Winnail wrote an informative, thought-provoking article on Babel and Europe's parallels in the July-August 2003 issue of Tomorrow's World, titled "Europe: A Modern Tower of Babel"—especially relevant today with recent events transpiring in Europe.

What has been recorded for our benefit is the result of Babel's construction. God intervened and said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech" (Genesis 11:6-–7). A people of one mind or purpose, whose desire was contrary to God and whose language was confused, bears striking similarities to the corruption, pride, vanity and nonsensical sociopolitical dialogue we see permeating Canada and Western society as a whole.

As the city of Toronto grew vertically with numerous skyscrapers and high-rise condominiums, the obvious side effect was a disruption to radio and television communications. The original intent behind the CN Tower was one of practicality; it allowed for some of the highest quality television set receptions in North America. However, the Tower's purpose since its early construction has been corrupted. It now primarily stands to support and promote social engineering rather than acting solely as the engineering marvel it was intended to be. We are instructed by our Creator to "Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1) and as theTower of Babel sought to reach to the heavens, so does the sin of our nation's cities and mankind as a whole. Instead of simply standing in awe of these structures, we should let the misuse of our landmarks serve as a national warning, "for her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities" (Revelation 18:4–5).