Halloween is almost upon us. Such a fun excuse to dress up as something or someone else for tricks and treats. I’m so blessed to be able to experience this day through my grandchildren now. Oh, I know adults can dress up too and party, party, party. But you can’t beat the anticipation of a child during this “holiday”.

My grandson will be a ninja for Halloween this year. In fact he has actually stated that he wants to be a ninja when he grows up! Not impossible these days when you consider that he can start karate classes at his age of five. But honestly I think Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers have more influence over this decision than any career ninja he’s met in his short life. I personally acquired my first degree black belt at the age of forty. It takes a lot of determination to get that far!

Occasionally I will make an off handed remark to someone that I have ninja skills. This happens usually when someone doesn’t realize I’m near them or when I unsuspectingly respond to a person’s body language. What are those skills? I believe they are quite similar to my black belt skills which reflect a redirected proactive defense approach to life rather than a direct attack method. All ninjas know how to attack, but good ninjas know that you should never try to put yourself in a situation where an attack is necessary. Awareness of your surroundings, of the people around you, and of your own training is the best test of the stealth needed to overtake any precarious situation. The good ninja prepares and practices these awareness skills constantly.

Are there bad ninjas out there? Certainly! I’m watching them now destroying the streets and buildings of France. These “ninjas” believe that the governing bureaucracy is against them and they attack their own surroundings as if it is their duty to all citizens. They have been stealthily organizing to make their strike! They are aware of the system vulnerabilities initiated by the undisciplined bureaucratic processes. The chaos these bad ninjas unleashed will be difficult for the good ninjas to overcome…Unless the good ninjas are fully aware of their fundamental training skills. All the tools exist in the Western Pillars and Cultural Values of:

• Individualism and Autonomy: Emphasis on individual rights, personal liberty, and moral accountability over collective conformity.
• Reason and Rational Inquiry: Reliance on logical argumentation, empirical evidence, and critical thinking to derive ethical rules.
• Universalism: The belief that fundamental ethical standards and human rights apply equally to all rational or human beings.
• Rule of Law: The principle that laws should govern society through a constitutional framework rather than the arbitrary will of leaders.
• Social Contract Theory: The idea—explored by thinkers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau—that legitimate moral and political rules arise from an implicit agreement among individuals to form a peaceful society.

The bad ninjas who are acting out on the streets of France absolutely hate Western cultural norms, but these norms are what keep a free society from devolving into tyranny. We all must be good ninjas in these times of chaos and practice our Western cultural norms constantly against any bad ninja behavior. Not unlike the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fighting against the evil Shredder and heeding the advice of their beloved Splinter.

May we all grow up to be good ninjas 😉