I have no desire to offend a soul in this rant. However something happened today which raised my ire and I have to write it.
First let me say that I am a strong believer in tradition and belief. I am far from being a despiser of a faith in a greater being than ourselves who has some power over our existance. I was raised a Christian and substantially still follow my faith on a one-to-one basis of relationship with my maker. I love some religious observances, I love spiritual places (which are certainly not just found in churches). I am fascinated by the observances and beliefs of others and to some degree critical of much of the man-made dogma which seems to surround all religious faith groups. I keep myself outside of dogma.
This rant involves people of the Jewish faith, but do not let that raise and red flags. As you read this you will see that it doesn't matter to which faith block they belong.
Tonight my almost 18 year old son came home from school. He has been visiting various post secondary institutions to get a feel for them and for the programs they offer. He has been heavily encouraged and assisted and guided at home to ensure that he has a selection of reserves and can pick a path for himself.
Tonight he said to me "Dad, you know how you have been helping me to get out to these post-secondary functions to figure out what I want to do and where to do it? Well one of my friends at school is doing the same thing and tonight he needs to attend a local presentation by some Quebec-based University. His parents are Jewish and because its Passover they cannot leave their house to take him and they are asking me if, as I have a driver's license, I could take him. Its out in West Vancouver (far side of the inlet then a long way west). They are saying I could drive their car...."
Well..........my back went up immediately and I needed to work out why, so we had a conversation which started out with "You have only just got your driver's license and it makes me nervous enough when you head out into traffic in our car, let alone someone elses that you are not familiar with and have not driven before, so No, that is not going to happen.
Then out came the story that "He cannot go by bus because he won't be able to get home; the buses don't run out there after 8pm." To this my only reply was "and this is therefore your problem.....why?"
Next came a discussion that my son is days away from his International Baccalaureat and Provincial exams to graduate High School, and needs every minute to study, uninterrupted, at this time. The other lad is apparently a "brain" and a "nerd" and doesn't need to study to guarantee a good performance. Again I tried to point out that my son's exam success is more important than being someone's taxi-driver.
The next discussion was part of the other parent's well laid plans. "well if you don't want me to drive their car they have offered to "pay for gas" if I drive our car" !! I see, I thought to myself...suddenly finding that we are now involved in getting their son to his post-graduate information session. I have NO clue who this family is, by the way.
It was at this point that I brought up the subject of abjectly stupid religion. If this parental couple care about their son's further education, then surely for this one time abberation they could alter their observances and look after his needs without inconveniencing someone else? The night slashers of 2011 probably wouldn't be hunting for them if they showed their faces outside this evening. It also dawned on me that if they are so devoutly religious, then why is their son being allowed out to attend something his parents do not consider vital or worthy of supporting? Then I thought... Taxi?
There is a hugely hippocritical double standard here being applied to the life and standards of this young man's formation and expanded by the inconvenience, at a bad time, of innocent bystanders.
My son is a generous kid. He understood all my points and said he realised that they were all very good points, but knowing that his friend really wants to find out about this Quebec based University, he thought he may be able to help him out and wanted to do so. That, as I told him, is an admirable thing and cannot be argued with, but I wanted him to be aware of the construct under which this has grown, and to reason through it and recognise the hippocracy of the entire thing. I hope that he also will have the guts to discuss this with his friend. I certainly intend to take it up with the other boy's parents.
So, based on his final words about helping out a friend, which at the end of the day is the only real and valid issue here for me, we got the address of the location, entered it into the GPS so that he can drive in this totally unknown area to him and find his way home easily in the dark. We set it up in the car and asked him to call on arrival and again before leaving. I am still waiting for the arrival call.
The lesson here is don't use people and don't be so slavish to the formalities of your religion that they bind you into a state of servile uselessness. Be responsible.
I hope we have dealt with this lesson responsibly.
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