The following story is part of a new feature, the serialization of our columnist Wayne Weedon’s fictional work, Our Democracy. Wayne is a brilliant writer whose style consists of simple declarative statements that stick in your mind as he leads you through an intricate web of circumstances to reach the lesson he set out to teach.
Chapter 2: Conflict and compromise
After my chat with Pops, I couldn’t sleep. Lying in bed, I kept going over our conversation. I couldn’t help but wonder how a simple thing like wearing my baseball cap in class could turn into such a complicated conversation on religion. It’s funny, I always assumed Pops and my mom were religious. After all, we did celebrate Christmas and Easter. Pops had an answer for that too. He told me that these holidays were originally Pagan holidays and Pagans never believed in God, Heaven nor Hell. Pops stated that he liked buying gifts and having parties and these holidays gave him an opportunity to participate in what he liked. My whole world seemed to be falling apart. I didn’t even know what I believed in anymore. Did I ever believe in anything?
The next day at breakfast, I asked Pops about laziness, “You said yesterday, that one reason people believed in God was because they were lazy. What did you mean?”
“It takes work and effort to go through life trying to do your best; trying to set your plans and goals and figuring out what you want to achieve in life. Religious people, for the most part, go to their religion to tell them what to do. Part of the reason is they are too lazy to become fully informed, but another reason is, they are afraid they might be making a mistake if they decide things for themselves. They use religion as their scapegoat.”
Now I was really puzzled. Didn’t religion just tell you what was right and wrong; what was a sin and what wasn’t? I posed this question to Pops, “Well, how would you know what’s right and wrong if you never had religion?”
Pops didn’t even hesitate before answering, “That’s an easy one. It’s called evolution. Part of evolution is trial and error, action, and reaction. We do things and watch the results of our actions. If our actions are beneficial, we repeat them, and if they do harm, we do something else the next time. It’s as simple as that.”
“Aren’t there any rules?”
“Yes, there are rules. These are Laws of Nature, just like the law of gravity.”
“Is that all there is?”
“Certainly.”
“Other than gravity, can you give me an example of one of these Laws of Nature?”
“What one sows, one reaps. One becomes what one thinks about. All things are created in one’s mind before they are created in real life. These are all natural laws that we learn. If we teach these laws to our children, they will have a head start in life and probably do better than us. That’s evolution.”
“But religion teaches all that!”
“Not necessarily, but religion does teach people not to think, but to follow dictates from someone who lived hundreds or thousands of years ago, and, in many cases, these lawgivers never lived at all, they were just made up. If people do not think, they will never improve. They will not evolve, and evolution will cease. Don’t do something just because a prophet, a god, or some kind of spiritual advisor tells you to. Think for yourself. You will make some mistakes; but that is the only way you will learn.”
I found this all very scary, just thinking about the monumental decisions that I must make in life. What if I make mistakes that I’m sorry for? I voiced my concerns to Pops, “What if I make some serious mistakes?”
“That is why you prepare yourself. Before making any decision, people must learn as much about the subject as they possibly can. Take marriage for example. Most people think very little about what kind of person they wish to marry. They go by physical attraction and often they make a mistake.”
“That’s what I mean. Some people have arranged marriages. Wouldn’t it be better if some wiser person, you for example, would pick out my wife?”
“Of course not. You would learn nothing. You should decide what to do and then live with it. That is what satisfaction in life is all about. When you learn from your mistakes and your decisions become easier for you, and you make more and more wise choices, you will find such satisfaction that you will not find any other way. Making choices and finding happiness and contentment from your choices; that is heaven on earth. There is no greater contentment and feeling of joy.”
“It’s still very scary.”
“I’m not saying that you should not seek advice in making choices. I encourage you to go to wise people, discuss things with them, let them help and guide you. But I warn you, the final decision must be yours. Don’t look for a scapegoat to blame poor choices on.”
As he promised, Pops took me to the next meeting of the school board. We sat through a lot of boring talk before, finally, Pops was allowed to make his presentation. He rose from his chair and he stood straight and tall while surveying everyone in the room before he began his presentation.
“Mr. Chairman, board members, and fellow citizens. I come to speak on a matter that some of you might find frivolous. I assure you; this matter is not frivolous; for it is about our basic rights and freedoms, about equality for all, and our individual rights of choice.”
Pops paused and scanned the room before getting to the point, “Miss Styles has made a rule in her class. That rule is, no boy shall cover his head while in her classroom. That is all very well and proper. However, she has made an exception to this rule, and I suggest that any law that has one exception, becomes null and void. We live in a society that professes that we are all equal, and we must all follow laws equally with nobody getting preferential treatment.”
Again, Pops paused, allowing everyone to digest what he said before continuing, “Miss Styles made this exception because of religious beliefs. This, in my opinion, is not valid. I suggest that the person in question does not have a religion. He has not reached the age of majority, and, under law, he is not old enough and experienced enough to make such a choice.”
At this point a member of the audience jumped up and tried to intervene, shouting, “That’s ridiculous, stupid, and blasphemous.”
Pops was nonplussed. He looked the chairman straight in the eye and calmly stated, “That person is out of order. I am standing. I have the floor, and I have the right to speak uninterrupted. If that person wishes to contradict me, he must wait his turn.”
The chairman struck his gavel loudly, “Mr. Ducharme was placed on the agenda, and he is correct; while he stands, he has the right to speak freely, and the audience must listen quietly.”
The person in question sat down and Pops continued, “I have made a study of the alleged religious ritual of covering one’s head and I found the following: A past guru, apparently stated, one’s hair should not be cut. However, covering the head is optional for both males and females. Covering one’s head is not a religious practice but a personal choice.”
Another man jumped up and tried to intervene, shouting an obscenity at Pops. The chairman ordered that person out of the room. A few other people jumped to their feet and started shouting. Pops just silently stood, waiting for things to subside. Eventually, with much pounding of the gavel, people quietened down, and the chairman asked Pops to resume.
“Courts have ruled, laws of the land take precedence over religion. For example, I quote from The Holy Bible, ‘For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death:’ That quote is from Leviticus, Chapter 20, Verse 9. God has ordered that people who curse their parents shall be executed. However, Canadian law overules this. This is just one example of dozens, that I am able to quote where Canadian law takes precedence over religious law. Another example, adulteress women are no longer stoned to death; at least not in Canada. In the case being discussed this evening, Miss Styles made a rule. I suggest that, according to past practice, her rule should take precedence over any rule based on religion.”
At this point Pops sat down, and, as he did, many hands shot up as people demanded to be heard. However, they were not allowed to speak. The chairman stated that the meeting was in overtime, and he asked for a motion to adjourn. He stated, any rebuttal would be attended to at the next scheduled meeting. If anyone wishes to speak, they must ask, ahead of the meeting, to be placed on the agenda. The crowd was in an uproar. Pops suggested that we wait for things to calm down before we left. When we did leave, people were waiting at the door. Some of them made threats to Pops who just peacefully moved through them.
When we arrived home, Pops and I discussed the meeting. He described how, “We walked calmly away, just like Ghandi. The only way to handle violence is with calm composure.”
The following week, Miss Styles announced to the class that the rule about wearing hats was now rescinded. We could do what we wish. When I told this to Pops, he asked me if I was continuing to wear my baseball cap in class. I told him that I wasn’t. I admitted to him, I no longer felt comfortable sitting indoors with a hat on.
The End
To be continued next month
Pregnant and deserted by her lover, a young girl moves in with her grandfather. When the baby boy is born, the grandfather agrees to look after him so his granddaughter can go to work. Despite the age difference, the relationship between the boy and his great-grandfather was more like two siblings than that of an adult and child. As this boy grew into a young man, he loved to look back and tell stories about his great-grandfather, whom he always called “Pops”. Chapter 1 of this story was in the October 2023 issue of Lifestyles 55+ magazine.
