RELIGION A CRUTCH

I cannot let George Eckenfelder's letter of Aug. 20 ("Facing life") go
without protest. He attacks Jody Paterson's column on the provincial
drug war by isolating part of a single sentence, while ignoring all
her other points.

His interpretation of her message was, "People no longer have the guts
to face life as it is handed out to them. They can no longer, through
their willpower and through their internal resources of character and
courage, beat the challenges of life without a crutch."

He goes on to blame his interpretation of today's "hedonistic
doctrines."

But not to fear. Eckenfelder has a solution for Jody and all weak and
hedonistic folks out in the world who are using drugs to get through
their days. Drop into a Christian assembly some time.

I hate to break it to George, but humans have been using crutches fir
much longer than the course of our "hedonistic" lives.

Crutches and human existence go hand in hand. Beer is a drug that was
used in the early Egyptian societies. Greek, Roman, Asian, Germanic,
and Jewish cultures all made wines. Early North, Central and South
American cultures used drugs like peyote, magic mushrooms, coca leaves
and cannabis.

But all these drugs pale beside the greatest and most pervasive opiate
of all times: organized religions. Talk about a crutch. These drugs
encourage the opposite of the use of internal willpower and courage,
they teach that all choices can be handed over to a higher authority,
that obedience is key.

I don't use illegal drugs, George, don't like 'em. But I sure
wouldn't make a fool of myself by judging the folks who do as
hedonistic, rather than tragic and desperate people who made mistakes
and wished they hadn't.

And I'll take a pass on that assembly. I make my own
choices.

Jean McLeod,
Victoria