Road Rage and the Church
Jun. 19th, 2007 07:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
merchimerchhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070619/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_road_rage
I found this article and thought of a discussion![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
happykitten, serestriel and I were having about road rage, and my later discussion with happykitten about trying to bring compassion and forgiveness to other drivers into my effort to reduce stress levels.
The article is very interesting, and the highlight is the ten commandments of driving listed below, and also the idea that the vatican advocates saying the rosary and making the sign of the cross before beginning their trip. This recommendation reminded me so much of the people in UZ I knew who always said their "bismillah" before starting their car. I think it was as much a prayer for the car to start as for a safe journey (and the safety of the journey is as much an issue of the car if you're driving an old zhiguli as worrying about the other folks on the road).
I'm glad we as a society are starting to address this, and am shocked and mildly entertained to agree with the Vatican on this one. (It might be the first time that I've ever agreed with the pope.) Also, the Vatican isn't the only religious organization to address this; my pastor at North Hollywood United Methodist had an aside about road rage and the different personalities people enact on the road during one of his recent sermons. He noted that people feel as if being in their cars gives them permission to act angrily and cruelly (he also noted that he's not exempt from that). I wonder if the car and ensuing road rage is a metaphor for the isolation endemic to the modern condition. If the goal of spirituality (Xtian and otherwise) is to build community in flesh and in faith, it's probably a good move that they are addressing driving and how to transform it into a community building experience. Probably an effort in vain, as I just don't see the bulk of humanity enacting compassion and generosity on busy, traffic-clogged roads. Then again, if it does encourage even a few more courteous drivers, well AMEN!
Also, I am reminded that in the small towns that I grew up in, courtesy on the road was the rule with very few exceptions. People were always stopping/yielding to let others go ahead. I wonder if this is because driving around small towns you ASSUME that you're going to be sharing the road with people you know (and are invested in, and with whom there will be consequences if you act selfishly). What would it be like to drive around LA assuming that someone I know is in many of the other cars? I would probably feel a lot more comfortable yielding, and embarrassed about cutting someone off. Perhaps the wider call of the Vatican and others who address road rage, is really a call to feel more of a connection to humanity, even to those people we don't know.
Anyhow, below are those 10 driving commandments:
1. You shall not kill.
2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
7. Support the families of accident victims.
8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
10. Feel responsible toward others.
I found this article and thought of a discussion
happykitten, serestriel and I were having about road rage, and my later discussion with happykitten about trying to bring compassion and forgiveness to other drivers into my effort to reduce stress levels.The article is very interesting, and the highlight is the ten commandments of driving listed below, and also the idea that the vatican advocates saying the rosary and making the sign of the cross before beginning their trip. This recommendation reminded me so much of the people in UZ I knew who always said their "bismillah" before starting their car. I think it was as much a prayer for the car to start as for a safe journey (and the safety of the journey is as much an issue of the car if you're driving an old zhiguli as worrying about the other folks on the road).
I'm glad we as a society are starting to address this, and am shocked and mildly entertained to agree with the Vatican on this one. (It might be the first time that I've ever agreed with the pope.) Also, the Vatican isn't the only religious organization to address this; my pastor at North Hollywood United Methodist had an aside about road rage and the different personalities people enact on the road during one of his recent sermons. He noted that people feel as if being in their cars gives them permission to act angrily and cruelly (he also noted that he's not exempt from that). I wonder if the car and ensuing road rage is a metaphor for the isolation endemic to the modern condition. If the goal of spirituality (Xtian and otherwise) is to build community in flesh and in faith, it's probably a good move that they are addressing driving and how to transform it into a community building experience. Probably an effort in vain, as I just don't see the bulk of humanity enacting compassion and generosity on busy, traffic-clogged roads. Then again, if it does encourage even a few more courteous drivers, well AMEN!
Also, I am reminded that in the small towns that I grew up in, courtesy on the road was the rule with very few exceptions. People were always stopping/yielding to let others go ahead. I wonder if this is because driving around small towns you ASSUME that you're going to be sharing the road with people you know (and are invested in, and with whom there will be consequences if you act selfishly). What would it be like to drive around LA assuming that someone I know is in many of the other cars? I would probably feel a lot more comfortable yielding, and embarrassed about cutting someone off. Perhaps the wider call of the Vatican and others who address road rage, is really a call to feel more of a connection to humanity, even to those people we don't know.
Anyhow, below are those 10 driving commandments:
1. You shall not kill.
2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
7. Support the families of accident victims.
8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
10. Feel responsible toward others.
