LESSONS FROM FATHER
A man and his young son are out early in the morning on a journey that they both hope will be enjoyable and the father especially hopes it will be informative and bonding. The father speaks to his son...
Isn't it wonderful, son, to be out in the woods together? I hope you learn from me. This is a marvelous way for us to get to know each other, and I can teach you some of life's lessons. I want you to know how much I love you. And I want you to know that I want you to learn from my example.
OK, take out the rifle I bought you for Christmas. You have had lessons on how to handle it. Load up, set the sight, and now we can sit here quietly next to each other and wait.
The deer will show up. They don't have to be close. We can kill a buck or doe from a long, long distance.
[a medium size deer appears hundreds of yards away in the woods, walking slowly, timidly toward the hidden father and son, it is obviously frightened, having heard the distant noise of gunfire, it stops to bend down and push some snow away and eat some of the grass underneath, occasionally stopping, looking up, looking around, sensing danger, just wanting to have a peaceful life in its own habitat]
Look, son, over there. A deer. He doesn't know we are here. Take up your rifle. Get it in your telescopic sight. Squeeze the trigger slowly. Oh, that's it! I am so pround of you. That deer is dead! You shot him! I am so pround of you!
[And so a lesson is learned. A boy knows what his father wants. He follows his example. He will connect fatherly pride and "honor" with a high-powered rifle that shot an innocent animal from a long distance. An innocent animal? So what? Under some circumstances it is OK for me to kill something innocent. It is fun. It is enjoyable. It is bonding. It is a source of pride. It will stay with me for my entire lifetime. A gun is a source of honor, of pride, of enjoyment, of exhibiting my manhood, pleasing my father, and putting aside that it was a timid, innocent animal in its own home territory. A gun, I shall always know, can be used for many things. My manhood is forever connected to this example. A gun helped me along from childhood to manhood. I love a gun.]
