I’m going to borrow from Bill Maher for a moment and present my New Rule of the week: If you are a bus driver, and you refuse to drive someone on your bus, you are not allowed to call yourself a bus driver!
CNN recently reported on a story in which a Texas bus driver, Edwin Graning, is suing his former employer for wrongful termination after he refused to drive a woman to an abortion clinic. He claims that in being fired, he is being persecuted for his religious beliefs.
I’m wondering if, when Graning applied with the Capital Area Rural Transportation System and checked the box on his application that read “Bus Driver,” he knew what the duties of that position entailed. It seems pretty obvious to me. If you’re hired to be a bus driver, then refuse to drive someone on your bus, you are not performing the job you’re being paid to do. That seems like a pretty logical reason to be fired.
Graning can claim that it’s his religious beliefs that got him fired all he wants. But in the real world, if you don’t do the job you’re being paid to do, you get fired. And, if you don’t feel comfortable performing the duties of your job, you can quit.
This is not a story about abortion rights or religious beliefs. This is the story of a judgmental, ignorant man who would rather push his beliefs on others rather than performing the duties he’s being paid to do. He can believe anything he wants. He can express those beliefs in any way he wants. If he doesn’t want to drive women to abortion clinics, that is his right every bit as much as it was this woman’s right to have an abortion. He can choose to give up his job and do something else. But to try and sue his employer and claim that his religious rights are being infringed upon is absolutely ludicrous.
I’m wondering what’s next, Mr. Graning? Are you going to refuse to drive a Muslim to a mosque? A gay person to an adoption center? Are you then going to claim that you can’t be fired because that would be religious persecution? Give me a break! Exactly who is persecuting who, Mr. Graning?
You have a choice. You can choose to be a bus driver and drive people where they want to go, or you can choose to STOP BEING A BUS DRIVER! What you can’t do is claim to be a victim.
