Vote for Joe

We drove through the deserts of western Arizona and eastern California over the weekend on the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway (Hwy 10). In Quartsite, Arizona, we met a man who had served in the Army and had been dispatched to Hiroshima shortly after we dropped the atomic bomb there. He said the city was absolutely decimated. And the image that particularly stuck in his mind was the outlines of bodies actually burned into the concrete where adults and children were incinerated when the bomb detonated… Several years ago, we went to the Peace Center at Wilmington College in Ohio to do research on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (The Peace Center there has the largest accumulation of information about these bombings outside of Japan.) What particularly struck me was a large black & white panoramic of ground zero in Hiroshima. No buildings. Nothing. There was an arrow, however. An arrow that was superimposed on the picture. It pointed to where there used to be an elementary school. There had been more than 200 children in the school the morning the bomb was dropped. Note: Our platform includes adhering to the Just War Theory. One of the basic tenants of this theory is that innocent civilians are never to be put in harms way during armed conflict. In a column for the Lima News several several years ago, I wrote that when it comes to victims: “Nuclear bombs just aren’t that discriminating.” So using deductive reasoning: If you’re a Just War Theory advocate (as everyone in the Catholic Church should be, for instance), then nuclear arms — even as a “return strike” response — should be seriously questioned.

My family and I sat in on a Bible Study at Holy Family Church in Deming, New Mexico. The topic was the “Final Judgement.” It was pointed out that there was numerous references to a “Final Judgement” in the Bible, and that after death we are heading in one of two directions: Heaven or Hell. To stay the course toward Heaven , the instructor said people must, basically: “follow the 10 Commandments.” I shared that we in America sometimes have only a cursory understanding of these. That is for instance, one of the Commandments says: “Thou Shalt Not Kill.” And most Americans will say: “Well, I haven’t done that.” However, what if I’m an American driving a $20,000 car, knowing full well thousands of children are starving to death (or dying for lack of medicine, shelter…) in the Third World every day. Because I’m not willing to sacrifice and ride in the old used Volkswagon (or even on a bus, bicycle…), have I, in a very real sense, contributed to the deaths [read: killing by omission] of some of these Third World children? I believe God, who has anything but a ‘cursory’ understanding of the Commandments, might ask about this during the Final Judgement… In Deming, New Mexico, I also interviewed Gerry and Jean Leanhardt. They are the founders of the Agape Community here, an Intentional Catholic Community where the members live together in a cluster of houses and share a “common purse.” Gerry said any community worth it’s “spiritual salt” is engaged in outreach. And Agape has developed a thrift store filled with clothes and appliances for low income people on the border here. In addition, they’ve bought a small motel next door, rennovated it, and offer shelter for men, women and families trying to get on their feet. And they have been involved in numerous other outreaches. Gerry, Jean and their children came to Deming some 30 years ago from Portland, Oregon. Gerry was an accomplished, professional musician and owned a group of beauty salons. He said he was doing quite well when he felt the call to sell everything and help develop a community in Oregon. After several years of living in community and helping disadvantaged teens, the community felt spiritually led to move to Deming. Gerry said while “the world” would look at his community endeavors as not all that successful (in relationship to chasing the American Dream), he said he takes great solace in knowing he’s using his talents to their utmost for God now. What’s more, he said raising his children in community was a tremendous blessing. And he said it shows in the spirituality they developed, their heightenned social justice orientation, and the interpersonal skills they developed at doing indepth relationship… We then headed west to Benson, Arizona where I was interviewed by reporter Thelma Grimes of the San Pedro Valley News-Sun. She asked if we’d been “successful.” As an example, I said several years ago I passionately talked to a youth group in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma about the abject poverty we saw on Native American Reservations we’d researched. Shortly after, I got an e-mail from the youth group leader saying based on the talk, the youth were planning a mission trip to do volunteer work at one of the poorest Reservations in New Mexico. I said to Ms. Grimes that while that wouldn’t show up on an “exit poll,” we’re heartenned by that type of response to the campaign. And who knows how many other youth groups will be inspired by what the Oklahoma City youth group did… Note: I told the News-Sun’s Ms. Grimes that while we didn’t pander to anyone, I wanted the people of southern Arizona to know that as soon as we get to D.C. we’re going to change the National Symbol “…from an eagle to — a roadrunner.” [These roadrunners are all over down here!] My son Joseph just got a postcard for a friend that featured the roadrunner bird. It notes the roadrunner is found throughout the Mojave, Sonaran, and Chilhuahuan deserts of the Southwestern United States. They are one of the few animals that prey upon rattlesnakes and can reach speeds of up to 17 mph. The postcard also said: “The Roadrunner is a member of the Cuckoo Family…” My wife Liz mentioned (more than once) that that might be why I’m particularly attracted to these birds.

We’ve traveled further west along the border to Deming, New Mexico. While we are in Deming, President Bush is in Milwaukee outlining some of his new energy proposals. One of his proposals is to expand research into smaller, longer-lasting batteries for electric-gas hybird cars, including plug-ins. We think this is a good step, but only in the interum. We believe a more “sustainable” solution is to redesign towns to make them much more walkable and cyclable. This redesign would also provide for accessibility to all the basic “stuff of life” for residents — like it was in towns before the car. Our increased mobility, whether in gas powered, or electric-gas powered, vehicles has added tremendously to the environmental cancer of urban sprawl. What’s more, this increased mobility has added considerably to the breakdown of family and community — as scores of people regularly, and quite literally, speed about the country these days chasing the “American Dream” while leaving family members, friends and neighbors… in the rear view mirror. [For a counter to this current dominant paradigm, see: the Amish.] Note: The Albuquerque Journal carried a story today that posed the question: Can speeding and rolling through a stop sign with kids in your car be considered “child abuse?” Jurors in the case of a man from Framington, New Mexico, said that this adds up to “felony child abuse” for a father who was doing 68 mph in a 35 mph zone with three children in the car. (He also rolled through a stop sign during an alleged, short “slow speed” chase, failed to use a turn signal, and resisted arrest initially.) He was sentenced to seven years in prison. Note 2: Here’s another more sweeping question: Is putting a child in a vehicle that at any moment can be turned into a “death trap” (there are 33,000 highway deaths and many more maimings every year on American highways), constitute “child abuse,” period? I mean, we know we’re putting the child in jeapordy at every turn, literally. Yet we’ve become addicted — and almost hopelessly reliant — on our current transportation modes. So at the very least, does that make it any less right? And at the very worst, are many of us, conceivably, ‘abusing’ our children every day — whether we buckle them up, or not? Note 3: After writing all this, I picked up an El Paso Times last night. A front page story reported on the death of a 23-month-old girl who was struck and killed accidentally as her mother pulled a sport utility vehicle out of their driveway. What if the mother had been pulling out in a bicycle…?

We’ve come to Las Cruces, New Mexico where my daughter Sarah and I sat in on a workshop at Our Lady of Health Church. Part of the workshop included people talking about how they “…longed to see God’s face.” I said it’s actually not hard to see God’s face. That is, Jesus said whenever we do something for the “least of these,” we do it for Him. So it only stands to reason that we can see God’s face every day — in the face of the poor. Although that’s harder to do in Las Cruces these days. An ordinance was passed several years ago banning the homeless from begging on the streets, etc. What a shame, especially for those sincerely looking for God’s face.

I was interviewed by Larry Hiatt, the editor of the Fort Stockton Pioneer newspaper. I said our platform called for amnesty for all illegal immigrants in this country. What’s more, several years ago I researched a program called the Hispanic Council in Eunice, New Mexico. Local people in this border town had set up a grassroots program to help new Hispanic arrivals by doing fundraising to help with higher education. They put on seminars to help people liaison with social service help. They also put on trainings to help new arrivals learn how to start their own businesses, etc. We’d like to see Hispanic Councils all over the country and at the time, I’d told the Hobbs, New Mexico Sun newspaper that we should look at new Hispanic arrivals, not as burdens, but as a tremendous opportunity to help those who are less fortunate. I mean, what a spiritual blessing, huh… Note: Coming into Ft. Stockton (and heading west out of it) the topography is flat, dusty and, well, no man’s / or no woman’s — to be politically correct — land. A person on the street told us that while Ft. Stockton isn’t the end of the earth, “…you can see it from here.”