Lean towards Nonviolence: A Response to the Sandy Hook School Shooting

There is a lot of emotion around this terrible event in Newtown, Conn and rightfully so! Murdered adults are bad enough, but twenty young children being massacred is a horror beyond any right choice of words I have. It really wakes us up to see this violence done unto children. Going through the motions these last few days with my children and then seeing the faces of the kids taken from us in Newtown, all similar in beauty to my own, it really hits home. Often during the past election I would see the term “leaning”, as in leaning towards a particular candidate, as a nation we need to lean towards nonviolence. To lean in a new direction means to at the very least start the thought process towards thinking beyond the usual actions and reactions of the past and start believing in a nonviolent world. This process needs to happen in every sector of society.

The Newtown shootings should foster a mature vision and mindset towards weapons and their purpose. Discussion and then passage of stronger laws around guns I believe will happen, however honestly guns will never disappear either voluntarily or by law, still as citizens we should of think of nonviolence and peace first and foremost or this ancient mindless spiral of violence will continue. 

To answer what I am talking about here I have written some thoughts which are mostly moderate in tone. I am asking for soul searching in a world of violence. One sees violence in different forms between Newtown and Syria, still it is about killing or doing harm. This is a troubled world mixed paradoxically with so much good and hope.

I know not every child, teenager or adult who watches violent films or plays violent video games commits violence in time, but can we lean more towards nonviolent films and video games? I am not talking about forced censorship by government and I do well understand the art of storytelling, but we need to put violence as entertainment into a healthy perspective. It may be possible to compartmentalize your viewing of fictional violence from your reality, attitude, and judgement, but consider some self –censorship and to place your mind in a state of peace. Let’s not soak our brains in violence.  

If you wish to own a handgun to protect life and property then be sad and humbled that you feel threatened in your community and that you’ve come to this point. Be afraid of yourself, is the need for a gun an illusion or real in purpose? Sure own the gun if you must, but don’t brag about how you can take someone down who challenges your safety; rather keep that to yourself ;we need less bravado!

If you own a hunting rifle tell your family, friends, children, and know yourself that it is strictly for hunting animals, target practice,and for the reasons outlined by your local fish and game commissions, nothing more. Teach respect and safety around the sport of hunting and again teach nonviolence. 

Can we stop leaning towards hero worship of the military? While there are exceptions, mostly the military is about death and destroying for whatever reason deemed; it is their unfortunate job. Yes, do respect soldiers, just as we respect all people, but know that soldiers exist because of the spiral of violence in our world. The military is necessary to protect and defend our sovereign territory, however we should greatly question how and where that force is used and to what extent. Why do I point to the military and our wars after Newtown ? Because we need to be in peace as much as possible or we can't tell anyone that violence is wrong. There needs to be sadness about any use of force or violence in the name of justice whether necessary or not. Lean towards not using the military.

We talk about single person who killed 27 people in one attack and we are sad and outraged, however know that in a city my family has a great affection for, New Orleans, and across this nation as well, there is ongoing violence so frequent that I believe we are numb to it. Reports of violence in the local news becomes background noise or perhaps an atlas of neighborhoods to avoid and in-turn sadly ignore. 182 persons have been murdered so far in 2012 in New Orleans. One notable murder in New Orleans was of a five year old child in May who was in the wrong place at the wrong time; she was attending a birthday party! This is a case where sane persons say “everyone is violent, so I’ll be violent too.” Arguments that used to be fist fights now end in gunfire and death.

Encourage your church or place of worship to denounce violence and not to tip toe around it. It seems odd, but I heard no sermons in my particular church against war during Iraq or the ongoing Afghanistan war. In fairness we did pray for those in war-torn countries, plus there were prayers to keep soldiers out of harm’s way, and then there were prayers bring the troops home safely. I suppose prayers about bringing soldiers home safely is about peace, but is that all we can say? A least in my location there was no upfront and frank mention about the evils of war. There are many in churches, see Pax Christi and Fr. John Dear, who teach nonviolence and know that Jesus taught creative nonviolence, however it seems there are some that clergy play it safe on the subject. Christianity in it's true and radical form is about nonviolence -always. Watch the film “Romero” to get how violence should be addressed from the pulpit by courageous persons. 

I see the positioning starting after Newtown that says we need more weapons for protection; peace through strength as it appears. I'll admit peace of mind by being backed up by a gun sounds appealing, but as foolish as it may seem I don't want that world for myself nor my children, so count me out. Police in some very nuanced form near or on school campuses perhaps, but it seems counter-intuitive to the message we want to send our children about the world they should develop by sending them constantly past armed guards or arming school staff. Search for appropriate and mindful solutions that provide a message of nonviolence beyond just the good guys vs. bad guys with guns. We can't put protection in a box and say that's it - it is time to start thinking.

 I'll end with this, use the word “nonviolence” with your friends, family, and co-workers. Martin Luther King, Jr. said “The choice is no longer violence or nonviolence, it’s nonviolence or non-existence.”

Waterfall Park: You can't go home again

What looks now like an ordinary clump of forgotten overgrown forestland by a dry creek bed made up of dusty rocks and sand was once a pristine park in the woods created by a child. In the Atlanta neighborhood of LaVista Park where I lived from 1973 until 1979 was a patch of woods which as a kid I played in almost daily. Sometime around 1974 I met the owners of this 12 acre urban forest, Jerry and Louise Drown. The Drowns had saved the land from developers the decade before and as I have written  before in this blog, I was intrigued by the Drown's modern house with their gardens of wildflowers that surrounded it. Maybe the fascination I had with the Drown's blending with nature while living in suburbs, their surroundings felt like the deep mountains, inspired me as a kid of eleven to do this odd project, I build a small park on the Drown's property. I put the park together myself and named it Waterfall Park. I made a sign for my park at home with my wood burning kit and dedicated the spot to Jerry and Louise Drown for as the sign read, "For their Love of Nature". The park was indeed small made up of two small stone lined paths with a few well-placed large rocks amongst some transplanted ferns. It was more of a garden really than a park per say. As the name proclaimed, there was a small waterfall at this particular bend in the creek which as I recall always flowed with clear spring water during my childhood. Other neighborhood children joined in building the park, but admittedly at times the place and project was used as a point of torment by the same children. Once during more peaceful times with the kids on my street, we gathered and held a surprise birthday party at the park for my friend Bert. My pal never expected friends and family to pop out from behind the trees on that day as I lead him on a mission to stop someone from burning trash in the forest. Actually the smoke he saw was from a grill set up for his party. We had our hamburgers and Bert preformed his less than successful magic tricks The joyful times were caught in long lost photos by Jerry Drown who made a living as a commercial photographer.

I maintained this park occasionally into my early teens not letting the dream die before moving out of the neighborhood in 1979. In the late eighties the land surrounding the park was sold to a developer, the Drowns departed for a retirement in the Tennessee Mountains, and townhouses were built on the hills just above the park. I suppose the actual spot of the park was saved due to the creek and the flooding potential in the area.

Though these days I live close by to Waterfall Park's location, for almost thirty years I never got to see what remained of the spot until the day of this above photo. On July 29th I bushwhacked my way into the remaining woods tripping through tangled thorns while avoiding - as I could - oversized poison ivy plants, and I fought off numerous hungry mosquitoes while with the fear of West Nile on my mind. My opportunity to visit this personal hallowed spot had resulted from a house being torn down on the outskirts of the woods thus allowing me the desired access to the area while looking less like I was trespassing, which of course I was. I found a large fence separating me from the actual site of Waterfall Park so I couldn't stand on the site itself. The fence fit the situation since you can't really go home again as the saying goes. Standing there I noted consequence of nearby development as there is a great deal of erosion at the park site. The woods themselves, or what remains of the woods, have been taken over in many spots by invasive plant species, mostly huge amounts English Ivy, all greatly damaging the area of this once perfect forest. The rocks that once made up the park's waterfall now lay partially covered up by sand and dirt and they aren't positioned to make a waterfall now; that is if and when water is following in the stream. It's interesting to see that upstream from the Waterfall Park site someone has built a wonderful redwood screened- in deck just off from their townhouse next to the dry creek bed. I suppose as it is the setting of that deck is ideal with its proximity to trees and birds, but the owners there enjoy their wood addition unaware of the once better environment that had existed; it's my memory and their loss. The babbling brook and hardwood forest uninhibited by overgrowth are now gone. It makes one think about the land we all reside on. As we live on our own space we know changes in the landscape are inevitable for better or worse, though it does cause for a pause to think about what becomes of the land we take from for our lives. I have had countless dreams about these woods of my childhood and of Waterfall Park, but truthfully,while the place still exists, it lives on in better shape in my dreams and memories.

Life Beyond Bubblegum

 

Perhaps it is curious that I own this album by seventies teen favorite Shaun Cassidy, but this one album Wasp is beyond Shaun’s usual bubblegum. Shaun Cassidy's last album is not a brilliant work, it's just unexpected. This album is what the stuffy music collector wants out of pop music artists; it's not about feeding the mainstream, but rather about stepping out of the box. This is the one album you pull out to surprise your friends who might recoil at the sight of this bubblegum star. Wasp is just interesting enough and perhaps just good enough to be beyond a closet favorite in my collection.

I believe I learned about this record via college radio close its release in 1980. For years I had the record on vinyl and just recently found it reissued on CD. At the time of it's release Shaun’s core audience of teenaged girls were entering early adulthood. His previous album Room Service didn’t chart and so in an effort to hang onto his music career he needed to change his image to a more grown up and perhaps edger style. With a new direction in mind he employed music veteran Todd Rundgren and his band Utopia.  I have considered that Cassidy with this album wished to end his then current record contract by doing whatever he wanted, but actually Rundgren as a producer couldn’t have been cheap. Basically, what Cassidy and Utopia created was a new wave record much in keeping with other 1980 crossovers that hinted at new wave styles. Punk and New Wave pushed a “back to basics” mindset in music and a few major rock artists took notice. Billy Joel in 1980 had done the edger Glass Houses, Paul McCartney released his sparse McCartney II album, and Linda Ronstadt stepped away from her usual by covering three Elvis Costello songs her album Mad Love. Wasp never dented Billboard’s Top 200 and Cassidy soon moved on and into a successful business career in television. Shaun did have one last stab at music in 1989 dropping the musical adventure of Wasp and releasing instead a slick European only single called "Memory Girl'' before retreating back to the TV biz.  

One way to describe Wasp is to note that any production work by Todd Rundgren often makes an artist sound like Todd himself; though I'll say XTC’s Skylarking didn’t fall into that trap, but Rundgren’s production of the band the Pursuit of Happiness is a case in point of duplicating Rundgren's Utopia. One person’s review of Wasp wished for Utopia to rerecord the record only with Rundgren’s vocals, but actually Shaun’s singing is fine. Reviews noted that for most part the album is a remake of Rundgren’s Faithful album which like Wasp is a mix of covers and originals. 

If any of Shaun Cassidy’s teenybopper fans had hung on long enough to make it to Wasp in 1980, after his main success between 1977-1978, I personally would’ve loved to have seen their reaction to this work. The opening track, a cover of David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel “ might be announcing  a hybrid of bubblegum and new wave. Here Cassidy’s voice is the lower register while a high pitched almost Bee Gees sounding second vocal moves over a steady synthesized beat mixing with a guitar sound much like the original David Bowie version.

Now with Wasp in mind let me bring up the ridiculous idea where we get Justin Bieber to record Radiohead covers, then co-write songs with Elvis Costello, and get Mitch Easter to produce it. Is that a dream or a nightmare? I do find records where popular artists move out of their comfort zones to be very interesting. Sometimes the change is simply a desperate career move or other times it is true art. In recent times teen star Mandy Moore dared record XTC's “Senses Working Overtime" on her album Coverage; she has since widened her range even further. Think about when the Monkees brilliantly poked fun at their own teen stardom in the film Head; Shaun isn’t really mocking himself on Wasp or is he? Once artistic development and progression was once more the fashion, consider how the Beatles went from teenyboppers screaming for "She Loves You" to recording an album like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. For Cassidy perhaps Wasp was progression, but of course he didn't take it any further.

Let me note that Curb Records has done something here that I haven't seen done by a label in this day and age of digital downloads, they released this album as a CD-R .For the money you get a printed cover, CD label ,copyright information and the songwriting credits.

New Beach Boys

I have listened to enough of the Beach Boys catalog to get the contradiction between the cheese factor, the song 'Kokomo' is the usual target in this category, and pure musical brilliance as heard in their singles like 'Warmth of the Sun' and on albums such as Today, Pet Sounds, Sunflower, and Smile. With this band you end up forgiving flaws because there are so many treasures to pull from. And so I bought the first Beach Boys release containing new material in 16 years, That’s Why God Made the Radio. Current interviews reveal Mike Love’s continued desire for commercial success and this record occasionally shows that he and Brian Wilson have a hard time understanding that quality might sell over trying too hard to make a radio friendly music that radio won’t actually play, but as always quality is subjective . Now, despite the debate about the title track “That’s Why God Made the Radio” the first single from the album, I note there was one critic that called it "miserable" then another “their best single in 35 years”, I happen to love it. Hearing that song takes me back to the awesome show they gave in Atlanta under a starry sky in early June. There are tracks on this record which show Brian Wilson understands that music that is deep and complex in conjunction lighter themed material is half of the appeal of the Beach Boys and here he gives the people what they want; listen to the last three tracks. 

Listening to the peppy yet dated sounding tracks like 'Spring Vacation' makes me realize that I certainly get those songs and I see the appeal, but then it's a hard sell to the those who favor intellectually the music on Pet Sounds and Smile. I am comfortable pointing these folks to the more baroque pop like the word free intro 'Think About The Days', and the suite of music which closes the album 'From There To Back Again' , 'Pacific Coast Highway' and 'Summers Gone'. Little of Brian's solo work has been as engaging as these tracks and I believe he has been saving them for the chance to have the Beach Boys record them.  

I am still digesting this new one since it came out yesterday. I know there are better releases for the money, but these are the guys who influenced some of the better artist recording now, the Shins, Fleet Foxes and Beach House come to mind, and new material by the “Boys”, is relevant entertainment if even just for pleasant moment in the day.

On Being Episode

Yesterday on my walk home I listened to a podcast of Nation Public Radio's “On Being" with Kristin Tippett”. From December 22, 2011 Tippett interviews Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann. I have seen Franciscan Father Richard Rohr reference Brueggemann many times and actually call Brueggemann his favorite theologian so it is no surprise to find Brueggemann in the same club as Rhor approaching the non-dualistic contemplative Christian mindset. With the current argument by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops against the controversial Health and Human Services contraception insurance rules for religious institutions   and then the Catholic hierarchy's criticism of Catholic nuns attitudes and behaviors within the Leadership Conference of Women Religious I find it interesting to see various interpretations on biblical teachings about handling issues. At times I have struggled with my feeling that on the surface the Catholic church has lost some of the mystical and transformative messages of the Gospels and we are caught in a cycle of dualistic opinion making where either/or thinking abounds. Brueggemann in his interview with Tippett gets to the core of what I see in scripture, something that is greater than mere ideology. Below I paraphrase part of the conversation between Brueggemann and Tippett that struck a chord with me on this radio program. 

Brueggemann: “We see in the Old Testament prophets hardly ever discuss an “issue”. They don’t discuss issues of their time as we discuss abortion and same sex marriage for example, rather they go underneath the issues that preoccupy people to the more the foundational assumptions that only can be gotten at in elusive language. The institutional church has been preoccupied with issues", Tippett then interjects "which automatically puts you on one side of an issue or the other”, Brueggemann responds: which robs you of transformative power because it is ideology verses ideology which never ends up good for anyone”.

Similar to what Brueggemann speaks of concerning issues, I love a reflection I found by the late Catholic priest and writer Henri Nouwen in his book “Mornings with Henri Nouwen”. In the book Nouwen states,  “I have the impression that many of the debates within the Church around issues such as the papacy, the ordination of women, the marriage of priests, homosexuality, birth control, abortion, and euthanasia take place on a primarily moral level. On that level, different parties battle about right or wrong. But that battle is often removed from the experience of God's first love which lies at the base of all human relationships. Words like right-wing, reactionary, conservative, liberal, and left-wing are used to describe people's opinions, and many discussions then seem more like political battles for power than spiritual searches for the truth”.

Personally for me it is as Brueggemann says, "Going underneath the issues that preoccupy people to the more foundational", that intrigues me. I do find myself in a struggle with the appropriate way to wage a non-judgmental fight for justice. It seems to be difficult not to divide people into camps of good vs. bad during the process of seeking justice. I do think that the God of the bible does know intimately both the victim and victimizer , the just and the unjust all while maintaining an unconditional love for both, yes paradox everywhere, but we humans really don't know how to grasp that or really what to do with it.