Blunderov
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"We think in generalities, we live in details"
  
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George* : the Unvirtuous Cardinal
« on: 2008-03-26 09:00:16 » |
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[Blunderov] Finally some churches and/or some congregants are beginning to to find their voices and consciences. It seems to have taken a while; not to be churlish but those many of us here that were against the disaster from the beginning will understand me when I say it seems we have been a long time waiting for a response that should have been much more obvious much sooner.
Getting back to cases, if I am not mistaken it must be entirely within the Cardinal's remit to withdraw charges against the activists and the matter would be seen by all to have been quite magnanimously dealt with. ISTM strange that the illustrious prelate has not immediately hastened towards this obvious high ground but perhaps moral geography is not really his prime concern or indeed, forte.
Nonetheless, kudos to peace activists of whatever stripe or hue. Seems that more and more of the religiously motivated are now joining in. This is "a good thing" - it may even be a cardinal virtue.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_kevin_go_080325_two_of_the_four_acti.htm
Two of the Four Activists Who Staged Easter Mass "Die-In" Have Been Released, Abuse of Activists Being Reported
by Kevin Gosztola Page 1 of 3 page(s)
http://www.opednews.com
At this moment, updates on the action are coming in regularly. The latest is that, according to one of the defendant's lawyers, at least one of the activists is being spat upon by the guards. Guards are also encouraging other inmates to "mess with" and abuse the defendant. As soon as enough funds can be raised, the activist being spat on will be the next activist bailed out of jail.
Those conducting jail solidarity for the activists are asking that people from the Chicagoland area willing to help bail the activists out of jail monetarily contact Tim Salemme at (773) 759 - 8399 to arrange a donation or email holyname6@riseup.net.
Now for those unaware of what started all of this or how several members of the antiwar movement in Chicago became involved in a battle to bail activists out of jail so they are not abused or "messed with", the story is as follows.
Six members of the anti-war group "Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War" staged a dramatic die-in on Sunday during the 11 AM Easter mass at Holy Name Cathedral. The group, in addition to calling for an immediate end to the illegal and immoral war in Iraq, decried Cardinal George's January 7th meeting with Chicago's Mayor Daley and President Bush.
Holy Name Cathedral is Chicago's largest parish and one where Chicago's most prominent Catholic citizens attend. The protesters knew these people would be in attendance and knew that press, which usually extensively cover the services, would be present when the "die-in" was conducted.
Easter services at Holy Name are traditionally one of the most heavily attended masses of the year, and this mass was no exception, with people packed wall to wall for today’s Easter morning holiday service.
The group of young activists, dressed in their Easter best, sat through the 11AM mass until George reached the homily. A few seconds into the cardinal’s main holiday message, the protesters rose from their seats, turned to address the thousands of parishioners in the auditorium, and talked about the continuing death of both Iraqis and Americans in Iraq as the war enters its sixth year.
The protesters then laid down in the aisles and discharged packets of fake blood that covered them in red. Stunned ushers rushed in after a moment or two to try to remove the protesters, and also brought in some Chicago police officers who were stationed in the lobby to help with traffic control for the overflow crowd. The protesters did NOT resist arrest, agreeing to stand up and walk out of the auditorium, where they were subsequently arrested by cops outside.
During a ten minute wait for the police to show up, the activists conducted a series of media interviews with local television outlets. When the police arrived, the cuffed protesters were loaded and taken to an area police station.
On Monday, the activists attended a hearing. The details show just how hard the system is working to make an example of these activists.
(The) hearing was in regards to charges of felony defacement of property at a place of worship in excess of $300; that makes the charge a Class III felony. The fake blood allegedly used in the action stained the auditorium's carpet and 14 chairs, incurring a $400 cleaning bill. According to the prosecuting attorney, the cleaning failed and the carpet will need to be replaced at a cost of $3000. Special conditions have been set for all the arrestees which prevent them from having any contact with Cardinal George, Holy Name Cathedral, or the area of 735 N. State Street.
The bond for Ephran, Regan, Mercedes, Ryane, and Angela is set at $25,000 each. Donte's bond is set at $35,000. In order to be bailed out, each arrestee needs to post 10% of their bond. All told, we need to raise $16,000.
All arrestees are scheduled to appear in court at Branch 42 on March 31st.
The six activists were put back in jail and people began mobilizing to get these young patriots out of jail. After all, as many will attest to, it was a nonviolent direct action. Being disruptive was the point and making a point, which they did, was also the plan. That this action was effective and that it has produced this editorial from Kathy Kelly is a testament of how great of an action it was.
Dear Editors,
The six activists who raised their voices, during Cardinal George's Easter homily in Holy Name Cathedral, recalled suffering and carnage caused by the war in Iraq. They screamed. They poured "stage blood." They fell to the floor.
Under U.S. occupation, and as a result of U.S. economic sanctions and military war waged since 1991, Iraqis have seen horrific bombings outside and within their worship places, along with the physical and social destruction of their country. Iraqis have endured mass killing, kidnappings, torture, incarcerations without cause, and an almost complete breakdown of vital infrastructure services including electricity, sewage treatment, and health care delivery.
In the U.S. and in Iraq, arms ache for loved ones who will never return. Yet many of us may feel numb, even forgetful, regarding the terrible cost of this war. The Easter Sunday action at the cathedral gave us an opportunity to remember that we are a nation at war and to consider ways to follow Jesus' teachings, --to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, heal the sick, love our enemies and bless the peacemakers.
Many thanks to the courageous folks who participated in the action at the Cathedral on Easter calling the church to take a real stand against the war, not just give it lip service.
This was an action that was a gift to the peace movement. It was something to help it reenergize and reform the events the movement plans. (Some peace groups are still planning events as follow-ups to the recruitment center actions in Berkeley which occurred at the end of January and in the beginning of February. They were desperate for something new to happen that they could respond to.)
This action called into question Cardinal George (who still sees George W. Bush as a person worth holding meetings with even though he has shown no sign of being willing to repent for his sins involving the people of Iraq and the people of America) and the Catholic establishment of Chicago.
Cardinal George is cited as saying after the protesters were dragged out of the church by security:
"And so should we all, call for peace. Peace, is of course, the salutation that the risen Lord brings to those whom he has called to witness to Him. Peace, I give you, because they were afraid, and therefore they need to be gifted peace."
"They were afraid, first of all, of Him, because they didn't recognize him at first. But, they were afraid also, as we all are, of our sinfulness and of the enormous difficulties that are incumbent upon working for peace in the world in different ways in which people see the need to work for peace."
"In that witness, I think we can be grateful to those who interrupted this holiday."
Watch the video at
http://chicago.indymedia.org/media/all/display/29168/index.php
And so, it would appear that the peace movement got Cardinal George to rhetorically show he supports these activists in some way. In fact, he has taken an odd stance against the Catholic activists saying something like he does not support them because they disrupted worship but had they not disrupted worship, he would be on their side 100%.
In the context of the fifth anniversary, this is a stunning and unexpected action that took place.
Chicago's peace activists were out in full force in March 19th's permitted march held at night through the city after a rally in downtown Chicago. The peace movement did not quit after the permitted march was over and police were led willy nilly around the city as primarily young activists marched down the sidewalk back towards downtown from the spot where the permitted march ended. The event ended at the ABC7 Chicago news station where activists disrupted business as usual for the ABC News team by making the point that they were partly responsible for the continuation of this Iraq war.
The following day, March 20th, a slew of creative actions occurred. From Chicago Indymedia, this gives you an idea of what the Chicago Police Department had to deal with before arresting the Holy Name 6:
The first action of the day came early in a typically briskly cold Chicago morning during rush hour, as five people hurled a banner that read, “We Heard You Malachi,” at the Millennium Flame near the Kennedy Expressway. The banner was referencing the peace martyr Malachi Ritscher, who killed himself in a public suicide meant to express opposition to U.S. war policies in Iraq. Traffic police reportedly intervened to put a stop to the action in which no arrests were made.
About ninety minutes later, four people locked themselves arm-to-arm in front of local Congressman Rahm Emanuel’s (D-IL) office on Irving Park Road in opposition to his stance on Iraq. The Chicago-based groups the Christian Peacemaker Teams and Voices for Creative Nonviolence were reported as being behind the action whose participants were apparently all arrested. Around the same time, the northbound lines Lake Shore Drive were blockaded by a group with an unknown affiliation of about a dozen people, which according to corporate news accounts, reportedly resulted in a traffic accident.
By around 1:30pm in the afternoon, eight people at Federal Plaza stepped into the lobby of Federal Plaza requesting the presence of State Senators. Seven people kneeled down until they were arrested, including the likes of Voices in the Wilderness activist Kathy Kelly, one of the speakers and organizers of the permitted march on Wednesday. Kelly is a veteran activist who previously traveled to Iraq as one of the “human shields” and has been arrested within the U.S. on many prior occasions for past anti-war activism; as a result, Kelly may face jail time because of this latest arrest.
Other non-violent actions and small demonstrations, including a protest against Raytheon at the University of Illinois at Chicago and another one waged by Columbia College students against a recruiting station, were also held throughout the day.
Thursday’s actions in Chicago were part of a larger week of civil disobedience waged all across the country. One of the first acts of civil disobedience was undertaken against Chevron and Iraq war policies by the U.S. last Saturday, where up to fifty protesters locked themselves together in front of an Chevron-owned oil refinery in Redmond, California. In downtown Washington D.C. on Wednesday, up to thirty people were arrested that blockaded an Internal Revenue Service building. Over two-dozen people were arrested in San Francisco on Wednesday as well, in the midst of a die-in that completely blocked Market street in the downtown area. Five protesters who staged a sit-in at a Federal building in Wooster, Massachusetts were also taken into custody by local police authorities and arrested on Wednesday.
The Chicago Police Department is getting tired. And the people of Chicago are taking notice of the growing effectiveness of anti-war actions. This effectiveness is contributing to citywide movements to pass legislation in the city that states the city will oppose a preemptive attack on Iran. It is fueling desires for more leaders to be outspoken on the war in Iraq.
With the 4,000th casualty, another church in the Chicago area held the second protest in two days (although this one was supported by the church leadership). On a wall at St. James Episcopal Church in Chicago, 4,000 black squares, each inscribed with the name of a fallen soldier, were hung as a reminder of those Americans who have been lost in this war.
Says Michael McConnell of the American Friends Service Committee:
"I think we're at the place where the war is becoming very frustrating to many in our society and that we're going to see escalating actions of non-violence because this war has gone on for too long."
The people are tired of waiting for the media and the politicians to take the necessary steps to preserve what's left of this democracy and begin repairing it so future generations of Americans can have a future. They see how we have let a recidivist war criminal run this nation and its principles into the ground and see how the media has been complicit by refusing to cover real news, which is news that is necessary for Americans to preserve their freedom and democracy.
And the people aren't waiting for November to possibly see this war ended maybe by a candidate that gave an antiwar speech in 2002. They are interrupting Easter masses and shutting down businesses that are supporting operations in Iraq because they know that the only way to end this war is to make business and life as usual impossible---so impossible that our leaders respond by immediately withdrawing troops from Iraq, issuing reparations to Iraqis, and giving our veterans all the benefits they were promised before being deployed.
Take Action Now --- Call Cardinal George and demand charges are dropped: 312-751-8230 and submit letters of support to the local newspaper, Chicago Tribune
Kevin Gosztola goes to Columbia College in Chicago where he is studying film. He hopes to become a documentary filmmaker and an independent filmmaker. He is currently working as a production assistant on a documenary called "Seriously Green" which traces the development of the Green Party throughout the 2008 election. Kevin is currently in a documentary film course working on a piece to look at students in the antiwar movement in Chicago and then he hopes to take a look at the militarization of public schools in Chicago. He is more than anything a student activist that believes in questioning their very way America's systems work(it's electoral system, it's military-industrial complex, it's foreign policy of American exceptionalism, it's media which has become the Fourth Estate,etc.). He believes in peace, love, and goodwill toward men, and while some will tell him what can be done, he is only concerned about what should be done. Feel free to email him anytime especially if you have any good ideas for articles or documentary topics.
*Another one. It does not seem a fortunate name to bequeath the future. The omen is not good.
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