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As we’re writing this, the disturbing news of events at Burr Oak Cemetery still fills the media. It seems several cemetery workers decided to re-sell burial plots that were already filled, dumping the bodies into mass graves. Thousands of families have been affected. Some feel plagued by guilt that they didn’t visit sooner. Others are experiencing grief anew, especially the loss of link to family and past that their loved ones’ place of burial meant to them. The authorities are bewildered by the complications of the case, not knowing if the remains could ever be matched accurately to their descendants again.
In our lives and travels for human rights work, we have both experienced the horror of mass graves in areas of war around the world. Families are desperate for some indication that this is their loved one, as part of their ability to grieve.It is difficult to imagine how human beings could ever do something like this, and also difficult to imagine what could comfort families affected by such crimes. These events have also raised for us, and perhaps you too, some questions about the resurrection of the body.
For example, we recall Mary’s distress on Easter morning when Jesus’ body appeared to have been taken, and she begged the groundskeeper to tell her what he did with the body. However, Jesus himself was standing before her, resurrected in body as well as spirit. We remember also the valley of dry bones, when God resurrected the bodies right before Ezekiel’s eyes.
Christians the world over for the past two millennia recite the Apostle’s Creed, which declares our faith in not only Christ’s resurrection, but the resurrection of our own bodies. Paul writes powerfully in 1 Corinthians 15:35-44, ‘These bodies will die, but the bodies that are raised will live forever.’ Paul goes on to write that even our bodies which are broken and become ill during our earthly lives will be healed and made strong in the resurrection. We remember as we read this not only those who have died, but all in our congregation and community who are waiting for healing from many illnesses and injuries.
As Christians, we may be called to any number of healing roles to support those who suffer as described above. We may become medical workers, or we may be spiritual or psychological caregivers. Others are called to be investigators who discover the truth behind acts of violence and violation; and others hold accountable the perpetrators of these abuses. And all of us can extend to those who suffer a community of care and listening, even without specialized skills or knowing precisely what to do when another hurts.
Whether in terrible events, or terrible illnesses, we need not suffer alone. Even when our human skills to heal may not be enough, God promises us ultimate healing in the resurrection of our bodies and souls. We will be reunited with all we have lost in the community of heaven.
If you would like to visit more with us about these questions, please let us know. We would also like to recommend Mitch Albom’s book and movie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. We viewed the movie recently and found it a beautiful dialogue on this topic.
Peace, Pastors Jorge y Le Anne Montes-Clausen
Showing posts with label abuse of power. Show all posts
Showing posts with label abuse of power. Show all posts
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, May 05, 2008
Atonement as Seen from My Cell
(originally written April 18, 2008)
Atonement, as seen from a prison cell at 5am.
If Jesus "had to die", then we just had to kill him.
Yet if we had to kill him, we credit ourselves for having saved ourselves from sin.
If we saved ourselves, we have no use for God.
No. It is not like this.
Crucifixion is not atonement; it is murder. Let it not be otherwise.
The great fault in our use of the Gospels is that we have been deluded into believing that an innocent must die so that we might be saved.
And we have continued in that delusion 2,000 years.
And in every war in our world we play out that delusion over and over:
That the innocent must die so we are "saved."
So we should not rejoice that Jesus "died for us."
No, let us admit: Jesus died because of us.
Let us not pat ourselves on the back.
The sin of the world was not so great that we had no option but to kill him, that Jesus had to be sent to die.
No. Innocent blood serves nothing. It is only loss.
Rather, the sin of the world was so great that Jesus had to be sent--to live among us, and teach us again how to love; our ideas of love, God, and reconciliation had become so tortured and wrong.
And our sin was so great that we killed love's teacher, we killed Love.
No. Crucifixion is only an affront to God. Not a peace offering.
We must never forget this.
Resurrection on the other hand, now, that's Atonement.
That is picking up the pieces of the broken Christ, healing in order to heal the world and not destroy it, to forgive;
Only God could choose this.
We did not force God's hand in this;
We did not help God save us.
We were not secretly counting on resurrection,
Only execution.
Resurrection and its healing is not what we deserved for our deed, but what God chose to do, for us.
Crucifixion is what Jesus did not deserve.
Resurrection welcomes us back as forgiven children, though we were once convicted murderers. It is not Death Row, but New Life. Our past is not to be forgotten but we still must take joy in the Great Forgiveness.
No, we must never forget the Crucifixion.
We must never pat ourselves on the back for it.
Must never declare it necessary
or any other rationalization of our deed.
We must not blame God for our fault.
We must instead recognize that God chose to love us, Despite.
Resurrection is the great surprise and cause for celebration.
And we must never forget, there are plenty of people in the world today
who do not deserve to die
but we believe we have to kill them
for some greater glory, for collateral damage.
They are right to see themselves in the
crucified Christ and to see Christ in themselves.
They are witness to the whole human depravity.
God speaks to them hope of Resurrection
But we should not find ourselves comforted.
But we go on destroying the innocent
Crediting ourselves for saving ourselves
Blaming God and the victims for their deaths
Why is love so hard to learn?
Atonement, as seen from a prison cell at 5am.
If Jesus "had to die", then we just had to kill him.
Yet if we had to kill him, we credit ourselves for having saved ourselves from sin.
If we saved ourselves, we have no use for God.
No. It is not like this.
Crucifixion is not atonement; it is murder. Let it not be otherwise.
The great fault in our use of the Gospels is that we have been deluded into believing that an innocent must die so that we might be saved.
And we have continued in that delusion 2,000 years.
And in every war in our world we play out that delusion over and over:
That the innocent must die so we are "saved."
So we should not rejoice that Jesus "died for us."
No, let us admit: Jesus died because of us.
Let us not pat ourselves on the back.
The sin of the world was not so great that we had no option but to kill him, that Jesus had to be sent to die.
No. Innocent blood serves nothing. It is only loss.
Rather, the sin of the world was so great that Jesus had to be sent--to live among us, and teach us again how to love; our ideas of love, God, and reconciliation had become so tortured and wrong.
And our sin was so great that we killed love's teacher, we killed Love.
No. Crucifixion is only an affront to God. Not a peace offering.
We must never forget this.
Resurrection on the other hand, now, that's Atonement.
That is picking up the pieces of the broken Christ, healing in order to heal the world and not destroy it, to forgive;
Only God could choose this.
We did not force God's hand in this;
We did not help God save us.
We were not secretly counting on resurrection,
Only execution.
Resurrection and its healing is not what we deserved for our deed, but what God chose to do, for us.
Crucifixion is what Jesus did not deserve.
Resurrection welcomes us back as forgiven children, though we were once convicted murderers. It is not Death Row, but New Life. Our past is not to be forgotten but we still must take joy in the Great Forgiveness.
No, we must never forget the Crucifixion.
We must never pat ourselves on the back for it.
Must never declare it necessary
or any other rationalization of our deed.
We must not blame God for our fault.
We must instead recognize that God chose to love us, Despite.
Resurrection is the great surprise and cause for celebration.
And we must never forget, there are plenty of people in the world today
who do not deserve to die
but we believe we have to kill them
for some greater glory, for collateral damage.
They are right to see themselves in the
crucified Christ and to see Christ in themselves.
They are witness to the whole human depravity.
God speaks to them hope of Resurrection
But we should not find ourselves comforted.
But we go on destroying the innocent
Crediting ourselves for saving ourselves
Blaming God and the victims for their deaths
Why is love so hard to learn?
Thursday, April 17, 2008
April 17, Part 2
I got a brief visit to a friend’s cell today; she has the benefit of being in the corner as the longest inmate here. It was amazing to see such an immaculate cell – she washes her floor every day. (To be honest, mine has dust bunnies). I also learned a lot of neat tricks (like where else can become a handy storage shelf.) She also showed me pictures of her adorable daughter, about two years old. Also her parents and her dog. She holds back the tears better than most. Today she also shared with us a beautiful Orthodox Easter card with a mosaic pattern of “Pantokrator” (a famous icon of Jesus which looks half-stern) and the decorated, intricate eggs.
There was a harsh exchange of words today at breakfast – a letter arrived from a woman who has now moved on to rehab. Another woman, with many drug problems herself, denigrated the woman who wrote the letter, saying that she would never get ‘clean.’ So the woman receiving the letter told the critic that it was she who would never really get ‘clean,’ and that she was a hypocrite for saying in the pod she fully intended to go use again, while saying she was clean and planned to stay that way in the A.A. meetings, etc. All in far less pleasant words. The exchange really got me thinking, about a lot of things: about lying, about planning to go back to an addiction, about who is redeemable – in the letter-writer’s defense, the third woman said, “I believe everyone deserves a second chance! And a third, fourth and fifth chance! At least she’s trying!” What book did I just finish reading? It said that if creation has been redeemed then all lives, no matter how destroyed, are capable of redemption. I was also thinking back to Levitical codes of ‘clean,’ as well as Jesus’ words about clean and unclean – and think of what it has and does mean/take to become ‘clean.’ Finally, I was thinking, it is hard for me to love this ‘hypocrite,’ though I am trying. She’s not a very pleasant person and likes to throw her weight around. She’s not very loving to the more vulnerable women. She’s been here nearly as long as my Rumanian friend, well over a year. Her parents are practicing ‘tough love’ by keeping her here and not bonding her out, which probably is the only way to keep her off the drugs, let alone the stealing to get the drugs. Will I, though, believe that every life can be redeemed? If I say I do, I must work harder to love this person.
And while I am on the topic of redeeming and loving the people near or at rock-bottom, I am led to think about others who persistently frustrate me. My ire is frequently raised by wealthy so-called liberals or progressives, especially ones who call themselves “progressive Christians,” who seem to be only after fame and fortune, treating anyone who doesn’t help them attain either like dirt.
---
Women here do not work. I have heard there was a small sex scandal earlier that ended women inmates’ working, but I don’t know that for a fact. Anyway, there are about a half-dozen men who do work in the jail on a daily basis – in the kitchen in the laundry, on the custodial rounds. They wear tan scrubs instead of orange. They’re always watched by a guard, but they have some additional freedom, too. I was pondering all this during laundry rounds today – especially how remarkably natural they are about distributing women’s underwear. I would probably even be embarrassed in such a situation.
Anyway, the lack of ‘work’ doesn’t bother me. I get all the social interaction I could want and then some in our dayroom. And I am often at ‘work’ translating, transcribing, and counseling, and writing letters. Still it is a good balance of work, play, and rest – it brings additional meaning to this month rather than frustration. (Now, spending a month only playing spades and eating junk food – I might get impatient with that. But it suits others just fine, and I understand it, too. I think.)
There was a harsh exchange of words today at breakfast – a letter arrived from a woman who has now moved on to rehab. Another woman, with many drug problems herself, denigrated the woman who wrote the letter, saying that she would never get ‘clean.’ So the woman receiving the letter told the critic that it was she who would never really get ‘clean,’ and that she was a hypocrite for saying in the pod she fully intended to go use again, while saying she was clean and planned to stay that way in the A.A. meetings, etc. All in far less pleasant words. The exchange really got me thinking, about a lot of things: about lying, about planning to go back to an addiction, about who is redeemable – in the letter-writer’s defense, the third woman said, “I believe everyone deserves a second chance! And a third, fourth and fifth chance! At least she’s trying!” What book did I just finish reading? It said that if creation has been redeemed then all lives, no matter how destroyed, are capable of redemption. I was also thinking back to Levitical codes of ‘clean,’ as well as Jesus’ words about clean and unclean – and think of what it has and does mean/take to become ‘clean.’ Finally, I was thinking, it is hard for me to love this ‘hypocrite,’ though I am trying. She’s not a very pleasant person and likes to throw her weight around. She’s not very loving to the more vulnerable women. She’s been here nearly as long as my Rumanian friend, well over a year. Her parents are practicing ‘tough love’ by keeping her here and not bonding her out, which probably is the only way to keep her off the drugs, let alone the stealing to get the drugs. Will I, though, believe that every life can be redeemed? If I say I do, I must work harder to love this person.
And while I am on the topic of redeeming and loving the people near or at rock-bottom, I am led to think about others who persistently frustrate me. My ire is frequently raised by wealthy so-called liberals or progressives, especially ones who call themselves “progressive Christians,” who seem to be only after fame and fortune, treating anyone who doesn’t help them attain either like dirt.
---
Women here do not work. I have heard there was a small sex scandal earlier that ended women inmates’ working, but I don’t know that for a fact. Anyway, there are about a half-dozen men who do work in the jail on a daily basis – in the kitchen in the laundry, on the custodial rounds. They wear tan scrubs instead of orange. They’re always watched by a guard, but they have some additional freedom, too. I was pondering all this during laundry rounds today – especially how remarkably natural they are about distributing women’s underwear. I would probably even be embarrassed in such a situation.
Anyway, the lack of ‘work’ doesn’t bother me. I get all the social interaction I could want and then some in our dayroom. And I am often at ‘work’ translating, transcribing, and counseling, and writing letters. Still it is a good balance of work, play, and rest – it brings additional meaning to this month rather than frustration. (Now, spending a month only playing spades and eating junk food – I might get impatient with that. But it suits others just fine, and I understand it, too. I think.)
Monday, April 14, 2008
Notes from My Cell, April 14
[Letter to my friend Jay, living in San Francisco]
I miss real coffee like you wouldn’t believe. Not the caffeine really, but the whole experience- the heat, the smell, the taste…especially a good beany cup. I think I’ll like your neighborhood [I had written about the international varieties of coffee within walking distance from my new home.]
Thank you for the Bonhoeffer & the hymn texts, prayers, and liturgy--would you believe I haven’t heard music in two weeks? Meanwhile, I noticed that when I read the stanza, and found myself humming, then singing along. Meanwhile, the Fundamentalist church ladies who come in tried to sing, but it was another one of the “Jesus is my sex symbol” songs- "yes lord oh yes lord…Amen"? Eew. A few girls were smirking.
Just now I was thinking of Bonhoeffer’s imprisonment & noting the differences between then & now--such as a blaring television in the background. I suppose he & I both have the same difficulty getting visitors, & we’ve both been helped by an understanding/sympathetic guard. Of course, I know when I’m getting out of here. That is good. He got more books. Not so good. Finished a few books of his own- um, well, he was there longer? (wink) And yet I wonder, what will become of my time here? What will it mean a year from now? Or fifty?
I am looking out of my cell window at a beautiful blue sky and know spring is on the way. I’m glad to get out in May.
Monday is the day when lots of folks go home, held for the weekend. Now we are a quieter bunch. I hope my former cell mate is doing well, staying out of trouble- she is a good person at heart but caught up in a lot… I gave her my address. There are a few girls here I hope to stay connected with.
I’m documenting cases of medical negligence by the night nurse here. Details to follow… Must run! Peace to you!
Le Anne
___________
Letter dated 4/16-
Greetings Jay!
While its on my mind I thought I would write about accessibility issues here in jail.
We have a 63 year old lady who came in two days ago and has a lot of trouble with mobility (to be honest I thought she must be much older because so many women I know her age are much healthier). She has seemed quite disoriented as well. For some reason she didn’t get sent to the medical ward, which is an easier place to be, so we’ve been learning how to look out for her here.
I think that’s about the time I noticed that there are several accessibility features built into this cellblock. Half the doors on the lower level are wider doors and wider cells with larger, lower sinks and bigger beds (although there’s still a top bunk.)
Some of the stools/tables are higher & some are lower. We have an accessible shower with a ramp and one smaller, "traditional" shower. In some places there are extra grip bars. Huh! I guess the place was built in the 90’s or later, if I remember right, and perhaps it had to comply to ADA.
I hadn’t thought much before of older or more physically challenged people in jail. Sadly, most of the women in our “pod” (unit) who are older than I are here for multiple DUIs. The younger women are generally here for drug possession & related crimes.
I went to an AA meeting last night, just to check it out (I don’t know if that’s allowed-but I went anyway.) I thought it was pretty good actually. Several of the women from my pod went. I read the “Blue Book” a few years ago on retreat at a monastery, and I came across it in their library—and also found it pretty good. I’ve been thinking of getting a chapter together for seminary students, and/or perhaps clergy. I saw up close enough heavy drinking and its effects (and causes, I might add) at the Lutheran school to get pretty scared and cut back a good deal myself. Even now at CTS, when there’s a heavy drinking party I tend to avoid it. I do see that it is quite hard & risky really for a seminarian to admit to addiction & seek help. That’s why I think a specialized AA meeting would help. The students who I know are in AA & who I admire much are graduating this year. I will see if I can recruit other potential leaders who have some experience with the programs. And also look for good safe places where it could be held around the neighborhood.
Enough for now I suppose & time to help a girl write some letters in search of a better lawyer.
I miss real coffee like you wouldn’t believe. Not the caffeine really, but the whole experience- the heat, the smell, the taste…especially a good beany cup. I think I’ll like your neighborhood [I had written about the international varieties of coffee within walking distance from my new home.]
Thank you for the Bonhoeffer & the hymn texts, prayers, and liturgy--would you believe I haven’t heard music in two weeks? Meanwhile, I noticed that when I read the stanza, and found myself humming, then singing along. Meanwhile, the Fundamentalist church ladies who come in tried to sing, but it was another one of the “Jesus is my sex symbol” songs- "yes lord oh yes lord…Amen"? Eew. A few girls were smirking.
Just now I was thinking of Bonhoeffer’s imprisonment & noting the differences between then & now--such as a blaring television in the background. I suppose he & I both have the same difficulty getting visitors, & we’ve both been helped by an understanding/sympathetic guard. Of course, I know when I’m getting out of here. That is good. He got more books. Not so good. Finished a few books of his own- um, well, he was there longer? (wink) And yet I wonder, what will become of my time here? What will it mean a year from now? Or fifty?
I am looking out of my cell window at a beautiful blue sky and know spring is on the way. I’m glad to get out in May.
Monday is the day when lots of folks go home, held for the weekend. Now we are a quieter bunch. I hope my former cell mate is doing well, staying out of trouble- she is a good person at heart but caught up in a lot… I gave her my address. There are a few girls here I hope to stay connected with.
I’m documenting cases of medical negligence by the night nurse here. Details to follow… Must run! Peace to you!
Le Anne
___________
Letter dated 4/16-
Greetings Jay!
While its on my mind I thought I would write about accessibility issues here in jail.
We have a 63 year old lady who came in two days ago and has a lot of trouble with mobility (to be honest I thought she must be much older because so many women I know her age are much healthier). She has seemed quite disoriented as well. For some reason she didn’t get sent to the medical ward, which is an easier place to be, so we’ve been learning how to look out for her here.
I think that’s about the time I noticed that there are several accessibility features built into this cellblock. Half the doors on the lower level are wider doors and wider cells with larger, lower sinks and bigger beds (although there’s still a top bunk.)
Some of the stools/tables are higher & some are lower. We have an accessible shower with a ramp and one smaller, "traditional" shower. In some places there are extra grip bars. Huh! I guess the place was built in the 90’s or later, if I remember right, and perhaps it had to comply to ADA.
I hadn’t thought much before of older or more physically challenged people in jail. Sadly, most of the women in our “pod” (unit) who are older than I are here for multiple DUIs. The younger women are generally here for drug possession & related crimes.
I went to an AA meeting last night, just to check it out (I don’t know if that’s allowed-but I went anyway.) I thought it was pretty good actually. Several of the women from my pod went. I read the “Blue Book” a few years ago on retreat at a monastery, and I came across it in their library—and also found it pretty good. I’ve been thinking of getting a chapter together for seminary students, and/or perhaps clergy. I saw up close enough heavy drinking and its effects (and causes, I might add) at the Lutheran school to get pretty scared and cut back a good deal myself. Even now at CTS, when there’s a heavy drinking party I tend to avoid it. I do see that it is quite hard & risky really for a seminarian to admit to addiction & seek help. That’s why I think a specialized AA meeting would help. The students who I know are in AA & who I admire much are graduating this year. I will see if I can recruit other potential leaders who have some experience with the programs. And also look for good safe places where it could be held around the neighborhood.
Enough for now I suppose & time to help a girl write some letters in search of a better lawyer.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
'Mean Girls' in Ministry
I finally got around to watching the movie 'Mean Girls,' which I've been meaning to do for a couple years now since it was made. I had a feeling it would help me come to terms with a few things.
'Mean Girls' chronicles a year in the life of a high school girl who's new and doesn't know how the typical social caste works. She ends up in the circle of the 'mean girls,' who are always cruel, humiliating, and manipulative towards everyone else, but still people look up to them as cool. Once she sees them for what they are, she tries to destroy them, but is herself destroyed in the process. So she has to find a way to seek healing for herself as well as the whole school.
I wanted to watch this because of the things which I've seen in seminary and ministry among women that I simply do not like. No, that's not strong enough. I am totally disillusioned by some of the things I see going on among women in power, in ministry and in seminary education, that only serve to hurt--other women in particular, sometimes to the point of forcing more vulnerable students out of the schools altogether. I have been hurt by these power games, and I've had plenty of friends hurt too. It would be easy to run away. It's harder to know how to work for change. And I don't want to become like that either, to have myself changed for the worse. There's a long list of women in ministry and women teaching in seminaries that I frankly don't want to be like, 'when I grow up.'
I don't do very well in challenging cruel and humiliating words, or manipulation, or any of the 'soft abuses,' such as verbal, emotional, or psychological abuse, or any of the other ways a person can use an institution to crush another person. Maybe it is because the seminary is the place where the institutions of religion and academy combine that it is a place vulnerable to such abuses.
Now, if I haven't said it before, I'm not talking about my female classmates, or even women who are newly colleagues in ministry, regardless of their age. The women in my seminary classes I've known, on the whole, have been wonderful sources of support. I think this is because we are all brought into the same place as students, facing the same challenges--at least in this one part of our lives. I don't know if I could say it of every seminary, but for now, this is what I see.
I've theorized here before, and elsewhere, that women in power, even at the height of their careers, still face the glass ceiling of tradition above them, still desire the esteem of their male colleagues and admiration of their male subordinates, but feel the advance of age and death that claims us all; in the process, female subordinates can only appear to them as threats until they find contentment with their own lives' work, and choose to prepare the next generation to carry on. I try to remember this when I am recovering from the latest blows. It doesn't always help.
I do worry that I will become like this also, that any step I make to lead others will somehow unwittingly cause me to treat 'subordinates' the way I've been treated. It makes me not want to hire anyone or ask volunteers for help. I don't want to give orders, and really, I don't want to lead at all. I'm still less afraid of having someone lead me than of stepping out and causing harm.
But no, there have to be other ways, ways of leading through healing. Or healing through leading. I think it'll be hard work. And as with many things, I don't know that I'll succeed. I do know I want to lash out sometimes, okay, many times, and make life as hard for them as they've made it for me. I also know that will only make things worse. I hope I can resist the temptation.
At least 'Mean Girls' has a happy ending. Relationships are restored, and even transformed. It doesn't have to be the way it was. Sometimes I think that if we let another generation of women pass, things will mellow out, but there's no guarantee of that. Some intervention is probably needed.
I hope happy endings in this situation won't end up only a thing of the movies.
'Mean Girls' chronicles a year in the life of a high school girl who's new and doesn't know how the typical social caste works. She ends up in the circle of the 'mean girls,' who are always cruel, humiliating, and manipulative towards everyone else, but still people look up to them as cool. Once she sees them for what they are, she tries to destroy them, but is herself destroyed in the process. So she has to find a way to seek healing for herself as well as the whole school.
I wanted to watch this because of the things which I've seen in seminary and ministry among women that I simply do not like. No, that's not strong enough. I am totally disillusioned by some of the things I see going on among women in power, in ministry and in seminary education, that only serve to hurt--other women in particular, sometimes to the point of forcing more vulnerable students out of the schools altogether. I have been hurt by these power games, and I've had plenty of friends hurt too. It would be easy to run away. It's harder to know how to work for change. And I don't want to become like that either, to have myself changed for the worse. There's a long list of women in ministry and women teaching in seminaries that I frankly don't want to be like, 'when I grow up.'
I don't do very well in challenging cruel and humiliating words, or manipulation, or any of the 'soft abuses,' such as verbal, emotional, or psychological abuse, or any of the other ways a person can use an institution to crush another person. Maybe it is because the seminary is the place where the institutions of religion and academy combine that it is a place vulnerable to such abuses.
Now, if I haven't said it before, I'm not talking about my female classmates, or even women who are newly colleagues in ministry, regardless of their age. The women in my seminary classes I've known, on the whole, have been wonderful sources of support. I think this is because we are all brought into the same place as students, facing the same challenges--at least in this one part of our lives. I don't know if I could say it of every seminary, but for now, this is what I see.
I've theorized here before, and elsewhere, that women in power, even at the height of their careers, still face the glass ceiling of tradition above them, still desire the esteem of their male colleagues and admiration of their male subordinates, but feel the advance of age and death that claims us all; in the process, female subordinates can only appear to them as threats until they find contentment with their own lives' work, and choose to prepare the next generation to carry on. I try to remember this when I am recovering from the latest blows. It doesn't always help.
I do worry that I will become like this also, that any step I make to lead others will somehow unwittingly cause me to treat 'subordinates' the way I've been treated. It makes me not want to hire anyone or ask volunteers for help. I don't want to give orders, and really, I don't want to lead at all. I'm still less afraid of having someone lead me than of stepping out and causing harm.
But no, there have to be other ways, ways of leading through healing. Or healing through leading. I think it'll be hard work. And as with many things, I don't know that I'll succeed. I do know I want to lash out sometimes, okay, many times, and make life as hard for them as they've made it for me. I also know that will only make things worse. I hope I can resist the temptation.
At least 'Mean Girls' has a happy ending. Relationships are restored, and even transformed. It doesn't have to be the way it was. Sometimes I think that if we let another generation of women pass, things will mellow out, but there's no guarantee of that. Some intervention is probably needed.
I hope happy endings in this situation won't end up only a thing of the movies.
Friday, December 10, 2004
Le Anne's CNN Moment (2004)
Greetings everyone, I was looking through old files this morning and came across this transcript from the 2004 interview during the Abu Ghraib crisis. It did bring back quite a few memories. I never did get to see the video itself. The other folks they interviewed, particularly the psychologist, are fascinating. Anyway, here's a bit, and the full text is permalinked here: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0405/10/asb.00.html
CNN NEWSNIGHT AARON BROWN
Bush Backs Rumsfeld; What Is on Still Unreleased Abu Ghraib Photos, Video?; Interview With Janis Karpinski
Aired May 10, 2004 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[...]
From New York this is NEWSNIGHT.(COMMERCIAL BREAK)BROWN: The reality of the prison abuse story is that without the pictures there really would be little story, at least not the sort that would dominate the news for more than a week and counting.The military announced in January that an investigation was underway and, while it was reported here and reporters were working on it, the story didn't really stick. Tonight more evidence that without the pictures there would be little fuss. The Red Cross has been complaining about serious and systemic abuse at the prison since the beginning.Here's CNN's Ben Wedeman.(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soon after U.S. forces reopened Abu Ghraib Prison last summer, Iraqis began to claim abuse of detainees was common. The Red Cross, Amnesty International, local Iraqi human rights groups and activists urged the coalition to investigate those claims.Last month, Abdel Basset al-Turki resigned in frustration from his post as Iraq's Human Rights Minister. He tells of meetings with senior coalition officials, including Chief Administrator Paul Bremer, during which he raised concerns over torture and abuse in American-run prisons in Iraq. The response, "I believe it was indifference combined with disregard" he told me. "Coalition officials were much more interested in documenting human rights violations under Saddam than in what has happened since" he says. Leanne Clausen of Christian Peacemakers tried working with the coalition to ensure proper treatment of prisoners.
LEANNE CLAUSEN, CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKERS: Coalition officials on the whole they were very cordial but they were generally not helpful. They either said that there really was not a problem within the system, that they were following all the Geneva Conventions that they felt obliged to follow.WEDEMAN: A confidential report from the Red Cross, leaked to "The Wall Street Journal" indicate the group's concerns over mistreatment go back more than a year and aren't limited to Abu Ghraib.
NADA DOUMANI, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: The abuses at Abu Ghraib were not individual cases. Unfortunately, this looks more like it was a pattern and it has been occurring in other places too.WEDEMAN: Coalition spokesmen insist they were listening all along.DAN SENIOR, COALITION SPOKESMAN: But I can tell you when these complaints were raised and we looked closely at them, we pursued improvement of the situation, correction of any problems. This is something that's been going on that everyone has been involved with for a number of months.
WEDEMAN: Scant satisfaction for those who wait every day outside Abu Ghraib in the heat and dust for news of those inside or for detainees pictured in those now infamous photos.(on camera): The consensus among human rights activists is that the U.S.-led coalition was unwilling to take their concern seriously until those photos emerged from behind these walls. And now with the abuse scandal snowballing they can only say we told you so.Ben Wedeman, CNN, outside Abu Ghraib Prison.
(END VIDEOTAPE)BROWN: Back now to an aspect of the story that we've all had a hard time reconciling over the past couple of weeks. How do people who seem just like anybody else do what the pictures show them doing and, if they were ordered to do what they did, what made it so hard for them to say no?Reports are only two refused. Of all the people who were at the prison only two said no. Nearly 33 years ago, Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues at Stanford University conducted an experiment that at the very least has an eerie resonance with the news of today.The professor is recent past president of the American Psychological Association. He's been a professor at Stanford sine 1968 and we are delighted to have him with us tonight. Basically, I want to try and shorthand this. You set up a prison and you had some students as guards and some students as prisoners and in very short order you learned what?
PHILIP ZIMBARDO, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, we had set up a prison to run for two weeks and I had to terminate it after six days because it was out of control. What's really critical and I think the parallel with the Iraqi prison is that we knew that going into the prison our situation, we had selected boys who were normal and healthy in every way and we randomly assigned them to be prisoners and guards and we put them in so we had good apples to begin with.We put them in this bad barrel of prison and what came out were corrupted young men. In our prison the parallels were our guards stripped the prisoners naked, put bags over their heads, exactly as in Abu Ghraib, enforced sleep deprivation. These are things the guards thought of on their own, had them clean toilet bowls out with the bare hands and it was a gradual process. Each day it got worse and worse, so each day was a platform on which they built the creative evil of new things to do the next day.
BROWN: Just a couple of quick question on what you've said so far. But basically what you conclude is that it is not the character of the individual, these people may all be of wonderful character but the situation itself they are in that determines their behavior?ZIMBARDO: Absolutely. That is the whole purpose of our study was to demonstrate how powerful situational forces can be sometimes to overwhelm the best and the brightest, to overwhelm personality when you're in a novel situation that you have a variety of social factors operating.What was unique about our study we knew exactly what the subjects were like before they went in because we gave them a personality test. We interviewed them. They had no negative background characteristics because we eliminated that and what came out was at the end our guards were forcing the prisoners to engage in simulated sodomy, exactly as in this prison.
BROWN: That's unbelievable.ZIMBARDO: And these are college students doing it to other college students.BROWN: Is it necessary that, I guess it's not based on the study, that the guards see the prisoners as less than human or that they are dehumanized in some way?ZIMBARDO: That happens automatically, yes. You can't do this if you see these as college students. You have to see it as dangerous prisoners. In fact, in our prison the guards didn't allow the prisoners to bathe, so they smelled badly.BROWN: Yes. ZIMBARDO: They didn't allow them to go to the toilet. They had buckets in their cells so they urinated, defecated in this so the whole place smelled terrible and the guards began to think of the prisoners as animals, exactly as in the Iraqi prison where some of the guards reputedly said look at these animals. Look at the terrible things they're doing.
BROWN: Just one more quick question, is it, does it have to be a group? Does the fact that there is a group at play help determine the behavior?ZIMBARDO: Yes. It very rarely happens when it's an individual. Where you have a group, you have group camaraderie. You have new group norms about -- that determine what is acceptable, what is appropriate and then the group puts pressure on one another.You also typically have one or two people who lead the way. We call that social modeling. They're going to display, you know, the kinds of things that are now acceptable in that situation.The other thing that happened in the Iraqi situation is you have a veil of secrecy, which actually cloaks all prisons, so nobody knows on the outside what's happening. Once the people inside know that they know they can get away with anything, including "getting away with murder" because there's no accountability.
BROWN: Professor, it was fascinating 33 years ago. It remains fascinating today. Thank you, sir. It's good to talk to you.ZIMBARDO: Thank you and I hope the message gets carried to the public.BROWN: It just did. Thank you, sir, very much.ZIMBARDO: You're welcome.BROWN: Coming up tonight on the program something we've heard a lot from viewers, why show these pictures at all? Jonah Goldberg joins us to talk about that.And next the power of pictures down through the years, we'll take a break first.This is NEWSNIGHT.(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CNN NEWSNIGHT AARON BROWN
Bush Backs Rumsfeld; What Is on Still Unreleased Abu Ghraib Photos, Video?; Interview With Janis Karpinski
Aired May 10, 2004 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[...]
From New York this is NEWSNIGHT.(COMMERCIAL BREAK)BROWN: The reality of the prison abuse story is that without the pictures there really would be little story, at least not the sort that would dominate the news for more than a week and counting.The military announced in January that an investigation was underway and, while it was reported here and reporters were working on it, the story didn't really stick. Tonight more evidence that without the pictures there would be little fuss. The Red Cross has been complaining about serious and systemic abuse at the prison since the beginning.Here's CNN's Ben Wedeman.(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soon after U.S. forces reopened Abu Ghraib Prison last summer, Iraqis began to claim abuse of detainees was common. The Red Cross, Amnesty International, local Iraqi human rights groups and activists urged the coalition to investigate those claims.Last month, Abdel Basset al-Turki resigned in frustration from his post as Iraq's Human Rights Minister. He tells of meetings with senior coalition officials, including Chief Administrator Paul Bremer, during which he raised concerns over torture and abuse in American-run prisons in Iraq. The response, "I believe it was indifference combined with disregard" he told me. "Coalition officials were much more interested in documenting human rights violations under Saddam than in what has happened since" he says. Leanne Clausen of Christian Peacemakers tried working with the coalition to ensure proper treatment of prisoners.
LEANNE CLAUSEN, CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKERS: Coalition officials on the whole they were very cordial but they were generally not helpful. They either said that there really was not a problem within the system, that they were following all the Geneva Conventions that they felt obliged to follow.WEDEMAN: A confidential report from the Red Cross, leaked to "The Wall Street Journal" indicate the group's concerns over mistreatment go back more than a year and aren't limited to Abu Ghraib.
NADA DOUMANI, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: The abuses at Abu Ghraib were not individual cases. Unfortunately, this looks more like it was a pattern and it has been occurring in other places too.WEDEMAN: Coalition spokesmen insist they were listening all along.DAN SENIOR, COALITION SPOKESMAN: But I can tell you when these complaints were raised and we looked closely at them, we pursued improvement of the situation, correction of any problems. This is something that's been going on that everyone has been involved with for a number of months.
WEDEMAN: Scant satisfaction for those who wait every day outside Abu Ghraib in the heat and dust for news of those inside or for detainees pictured in those now infamous photos.(on camera): The consensus among human rights activists is that the U.S.-led coalition was unwilling to take their concern seriously until those photos emerged from behind these walls. And now with the abuse scandal snowballing they can only say we told you so.Ben Wedeman, CNN, outside Abu Ghraib Prison.
(END VIDEOTAPE)BROWN: Back now to an aspect of the story that we've all had a hard time reconciling over the past couple of weeks. How do people who seem just like anybody else do what the pictures show them doing and, if they were ordered to do what they did, what made it so hard for them to say no?Reports are only two refused. Of all the people who were at the prison only two said no. Nearly 33 years ago, Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues at Stanford University conducted an experiment that at the very least has an eerie resonance with the news of today.The professor is recent past president of the American Psychological Association. He's been a professor at Stanford sine 1968 and we are delighted to have him with us tonight. Basically, I want to try and shorthand this. You set up a prison and you had some students as guards and some students as prisoners and in very short order you learned what?
PHILIP ZIMBARDO, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, we had set up a prison to run for two weeks and I had to terminate it after six days because it was out of control. What's really critical and I think the parallel with the Iraqi prison is that we knew that going into the prison our situation, we had selected boys who were normal and healthy in every way and we randomly assigned them to be prisoners and guards and we put them in so we had good apples to begin with.We put them in this bad barrel of prison and what came out were corrupted young men. In our prison the parallels were our guards stripped the prisoners naked, put bags over their heads, exactly as in Abu Ghraib, enforced sleep deprivation. These are things the guards thought of on their own, had them clean toilet bowls out with the bare hands and it was a gradual process. Each day it got worse and worse, so each day was a platform on which they built the creative evil of new things to do the next day.
BROWN: Just a couple of quick question on what you've said so far. But basically what you conclude is that it is not the character of the individual, these people may all be of wonderful character but the situation itself they are in that determines their behavior?ZIMBARDO: Absolutely. That is the whole purpose of our study was to demonstrate how powerful situational forces can be sometimes to overwhelm the best and the brightest, to overwhelm personality when you're in a novel situation that you have a variety of social factors operating.What was unique about our study we knew exactly what the subjects were like before they went in because we gave them a personality test. We interviewed them. They had no negative background characteristics because we eliminated that and what came out was at the end our guards were forcing the prisoners to engage in simulated sodomy, exactly as in this prison.
BROWN: That's unbelievable.ZIMBARDO: And these are college students doing it to other college students.BROWN: Is it necessary that, I guess it's not based on the study, that the guards see the prisoners as less than human or that they are dehumanized in some way?ZIMBARDO: That happens automatically, yes. You can't do this if you see these as college students. You have to see it as dangerous prisoners. In fact, in our prison the guards didn't allow the prisoners to bathe, so they smelled badly.BROWN: Yes. ZIMBARDO: They didn't allow them to go to the toilet. They had buckets in their cells so they urinated, defecated in this so the whole place smelled terrible and the guards began to think of the prisoners as animals, exactly as in the Iraqi prison where some of the guards reputedly said look at these animals. Look at the terrible things they're doing.
BROWN: Just one more quick question, is it, does it have to be a group? Does the fact that there is a group at play help determine the behavior?ZIMBARDO: Yes. It very rarely happens when it's an individual. Where you have a group, you have group camaraderie. You have new group norms about -- that determine what is acceptable, what is appropriate and then the group puts pressure on one another.You also typically have one or two people who lead the way. We call that social modeling. They're going to display, you know, the kinds of things that are now acceptable in that situation.The other thing that happened in the Iraqi situation is you have a veil of secrecy, which actually cloaks all prisons, so nobody knows on the outside what's happening. Once the people inside know that they know they can get away with anything, including "getting away with murder" because there's no accountability.
BROWN: Professor, it was fascinating 33 years ago. It remains fascinating today. Thank you, sir. It's good to talk to you.ZIMBARDO: Thank you and I hope the message gets carried to the public.BROWN: It just did. Thank you, sir, very much.ZIMBARDO: You're welcome.BROWN: Coming up tonight on the program something we've heard a lot from viewers, why show these pictures at all? Jonah Goldberg joins us to talk about that.And next the power of pictures down through the years, we'll take a break first.This is NEWSNIGHT.(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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