Saying "NO" to Nukes, Cannibalism & Courts

by Steve Jacobs Nukes The nuclear weapons plant at Bannister Rd in Kansas City is contaminated and too many workers are coming down with lethal diseases. So the city council, fearful of lost federal money for the economy when the plant closed, decided to issue municipal bonds (around $815 million) to hire JB Dunn construction to build a gigantic facility and lease it to the federal govt so they can continue to modernize our nuclear arsenal. Rather than build a plant that produces solar cells to employ people and nurture life, they've invested in weapons of mass destruction which are a mortal threat to our existence. The city council condemned a soybean field on the outskirts of town under an "urban blight" clause to obtain the land for this, transforming life giving farmland into an investment in utter destruction. The city will own this facility, an illicit wedding of municipal government to the military/industrial production of WMD's. Catholic Archbishop Francis Chillikatt said, "Viewed from a legal, political, security and most of all moral perspective, there is no justification today for the continued maintenance of nuclear weapons." Pope Benedict said, "With development needs across the globe outpacing the resources being devoted to address them, the thought of pouring hundreds of billions of additional dollars into the world's nuclear arsenals is nothing short of sinful." The Catholic church opposes nuclear weapons because they do not discriminate between combatants and innocent civilians and there production and use is immoral and the ones that have been used on Japan continue killing long after their initial use.

FALL 2011

Words matter. Inspired words matter more. Words that provoke action are dangerous and subversive to the powers that be and those who hope to keep their priveleged status. If our words don't reflect our actions, then those words don't mean much. I must admit I've been inspired to do seemingly crazy things by words. Like standing in front of a 30 ton earth moving machine whose operator is being paid to build a nuclear weapons plant. The possibility of getting run over and crushed by a bulldozer is directly contradictory to my lifelong aspiration of dying from natural causes. (Continued on p. )

All the Green Plants for Food

By Jake Garanzini and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food Genesis 1:30 Last fall preparations began in the backyard of the St. Francis House for a vegetable garden. Hedges were removed and branches trimmed for more light, and compost was added to the garden in anticipation of spring growth. After a slow start, things really got moving on the new St. Francis Community Garden late in the Spring. It became an official member of the Columbia Community Garden Coalition which got us access to seeds, equipment and the incredible knowledgeable Dan Fister. Through the efforts of Elly, Brit, Liz Doyle, another young Newmanite, and myself we got two beds ready for planting late in the Spring season. Despite drought and questionable soil conditions the garden is doing well, producing some tomatoes, spicy peppers, and basil, with chives and sweet potatoes yet to be harvested. We put in around 11 tomato plants, 6 pepper plants, two basil, two chives, and some cucumbers for good measure. But we did not stop there. We have added another large raised bed which has nearly doubled our available gardening space. We hope to plant our spinach and lettuce starts for some fall harvesting in the coming weeks. If this doesnt work we will try and get an early spring crop of spinach. All of the fruits, and vegetables, of our labor go to the house to help feed the guests and volunteers. Agriculture and gardening are foundational to the Catholic Worker mindset. Peter Maurin in on of his easy essays Regard for the Soil states that the answer to industrialization lies in a return to an agrarian lifestyle by most of the people and that ignorance of the importance of soil does not release us urbanites from our dependence upon the farm. In another essay Peter also says that this change is up to Catholics.

2. Why Catholics? Because they realize more clearly than any others the shortcomings of the old capitalist industrial system. 3. They, better than others, see the threat that impends. 4. They alone understand that while the family is the primary social unit, the community comes next. 5. And there is no sound and righteous and enduring community where all its members are not substantially of one mind. Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth. 1 Corinthians 3:7.

Up To Catholics
1. Ralph Adams Cram says: What I propose is that Catholics should take up this back-to-the-land problem and put it into operation.

Theres a (Student) Doctor in the House!

William and Robby Jones celebrate Robbys first week of medical school at the University of Missouri. Robby is still suited up from the White Coat Ceremony that marked the beginning of his medical studies. William is probably thinking about how hes going to get to Aldis.

Walking the Walk, 10 Years On

By Ruth ONeill Courage, brother, you do not walk alone. We will walk with you, and sing your spirit home.-- Eric Bogle We sing in church about seeking bread for the journey, but where are we walking? This edition of our newsletter is full of articles about our journey down Catholic Worker Road. Steve Jacobs getting arrested all over the world. Jake and Elly and their friends planting seeds to provide our houses with the sustenance of fresh vegetables at harvest time. Rachael accompanying guests to an array of intimidating bureaucratic offices in search of assistance. Britts accidental journey out west. They are telling you about their own adventures on the road. We hope that the road we travel is a road of justice, that along the way, the yokes of injustice will break and the chains of oppression will slide off our sisters and brothers. We want this road to lead to a place where we realize that you cant get to peace by waging war. But sometimes that road seems so long, it seems more Obstacle than Way. When will we get there? It seems we have been travelling so long already, but our destination still seems like its out of sight. Ten years ago, I was a volunteer at the Catholic Worker. My new friends at the Worker intrigued me; we seemed to believe so many things in common. I was not sure about some of the things they did. Was that really going to work? I wondered, back in the day when I thought that witness was designed for an immediate, tangible outcome. But directly doing the corporal works of mercy, I connected with that, and it was great to finally see how my personal pacifism meshed with root (rad) Catholic beliefs. Ten years ago, I saw a friend who had just come from the University of Missouri campus. She said she saw a girl there, dressed in fatigues, holding a sign that said former pacifist. I knew then that I had to decide whether to hunker down in anger and despair, or walk the hard and bumpy road that beckoned. Ten years ago, I read Jesus lament to Jerusalem: If this day you only knew, the things that make for peace (Lk 19:41-42). I heard a priest remind the assembly that Jesus loves not only the victims in the towers but the men who drove the planes. I felt powerless, but decided not to fall victim to war hysteria. Ten years ago, I stuck a sign that said Peace is Patriotic in my office window. I worked on the sixth floor of a building across the street from the Missouri governors mansion . The sign stayed there until I left that job 4 years later.

Ten years ago, I knew a man named Ray, who saw dogs in the clouds and loved cherry pie. His death set me on this road as surely as anything. Ten years ago, people were hungry, people were homeless, and people were oppressed. Mental illness trapped many on the road to despair. Ten years on, I suspect that some things will never change. Ten years ago, we talked about loving your enemies, not killing them. Ten years on, we face violence daily in our communities and our world. Ten years ago, our nation was conned into believing that war was the response to a small group of fanatics committing a horrible violent crime. Our nation was promised that the sacrifice would be limited to the 3,000 Americans and others who perished on September 11. That this would be a quick and easy war, a war without any further sacrifice. Ten years on, we are reaping the whirlwind. We are making the sacrifices that were deferred so the war profiteers could fill their plates. Ten years ago, we were told it would be easy. Ten years on, the powerful tell us we have to step up with our nearly empty plates and give until it hurts as the US poverty rate hits an 18 year high. As we walk with the powerless, we share the contents of our own meager plates with them. Ten years ago, I began this journey, and sometimes I wish it would end, but this journey is the life I chose. Ten years on, my journey embraces a community where we walk with the poor, the hungry, the wounded, and the homeless, and where we stand beside one another to confront the powerful who would drive the poor off the road and into the ditch. Ten years ago, I first heard these words of Archbishop Oscar Romero, We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it well. It may be incomplete but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lords grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own. Ten years ago, I did not know what that meant. Ten years on, I am finally beginning to understand.

Please remember in your prayers our friends and former guests who have died including John Deak & Sr. Jackie Hudson.

In Memoriam:

Saying No to Nukes. (Cont from p.1) But we had faith in the humanity of the heavy equipment operators moving tons of earth at Kansas City's new nuclear weapon's plant. They shut down their machines rather than run us over because they didn't want to be personally responsible for someone's death. With real bodies on the line their humanity won out. Too bad the developers who are spending millions to build the new weapons of mass destruction plant can't see past their own paychecks to the millions of corpses these weapons might make. It's a self-delusional trick some folks use to convince themselves that our short term profit won't result in catastrophic mistakes. Cannibalism We signed a treaty with the Russians cutting the nuclear arsenals but the U.S. Senate refused to ratify it unless billions more are spent building new plants to produce better modern weapons. It is a madness that cannibalizes the future for short term job security of building weapons that are a mortal threat to our existence. Perhaps a few more cannibalism metaphors will illuminate my point. They say war is good for the economy and I suppose that is true the same way that cannibalism is nutritious. And H.L. Mencken wrote; "If politicians discovered they had cannibals as constituents, they would promise them missionaries" Abby Hoffman elaborated; "I believe in compulsory cannibalism. If people were forced to eat what they killed, there would be no more wars." But I digress. One feels rather insignificant next to one these gigantic earthmoving machines and the feeling intensifies when the cops come and put you in jail overnight. Then the court experience takes that insignificance to an even higher level. But throughout these experiences I remembered some of the words that inspired such foolishness: God has chosen the weak things to confound the strong, the fools of this earth to confound the wise. The conventional wisdom of the powerful is that "might makes right". But if might makes right then love has no place in the world. Albert Einstein wrote "Force always attracts men of low morality." JFK said, "Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind. War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today." As persons of faith we Catholic Workers try to take these words seriously. It's easy to note the endless march to oblivion by those invested in war who've driven the country into financial and moral bankruptcy and easy to shrug and say, "There's nothing I can do about it". It's the old excuse, "you can't fight city hall". But to do nothing is to despair and to despair is unbelief. Those

whose footsteps we follow teach us to resist the urge to do nothing. "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." MLK Jr. Our founder, Dorothy Day wrote, "The biggest mistake sometimes is to play things very safe in this life and end up being moral failures". Even the ancients were telling us the same thing: "He who knows that evil is being done and does nothing to stop it, is guilty with the evil doer." - St. Ambrose of Milan. But it's easy to speak and harder to practice. To make a statement does not fulfill an obligation, but announces one. . . what is the church willing to risk to fulfill the obligations attached to their wonderful words on war and peace?" Our faith calls for "Thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven." In other words; live the kingdom now. It's here if you become it. But to act on faith in a world that honors violence and power leads down the road of heavy consequences. As Dan Berrigan explained, "The other name of faith, it's worldly name, it's baptismal name is trouble." Theologian Stanley Hauerwas; "Jesus did not come to make us safe, but rather He came to make us disciples". Not only, disciples but partners! As Rabbi Abraham Heschel explains, "To be is to stand for, and what human beings stand for is the great mystery of being God's partner. God is in need of human beings. . . the grand premise of religion is that man is able to surpass himself". So, there have been five acts of resistance at Kansas City's WMD production plants, or as we like to say, "divine obedience" and I've been lucky to participate in three. I've gone to court and been convicted of trespass. That means I'm a criminal to some, or as I prefer to say, "a person of convictions". But as Dan Berrigan wrote; "In a criminal time, the innocent man must choose to be a criminal. When authority has betrayed us, the patriot must bear the stigma of traitor. I choose to be a criminal precisely because I will have no part in my country's crimes. I choose to become a traitor to a land which day after day betrays the best hopes of man." You don't have to be religious to be in my shoes either according to Thomas Jefferson who said; "When injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes duty". Courts On July 19th I appeared the second time before Judge Elena Franco. The first time she was in total control and only allowed us to say if we were on city property and refused to leave. She wasn't interested in reasons or motives. We were fined but refused to pay and went home. This time she started out the same way, cutting off every attempt by my Catholic Worker codefendants to explain their motives and sentencing

us to fines. I'd prepared a statement to the court but knew if the pattern continued I'd never get to say it. So, I decided to use some legal jargon I'd picked up from past appearances before various judges and when she called my name and asked me how I pled to the charges of trespass, I said, "Judge, I'm willing to plead guilty if you will guarantee my right to explain my intentions which may have a mitigating effect on the way you sentence me. I've written an explanation which I believe will only take about three minutes of your time." She said, "Since you have the possibility of a jail sentence, I will allow it". So, I took out my statement and read: Your honor; I am guilty of this: I am guilty of knowing the difference between what is legal and what is right. Jesus tells us that the law is meant to serve humanity; humanity is not meant to serve the law. Laws are just when they serve humanity and not when they protect those who create a mortal threat to its existence. Trespass laws which protect the makers of weapons of mass destruction against non-violent resisters have no authority over my conscience and acts of resistance. I am guilty of trespass the same way a firefighter or a policeman is guilty or trespass when entering onto property in order to prevent a greater crime from occurring. You may believe the danger of nuclear annihilation is not imminent or that building these weapons of mass destruction are legal but I believe that any weapon that indiscriminately kills hundreds of thousands of innocents along with those who are targeted are immoral and have no right to exist. Creating more makes their use more imminent so we have a duty to stop their production now. Catholic bishops tell us that these weapons are immoral because if used they will continue to kill the innocent year after year from the effects of nuclear fallout and contamination. I am guilty of believing them. I am guilty of believing that any city which wishes to operate facilities to manufacture parts for weapons of mass destruction should put the issue to a vote before the citizens and those who are morally opposed to these weapons cannot be made to pay taxes which enable their production because it is a violation of their conscience. I am guilty of believing judges have a duty to protect society from criminal schemes which condemns farm land under "urban blight" laws so that WMD's can be produced there and that they (judges) also have a duty to protect citizens from war profiteers who socialize construction of WMD's and privatize the profits.

I am guilty of loving my planet more than I fear your jail. Therefore, I cannot pay any fine to a city that operates a weapons plant or do community service as I do that every day at St. Francis House in Columbia, but I am willing to do any amount of jail time that you give me. The court erupted with applause. But she did not seem to want defendants telling her how to sentence them. She said she was not going to put me in jail but to fine me $500. Again, I told her I wouldn't pay but she said to take it up with the clerk and if I didn't pay after several weeks a warrant would be issued for my arrest. Des Moines Catholic Worker, Frank Cordaro was next and described his interaction with the judge. "I began by telling the judge that I agreed with everything that Steve Jacobs had said in his previous statement. I too, was not going to pay any fines or do any community service. Then I told her, 'There is yet another reason I am not going to pay any fine or court cost levied against me. It has to do with the system, the justice system". I told the judge, "This is not personally directed at you judge, but at the whole justice system." We, Catholic Workers are known for doing the Works of Mercy in our houses of hospitality; feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting the prisoner and housing the homeless. For our guests, doing jail time is as common as the common cold. It's a fact of life in the lives of the poor and people of color whom we serve. The single most common reason for them being in jail is their lack of money." "They say you get the justice you can afford in this country. If you have a million dollars, you'll get a million dollars worth of justice and if you've got two cents, you'll get two cents worth. It's even worse for the poor because the system nickel and dimes them to death with all the court costs, fees and fines levied against them. In some cities, like Des Moines, they even get charged jail fees at $48 a day! Some will never get out of debt. When I talked to one local KC attorney about representing us here in court today he said that this Municipal Court was nothing more than a 'collection agency'. Hardly a place where justice is served." You know as well as I do, Judge, that the majority of the people locked up in your jail are poor and people of color and they are there primarily because they don't have the money to get themselves out. So, I am telling you, your honor, if you sentence me to jail today, every day will be a privileged day in which I can share the plight of the poor, whom we serve at our Catholic Workers". The court room spontaneously filled with applause but just as quickly silenced by the court bailiff. Now it was Judge Franco's turn to talk. She leaned (cont p. 6)

across the bench and her voice carried all the way to the back of the court room. She said that before she was a judge, she was a defense lawyer for 25 years and often defended the same kind of people we serve at our CW's. She said she knew well the demographics of the KC jail and did not disagree with us on these facts. Judge Franco was especially aware of the role of mental health in the criminal justice system saying, "Our county jails are probably the biggest mental health facilities in this country." She told us that she became a judge in hopes of being able to better the plight of the poor and the mentally ill. She listed a number of programs that she helped get started that serve the needs of indigent inmates, homeless vets and the mentally ill. She told us that, as a judge, she has lobbied at the state level to prevent cutting mental health care. She said, "It was the dumbest thing the state legislators ever did when they cut mental health funds." When she was done speaking the court room erupted in applause again. And the court bailiff tried to silence the room. When the court room returned to silence, Judge Franco gave Frank the same sentence she gave Steve Jacobs and Ed Bloomer - a $500 fine plus court costs, to be paid within 90 days. Then Judge Franco smiled and said, "But I'm sure that you'll eventually be found in contempt of court." Frank told the judge, "I already am." And she said, "I know." We have chosen to be powerless criminals in a time of criminal power. We have chosen to be branded as peace criminals by war criminals. - Dan Berrigan

to say that three of us at the St. Francis Catholic Worker have put ourselves at personal risk to say we do not want these weapons as they go against everything we believe is fair and just. Robby Jones and Britt Hultgren got their first arrests in these actions and Britt spent his first night in jail and lived to tell the tale. At a previous trial I heard the judge say, that the courts were not the forum for getting our issues heard and we should direct them to the city council. Well, we've done that. A group of activists got enough petitions signed in KC to have a vote to ban any manufacture of parts that could be used to make WMD's or nukes. And when the city council found out there was gonna be a democratic vote of the people in November, they voted to strike the ballot issue by claiming a vote would interfere with federal powers and was thereby unconstitutional. So, they don't want us to act outside the system of law but when we follow the law and get it on the ballot for a vote, they won't allow that either. The human desire to create instruments for our own destruction is so deeply rooted in our insecurities and fears of the 'other' that we've lost our sense of moral direction and violated God's commandment to treat others as we wish to be treated and to love our enemies. God help us all. We need a combination of love, courage and wisdom and as the old Catholic Worker radical Ammon Hennacy explained; "Love without courage and wisdom is sentimentality, as with the ordinary church member. Courage without love and wisdom is foolhardiness, as with the ordinary soldier. Wisdom without love and courage is cowardice, as with the ordinary intellectual. The one who has love, courage and wisdom is one in a million, who moves the world, as with Jesus, Buddha and Gandhi.

Lessons From the Road

By Britt Hultgren Had all gone as planned this summer, I would have ridden my bicycle from Seattle to San Diego. Initially, I had dreams of biking to apple farms in Washington, visiting boutique breweries in Oregon, and slumbering beneath the immense redwoods as they guarded the Earth. Instead, a thief in Seattle rode away with my bike on the first day of the tour, so I ended up hitch hiking down the long and rocky coastal shoulder, sleeping in parks, shelters, and on the side of the road. Staying at a rescue mission in Oregon, I met a Mexican immigrant named Anselmo. He had lived in the (cont. p 7)

Our own Britt Hultgren, front, crossing the line.

So, we had an extraordinary moment where our prophetic witness spoke truth to power. Most judges go their entire careers on the bench and never encounter anyone who dares to hold up a light to rulings they make which protect the powerful and exploit the poor. Nor do they ever have defendants who expose holes in the dominant theory that our American justice system is fair or that justice is blind to class, status and race. I'm proud

USA for more than eleven years, but still he only spoke a few words of English. When I complained to him that the staff at the shelter were treating me poorly, Anselmo responded that despite living in the mission for years, the staff ignored him completely--unless they were ridiculing his mental capacity or his ethnicity. Mostly he sat muted on the periphery, trying to attract as little attention as possible. He thanked me for taking the time to listen to him, saying he didn't even care if people understood what he was saying--it was just nice to be heard. I told him it was nothing, though it was clear that speaking with him as a friend brought him happiness. When I left, Anselmo cried. He told me that we would meet again and bike around the country together. He handed me a sketch he made of a ninja. Goodbye my sweet prince, I told him in English. He smiled knowingly. When you are camping, be careful for the hours of the bears, he said as his parting words. I frowned. Of the police that I encountered, one officer in southern Oregon stands out to me. It was nearly dark when a cruiser pulled up next to me, and an officer climbed out. At this point, after several nights in the rain and cool, I was neither clean nor healthy. I was sniffling and coughing and my pants were ripping at the knees. Earlier that day I traded a clean shirt for some food from a meth dealer--a trade I regretted as I stood there waiting to be hassled. But he told me that I looked cold (I was) and that I could use a sheltered spot to camp (I could), so he offered to drive me seven miles up the road to a nice campsite where I could curl up under a tree at no charge. I was nonplussed. The compassionate way that he engaged me as a human being rather than just another bum really impressed me. It still does. Further south, in front of a giant, garish Paul Bunyan in Klamath, California, a man named Pat gave me a 150 mile lift. It turned out he was involved in psychiatric social work, and spent most of his life working with homelessness in the States. He described in terms of the topographical psyche how mental illness is frequently either contrived or greatly amplified by the circumstances in which people live, particularly in the context of homelessness and poverty. The bottom line, he said in his wizened way, is not to write someone off as crazy just because they act that way. It might be a coping mechanism. Or it might be that they have an illness, but not to the extent that they need to heavily medicate. Could be that they need to ween off of their medication in chorus with a positive, constructive environment. Thats what he had to say, anyway. Now that Im off the road and back in my community, how can I integrate into my daily actions what Ive learned? Im going to speak kindly (at least

once) to every guest. I will work to build and strengthen a positive environment for people with mental health issues--whether perceived or real. I will also struggle to find the best practices for handling mental health issues within the community. Im going to go easier on police. I'll work harder at treating people decently, because treating people decently is just plain the best way to do it. Things did not turn out as planned, but Ive gained enough out of the alternative West Coast tour to be okay with the way things turned out. Hell, I even got to commiserate with the redwoods for a few days.

Advocacy and Bureaucracy By Rachael Krall

As the President and Congress try to figure out debt ceilings, job creation, our wounded economy and taxes, people from each side of the debate tend to look primarily at dollar signs and holding agencies accountable. While these issues need to be addressed, a very important part of the situation seems lacking. The government can make and support agencies, budgets and entities with the mission to help those in need, but many times they end up making it more complicated. In the almost ten years I have been involved in and working with this community, I have found that many times someone needs an advocate to help them access services and programs. I have spent nights and days in the E/R to help the medical staff listen to and treat their problems. I have accompanied people to apply for food stamps, disability, housing, etc. who either cannot read or who cannot understand the forms. I have frequently called agencies to help people get resources they need. I am the first to say that I don't understand enough about the economy and national debt to give a solution for our complicated financial problems. I do know, however, that the current standoff will likely result in cuts to programs that assist the poor; programs that many homeless and impoverished people use and need. Regardless, people in need require advocates. Its not enough to just put ourselves in the shoes of people in need. We must look deeper and see through their eyes, the eyes of a person who cannot read and/or understand the forms, the eyes of someone who does not understand how agencies and programs work, or how to fill out an application for housing, resources or jobs. Sometimes it just means taking someone to the E/R and holding their hand and helping them talk to their doctors and nurses. In a financial time when many of us feel helpless about the economy and taxes, we can all be an advocate in some way for those in need.

Look Who It Is.Meet Elly! Hello there newsletter readers. My name is Elly, and I am a new community member at Saint Francis House/Lois Bryant House. St. Louis is my hometown. I grew up there with my parents, sister, brother, and Pippy Longstocking, our dog. Currently majorless, I am considering the pursuit of a degree in Spanish, sustainable agriculture, special education, biology, or religious studies at Mizzou (using the word 'indecisive' to describe me is probably an understatement). I enjoy climbing trees and eating chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips :-). Growing up, I was familiar with the Catholic Worker Movement, and the lives of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin have always been, and still are, very inspiring to me. I became acquainted with the St. Francis community after visiting with some Sustain Mizzou students and getting to know Jake last year. After spending some time there, I deemed it one of the most wonderful of places and wished to be a part of the assortment of people who make up St. Francis. So, wish granted, I suppose. I am grateful to everyone for making me feel so very welcome, and feel so blessed to be surrounded by such an exceptional group of people. This year, in addition to

improving my skateboarding skills that are currently nonexistent, I hope to learn and grow more into the Catholic Worker community here.

St. Francis Catholic Worker 1001 Rangeline Columbia, MO 65201