As we watch the war in the Middle East unfold on our television screens, each day bringing new scenes of devastation and horror, more and more I am hearing people say, “This is crazy, there has to be a better way.” These comments are not just coming from my peace and justice friends, the already converted dovish ones I can count on to espouse such things. No, this time I’m hearing this from unexpected quarters, from people I would never have expected it from. Yesterday’s news of 37 children killed in the village of Qana seemed so over the top, so outrageous, that I thought, “that’s it, they have to stop now,” and yet they are not stopping. The rockets continue to rain on Israel and the Israelis will not stop until they feel they have knocked out Hezbollah completely, until they feel safe. And I don’t know when, Hezbollah will ever stop. So we’re probably in this one for a very,very long time.

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An article in the NYTimes titled, “Grannies Charged in Peace Protest Are Acquitted” which appeared on April 27 aroused a number of feelings in me from admiration to anger. The article described the trial of a number of elderly women in New York City who, last October, entered a military recruiting station and said they wanted to enlist; some of them had canes or used walkers. This was a protest against the Iraq War and they were arrested and charged with blocking access to the station. In the trial last week, all were acquitted because they were willing to step aside and let anyone else in who wanted to enlist. The writer of the article made many parallels of the trial of these women to the classic Hollywood movie Miracle on 34th Street and suggested that grannyhood was on trial, similar to putting Kris Kringle in the docket. Definitely a no-win situation and surprise, surprise, the grandmothers were all acquitted.

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Seattle, this very nice city in the beautiful scenic Northwest, is still reeling from a rampage murder last weekend, when a 28 year old man killed 6 young people relaxing after attending a rave party the night before. No one knew the man. He seemed innocuous, although some mentioned he had a bad vibe. He was a big man, a quiet man. He attended the rave, was invited to the house party, came, smoked some dope, drank a bit, and then at 7 o’clock in the morning on this quiet, residential street went out to his truck, got an arsenal of weapons and came back into the house and started shooting. He was reported to have a smile of his face and to have said, “There’s plenty for everyone,” before killing himself as a police officer arrived on the scene.The aftermath of this senseless killing has left people groping for something to make the insanity of it go away.

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