Friday, September 21, 2007
A Woman in Black
I don't know how soon I will be able to join them again, with a trip and a major surgery coming up in our lives, but I intend to when I can.
The messy fighting and in Iraq continues. Is it a war? Is there such a possibility as victory or success? I can't conceive what it would be. As a NYT columnist said, there are no good outcomes there. We must now choose among bad ones. For the record, we had drive-out days in July (a movable day, due to vacation travels), August, and September. I hope others will post their experiences and thoughts.
Blessings.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Another drive-out day--"early June"
It is again a beautiful day in Reno, and we will enjoy staying around our apartment, or taking a walk or bike ride.
The bill signed this week means that this war will not start winding down for several months, at least, but we should not give up. And we can work all the harder against global climate change! I note the work at the Environmental Defense Fund website on a Declaration of what it now means to be a patriot. I call on all you patriots to chime in!
My heart is full as I hold in it several things:
- Jack's 98-year-old aunt, who was hospitalized yesterday with what is likely terminal heart failure.
- His other coastal Georgia relatives and my coastal Florida relatives (East Coast), with the prediction of a very active hurricane season, fueled by the warming waters of the Atlantic.
- Our oldest son's birthday tomorrow, which several years ago his brother made into a new holiday--ThanksBrian Day--just half-way around the year from Thanksgiving Day. May 27 is a day to seek out ten people in your life and tell them that you are thankful for what they have done in the past year (or better yet, invite them to a potluck party, to which they may invite the ten people they want to thank).
Thank you to all who are with us in driving out war!
Saturday, May 12, 2007
May-day
In the evening we were signed up for a fund-raising dinner at our church. It's only 7 minutes away by car, and a short-cut through a nearby park (Bartley Ranch) to a trail that comes out behind the church makes it a very pleasant, though hilly and dusty, walk. We had a fine time at the dinner and a lovely walk back. As we left Bartley Ranch Park, we realized it had "closed" a few hours earlier. Speculating on what we would have done had a ranger come along, we thought our defense that we had had two drinks each, thus shouldn't have been driving or walking along the narrow semi-rural roads, would have been adequate.
Jack had again fasted all day, as well as not driving, until the dinner.
This weekend I had a chance to speak out publicly against the war. Senator Harry Reid's office had called a couple of members of the local interfaith clergy group which I attend, and asked them to put together a Clergy Speak-out against the war on Friday, May 11. I did not formally enlist as a speaker, but John Auer, the very gracious minister of the downtown Reno Methodist Church, on whose steps it was held, opened it up for me and any other religious leaders present to speak after the planned speeches.
In an extemporaneous speech, I said something like this:
"I am Betsy Darr, the Director of Religious Education at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northern Nevada. I am proud to claim Julia Ward Howe [whose Mothers’ Peace Day proclamation had been read to open the speak-out] as a foremother in my Unitarian faith.
I am tempted to say, “I told you so.” Though we don’t claim to be great analysts of world affairs, before this war was started my husband and I were pretty sure it would be a big mistake. So we marched, along with friends from the San Francisco Unitarian church, and a few hundred thousand others, in at least two marches in San Francisco. We believed that this war would stir up more antagonism toward our country and that it would further alienate us from the international community, which is probably our greatest hope at this point.
[We think we have been proved correct. But it is not fun or satisfying to say I told you so. (I forgot to deliver this punch line!)]
I waffled for a couple of years in my attitude toward the war—on the china shop rule—if you broke it, you fix it. But now I am convinced that it is time to pull out, on a very rapid timetable. [Not to mention all the suffering that is occurring in Iraq right now,] we are creating death and suffering in a huge number of young women and men, for which we will pay for many years to come. I don’t know what will happen in Iraq when we do, but it is no riskier than what we are doing now."
This was my speak-out weekend: A column I submitted to the local paper (Reno Gazetter-Journal) on global warming was printed today on the Faith Page.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Drive Out the War, and Fast!
I found that fasting was more personally significant than not driving (because I minimize my driving most days) and it brought the solidiers and their families to my mind more often (like every time a pang of hunger struck) than did failing to drive on the first Saturday of February
Tomorrow, April 7, I plan to both refrain from driving and fast.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Drive-Out 2nd Try
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
drive-free day
We stayed at home here in Reno until dinner-time, when we walked to the nearby strip mall for Thai food at a place we really like.
My only regret is that I didn't get my car washed. But it is likely to rain or snow here tomorrow or the next day, so it will either get cleaner or dirtier very soon.
Fasting in the Dark
The fast went well. We did a 24 hour fast to drive out the war. Just water. We also unplugged from the grid (everything except the refrig) for 24 hours, again to drive out the war. We plan to do this with Jack and Betsy and everyone else every first Saturday of the month as long as the war goes on. Will you be joining in? The steady withdrawal of support for the wrong has a long tradition going way back to the Luddites and beyond.
A relatively modern day Luddite, Lewis Mumford, put our struggle in perspective:
"Though no immediate and complete escape from the ongoing power system is possible, least of all through mass violence, the changes that will restore autonomy and initiative to the human person all lie within the province of each individual soul, once it is roused. Nothing could be more damaging to the myth of the machine, and to the dehumanized social order it has brought into existence, than a steady withdrawal of interest, a slowing down of tempo, a stoppage of senseless routines and mindless acts." ( in Pentagon of Power p. 433)
Best Wishes,
Irv and Cynthia
Monday, January 29, 2007
Alternatives for the Car-less
Two who did add their names expressed concern for whether they should join despite having been car-less for quite some time (one for 17 years). They have committed to alternative ways to mark the day: (1) Irv Kurki plans to fast February 3rd; (2) Cynthia Snow plans to use no electricity (except for her refrigerator).
I would like to encourage other car-less people to share the ways they intend to sacrifice and remember the soldiers and their families.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Genesis
Sunday, January 21, 2007
The Drive-out begins...
We invite you to send this announcement to your friends, and if you can join us in our commitment, add your name to the list below. Please check out our blog (DriveOutWar.blogspot.com) and feel free to share your experience in our attempt to "Drive out the War."
Thank you for your time.
Betsy, Jack, Karen, Alex, and Brian Darr
Drive out the War
Saturday, February 3, All Day
To Support the Troops
Bring Them Home
On the first Saturday in February my family will be participating
in a “No Driving” day.
We hope that you, your family, your friends, their families, etc.,
will join us and will spread the word to others.
People may participate for any number of reasons, but most
important to our family are:
(2) Not driving addresses the role oil plays in this war.
(We are asking for only one day from you, but for as long as U.S.- caused deaths in Iraq continue we intend to “Drive-out” on the
first Saturday of each month. Please join us.)