Free State Observer

When I was a child, my great-aunt Sister Michaela gave me two hard-bound volumes called ‘Lives of the Saints for Children’.  They featured a Roman Catholic saint for every day of the year, giving the young reader someone to think about, and hopefully model herself after.  Many of the featured saints were martyrs, some of whom died quite gruesomely;  Freddie Krueger ain’t got nothing on the Spanish Inquisition.  Some of the martyrs were even children.  I used to read my little books, and think about each day’s saint quite seriously.  Part of me was inspired and awe-struck by individuals who showed such courage, strength of character, and unbreakable will, making the ultimate sacrifice to defend that in which they believed.  And part of me thought they were just crazy;  for Christ’s sake, just LIE and spare yourself a slow, grisly demise! And I wondered: if I were in those people’s situation, and the powers that be had come for me and put me to the test, how would I respond?

I’ve been remembering my childhood bedtime reading material quite a bit this week (in between working 10 - 12 hour days), because my friend Russell was arrested Monday morning.  It was hardly unexpected;  Russell wanted to get arrested, and had gone out of his way to do so (although this particular arrest came a few days ahead of schedule).  He’s an anarchist, as well as a very religious man, and has decided that he’s simply not going to cooperate any longer with a violent, corrupt and evil political system that robs the hard-working, enslaves the uncooperative and slaughters the innocent.  Over the past year, he has been arrested several times, each time for engaging in a peaceful act of civil disobedience.  The most recent incident involved attempting to distribute anti-government flyers at his local IRS office.  He was arrested, and a few days later when he failed to show up for his scheduled court hearing, armed officers entered his home, shackled him, and took him away.

Part of me is very angry and frustrated with Russell for doing this.  He will be kept in prison for over a month, due to his stated intention to not appear for his trial date.  He intends to fast for 30 days while in prison, and I am concerned for his health.  He has a wife and stepdaughter who are now alone, and friends who won’t be seeing him at scheduled events, and volunteer responsibilities that will have to be picked up by someone else, or left undone.  And for what?   What does this accomplish?

And part of me thinks of Sir Thomas More, the main character in ”A Man for All Seasons” (another bit of Catholic historical propaganda foisted upon me at a very impressionable age, but hey, it *is* a good movie), about a man so true to his convictions that he would not back down and refused to take the Oath of Supremacy proclaiming King Henry VIII the leader of the church, knowing full well it meant his own execution.  And then I think of that Buddhist monk who set himself on fire a few years ago.  And then I think of “V For Vendetta”, and how, yes, technically, blowing up a building is silly, but that’s not the point, it’s a *symbol*… and then I do another 50 mental convolutions before taking a break and having a cup of coffee.

I don’t know where Russell’s single-minded “peaceful revolution” will take him.  I do know I’m going to miss seeing him this Saturday, when he undoubtedly would have teased me for boring him silly by inviting a bunch of politicians to speak at the Merrimack Valley Porcupines meeting. At my Free State Project meet n’ greet, when I was feeling so neurotically shy I went and hung out in the children’s playhouse with the pre-pubescent crowd, he was the only person who came looking for me to chat.  I have watched him stand down armed guards, with the ever-present grin on his face, pleasantly but directly letting them know that no, he will *not* go stand over there because they tell him to.  He’ll stand right here, thanks very much.  I’ve never known anyone so completely unafraid.  And I wonder, in these days of War on Terror, surveillance, taxation, imprisonment, collateral damage, “you’re either with us or against us”, the constitution is “just a goddamned piece of paper”: if the powers that be come for me, and put me to the test, how will I respond?  I don’t know.  But I hope I respond like Russell Kanning.