March 31, 2018

Holy Saturday, or the Harrowing of Hell



This is reposted from 2013, with a few updates:

The time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is an interesting part of the traditional Christian calendar. It symbolized the only day of the year in which Christ is thought of as being dead. By tradition, it is also the only day of the year in which the Holy Eucharist is not celebrated (except in cases of emergencies).

In Christian tradition, lots of interesting legends developed around this day. Some passages in the New Testament suggest that Jesus descended to the realms of the dead to bring liberation to captive spirits. Apocryphal gospels from the second and third centuries elaborated this theme. In the late classical and medieval period, legends bloomed about the "Harrowing of Hell" in which the spirit of Jesus trashed the place while freeing the souls of the virtuous. In Dante's Inferno, both the architecture and geography of Hell show the aftershocks of that cataclysmic event nearly 1300 years later.

I love the image of captive spirits who have long ago given up hope being suddenly and unexpectedly rescued by a power far greater than themselves or the forces that hold them down. We could use a good bit more of that.

Right now.

March 30, 2018

More snark on SNAP

Thanks to a good friend and reader of this blog, it has come to my attention that I left out something important in yesterday's post, which is copied below in italics.

In it, I contrasted the cost of a good meal for one at the Greenbrier resort, owned by WV's governor and wealthiest person, with the average amount daily SNAP benefits.

The occasion for the post came after the governor failed to veto a mean-spirited SNAP bill that will result in thousands of low income West Virginians losing food assistance, take millions of dollars out of the state's economy and stress already stretched charities. During Holy Week, which is kind of tacky.

Anyhow, in the post I did the math--always a dangerous thing--and found out that the cost of a big meal for one person would cover SNAP benefits for an adult for 39 days.

My friend pointed out that I neglected the tip, a major faux pas on my part since I'm all about not stiffing working people. At 20 percent, that would come to $31.40. When you add that to the total, it comes to $188.40, which adds another eight days to the total.

It may or may not be a coincidence that the number of 47 days is exactly one day longer than the penitential season of Lent (if you count the Sundays), which ends on Easter Sunday. Traditionally, Lent was observed with fasting.

Living on $4 in food assistance a day, those lucky ducks on SNAP get to observe Lent every day.

No, I'm not over it.

Here's yesterday's post minus the links:

Contrasting SNAP benefits with a meal at the Greenbrier

I'm wondering whether anyone else sees the irony or something when the richest person in the state, who also happens to be governor, refuses to veto a bill that will take away food assistance from thousands of West Virginians with very low incomes during Holy Week?

The governor, by the way, owns the Greenbrier resort, at which many of you may not have stayed or eaten (I know I haven't). I poked around the interwebs and found the following menu options for dinner for one there:

Red wine, mid-range,           $48
First Course bisque                 $9
Second course risotto             $15
Entree lamb shank                 $49
Chocolate souffle dessert       $14
Dessert wine                           $17
Cappuchino                              $5


That comes to $157.

 Hmmm....SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits for low income people amount to around $4 per day.

That means that for the cost of one big feed for one person at the Greenbrier is equivalent to what someone on SNAP gets to live on for slightly over 39 days. 

I don't want to sound like a hatchet man, but put that in your tackle box and smoke it.

March 29, 2018

Contrasting SNAP benefits with a meal at the Greenbrier

I'm wondering whether anyone else sees the irony or something when the richest person in the state, who also happens to be governor, refuses to veto a bill that will take away food assistance from thousands of West Virginians with very low incomes during Holy Week?

The governor, by the way, owns the Greenbrier resort, at which many of you may not have stayed or eaten (I know I haven't). I poked around the interwebs and found the following menu options for dinner for one there:

Red wine, mid-range,           $48
First Course bisque                 $9
Second course risotto             $15
Entree lamb shank                 $49
Chocolate souffle dessert       $14
Dessert wine                           $17
Cappuchino                              $5


That comes to $157.

 Hmmm....SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits for low income people amount to around $4 per day.

That means that for the cost of one big feed for one person at the Greenbrier is equivalent to what someone on SNAP gets to live on for slightly over 39 days. 

I don't want to sound like a hatchet man, but put that in your tackle box and smoke it.


March 27, 2018

What some Boone County students learned during the strike

I'm very proud of this op-ed by Juliana Perdue, Manar Hesino and Jazmine Aliff, students with the American Friends Service Committee’s youth leadership program at Sherman High School in Boone County. They were all over the strike and even organized a huge youth-led march in support of teachers at the capitol.

Coretta Scott King once said: “Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. I don’t believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.”

During this year’s legislative session, we’ve seen the truth of this in action. Teachers gave West Virginia students a live civics lesson in genuine democracy and peaceful protesting that yielded actual results.

Before the strike, our teachers already set an amazing example for us of what it looks like to truly care about your job and your community.

They don’t just spend eight hours a day, five days a week on students. They stay after school to tutor us, take time out of their weekends to grade our work and help us improve.

They act as counselors for kids who can’t always access one, buy classroom supplies with their own money. They work in overcrowded classrooms and in schools with record numbers of unfilled teaching positions. They hold summer school for students who were held back, help struggling seniors graduate and give us college and life advice.

Some legislators appear to expect teachers to do all of this while being paid less than their colleagues in 48 other states. This explains why many have left West Virginia for more favorable working conditions elsewhere.

Some legislators who opposed the strike cited kids going hungry while not in school as a reason to shut it down. They said that it was for the sake of the children, but then they opposed the pay raise and fixing instead of freezing PEIA, which directly affects these same kids.

As students, we know that the decision to go on strike was not taken lightly. Our teachers aren’t selfish. They were the first people to think of the strike’s effect on their students. There was much debate and worry that the school staff expressed for us.

But while we weren’t in school, we saw organizations, church programs, teachers, school staff and community members step up to feed and care for children. They packed food bags for those who needed it, checked in on families and continued to make lessons plans and send homework to us.

On the other hand, the legislators who opposed the pay raise and health insurance funding set a different example for us.

They showed through their actions that teachers, and therefore students, are not a priority. They set a bad example through mean tactics and name-calling. We’ve heard all sorts of disdainful comments about teachers lately:

*Calling them “dumb bunnies.”

*Suggesting “they should get a second job” rather than a well-deserved pay raise.

*Insinuating that they don’t need a raise if they’ve been helping take care of kids’ needs during the strike.

*Bragging about “a pretty cushy life” to a group of teachers.

This sets an infantile example for students and suggests that this is an acceptable way to deal with serious, adult problems.

This is the opposite of what we learn in school.

Students supported the teachers during the strike because they dedicate their whole lives to us. They have the most important job, and they stand up for us. Money isn’t what motivates them, it’s the love for what they do.

This is why we don’t mind sacrificing our breaks because in the long run we know that we did what’s right for the teachers, other public employees and the students.

Watching all of our teachers, school service workers, fellow students and community members come together has made a fiercely positive impact on our likelihood of staying or coming back to live in West Virginia after school.

It has given us more hope for the future of the state. It’s easier to see ourselves staying here and calling this place our home.

To our elected officials: As future voters and leaders in this state, we see the value in our teachers and service personnel and education system as a whole, and hope that you will consider this going into the next election.

Do not doubt us because of our young age, but instead consider the power we have.

See us as a resource that should be invested in, not as a line item that can be cut without consequences.

We are paying attention to your words and actions, and we know what side is the right one to be on.

Again in the words of Coretta Scott King: “Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.”

We believe that this session has shown that West Virginians are willing to earn their freedom — freedom to learn in a safe environment, to earn a living with one job, to have affordable healthcare.

We hope that voter turnout in upcoming elections shows this, too.