a little factoid. the crosses in lv

[Hekate]

32. Apparently no good deed goes unpunished at DU. This is how Arlington West was begun, btw...

Amidst the protests against Dubya's invasion of Iraq, one carpenter in Santa Barbara nailed together a pile of crosses, painted them white, and made a "graveyard" on the beach by Stern's Wharf. It was a very effective sight.

You can google Arlington West, Santa Barbara and Veterans for Peace Chapter 54.

Stephen was not a vet, nor am I, but the local chapter of the VFP became involved and Steve continued to make crosses -- one for each dead American soldier in Dubya's stupid war. It was powerful, and we used it as a teaching tool, among other things. It led to a whole movement.

As the chapter secretary, I know the group eventually did discuss the issue of religion and religious symbols. I did not bring it up, but isymbols mean something to me, too: my personal religious journey includes Roman Catholic grandparents, practicing paganism/Goddess worshop, marrying into a Jewish family, and frankly is no one's business. By that point at Arlington West we were putting name cards on the crosses, and people had started to make pilgrimages to publicly mourn family and friends. Cindy Sheehan was one of those pilgrims.

But ultimately, here are my thoughts: what you are going for first is visual impact. Row after row of crosses signals: this is a graveyard. People died. A person who goes to all the trouble of creating it as a form of protest ought to be thanked and helped, not criticized for not being perfect. If helpers want to be totally correct, fine, but they better be prepared to do some research, because in America you can be anything.

Mopinko, thank the "dude from your hometown" on my behalf, will you? He's on to something.