Evangelicals' Faith Leads Them to Issues of Environment, Social Justice

Published in YES! Magazine (Fall 2008: Purple America issue): http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=2845

A passion for environmental action and social justice is spreading in what some may consider unexpected places. Had you walked into Northland, A Church Distributed—an evangelical megachurch in Florida—one Saturday morning last August, you would have found parishioners in Kevlar suits sifting through the congregation’s trash. Their mission: to fulfill what they consider the biblical imperative to be good stewards of the Earth. Led by senior pastor Joel C. Hunter, an advocate of the pro-environment, evangelical Creation Care movement, the churchgoers sorted about 30 bins of trash in order to assess the congregation’s environmental impact.

After the church showed the film “The Great Warming,” featuring National Association of Evangelicals spokesman Richard Cizik, they wanted to take action. When they were finished assessing the congregation’s waste, they created a 140-page audit of the church’s solid waste, energy management, landscaping, and water use, which formed the basis of Northland’s strategy for lowering its carbon footprint. Creation Care at Northland didn’t end there. After services another weekend, the church held a Creation Care event with 30 environmentally-friendly vendors and organizations. Then, in February, evangelical leaders hosted an interfaith summit at Northland, training religious leaders to promote sustainability within their own congregations.

Rev. Hunter is one of a growing number of evangelicals creating an alternative to an evangelical political platform long dominated by hot-button issues such as gay marriage and abortion. While maintaining a socially conservative platform, Hunter and others are expanding their agendas to address concerns such as global warming, poverty, education, and peacemaking. His recent book, A New Kind of Conservative, sounds a call for social justice and compassion for the disadvantaged. According to Hunter, younger generations are avoiding the negative tone and single-issue focus of the Christian Right. “As a movement progresses and matures,” he says, “it begins to define itself by what it’s for instead of what it’s against. It starts to think of pro-life in terms of life outside the womb as well as inside the womb.” He likens this shift to the changes a person goes through while growing up. “When you’re in middle school, you define yourself as who you hate and what you hate. But when you grow up, you start to say, ‘Now, what do I like? What do I want to build? What do I want my life to mean?’”

Black and Hispanic evangelicals have played a major role in shifting the agenda. A 2004 poll by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Inc. for Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and U.S. News & World Report showed that while white evangelicals considered socially conservative moral values their first priority (37%), 41% of black and 34% of Hispanic respondents placed a different moral issue—the economy—first.

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, leader of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC), believes Hispanic evangelicals serve as a natural bridge between the “righteousness platform” of white evangelicals and the “justice platform” of the black church. While the approximately 15 million Hispanic evangelicals in America often oppose abortion and gay marriage, many also hold progressive, populist views on issues such as poverty, health care, education, and racial equality.

Immigration is one contentious issue Rodriguez hopes to see depolarized. The NHCLC envisions a “middle path” between upholding the rule of law and exercising compassion toward the approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants already living in the U.S. In response to HR 4437, the 2005 bill designed to rein in illegal immigration, NHCLC drafted a proposal calling for comprehensive immigration reform that would include penalties and the payment of back taxes while “bringing immigrants out of the shadows” and providing a path to citizenship.

Rodriguez’s concern for social justice stems from his upbringing in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he witnessed economic upheaval and the decline of industry. As the region transformed, he saw rising levels of violence and racial inequality that persisted as the city grew increasingly diverse. In neighboring Allentown, where the high-school graduation rate was only 60.7% in 2005, evangelical pastors are making efforts to become a “firewall” against gang violence and high dropout rates. In collaboration with Allentown mayor Ed Pawlowski, the NHCLC-affiliated Third Day Worship Center launched an initiative to address these problems, creating an after-school mentoring program for at-risk youth. The effort, coinciding with the creation of Allentown’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, was part of Generation Fuerza (Generation Strength), an NHCLC campaign to reduce teen pregnancy, dropout rates, and gang involvement. Generation Fuerza advocates will begin meeting with Congress in October to promote this agenda.

The social justice approach extends beyond the domestic sphere. Evangelicals for Darfur, a member of the Save Darfur Coalition, includes advocates across the political spectrum, from Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention to Jim Wallis, editor of the progressive Sojourners magazine. In 2006, the group ran full-page ads in 10 major newspapers entitled “Without You, Mr. President, Darfur Doesn’t Have a Prayer,” urging support for international peacekeeping forces and multilateral economic sanctions. In addition to pushing for action, the group solicits donations for relief efforts and promotes education about the genocide.

Other evangelical groups are advocating peace between Israelis and Palestinians. They urge a two-state solution to the conflict, offering an alternative to the approach of more visible leaders such as John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and senior pastor of the Cornerstone megachurch in San Antonio, Texas. Hagee is an influential proponent of Christian Zionism, which takes literally the biblical Book of Revelation and views an apocalyptic war in the Middle East as a necessary precursor to the Second Coming of Christ. As Christian Zionists, Hagee and his organization believe that Israel has a divinely sanctioned right to the West Bank and Gaza, and are actively involved in lobbying Washington to oppose “land for peace” and the creation of a Palestinian state.

Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding was founded in part to counter what the organization calls “a rising tide of Western interpretation of the nation of Israel as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.” Its Executive Director, Leonard Rodgers, believes the key to understanding lies in forming personal ties between American evangelicals and Middle Eastern Christians and Muslims, which the group accomplishes through its Living Stones delegations to the region. The organization is especially committed to forging ties with Middle Eastern Christians, a community Rodgers says few Americans are aware of. “When you introduce them and they build a relationship, they begin to understand the Middle East through the eyes of a Middle Easterner,” he says.

Last November, about 100 leaders signed an open letter by Evangelicals for Social Action, a group devoted to social and economic justice. “In the context of our ongoing support for the security of Israel, we believe that unless the situation between Israel and Palestine improves quickly, the consequences will be devastating,” the letter reads, commending Israeli and Palestinian leadership for supporting a two-state solution. The letter reaffirmed the call for peace contained in a July 2007 open letter to President Bush signed by 39 prominent evangelical leaders.

A key factor in the changing face of evangelicalism is the appearance of a young generation that is more expansive in its social outlook. While they are likely to share the socially conservative approach of their parents, younger evangelicals are being shaped by the dynamic world of globalization, technology, and online social networking.

Ben Lowe, 24, studied environmental biology at Wheaton College and is active in several Creation Care groups on Facebook. Last year, he brought together student leaders from 15 campuses for the January 2007 Wheaton Creation Care Summit and participated in Power Shift 2007, joining tens of thousands of other young adults in Washington, D.C. to confront global warming. He now works for A Rocha, a Christian organization devoted to conservation. Although his peers sometimes express suspicion toward environmentalism, they often change their minds once introduced to the issue in a biblical context. “Once we show from the Bible that being good stewards of the environment is our privilege and responsibility,” says Lowe, “then my peers are usually very enthusiastic and supportive.”

Rowan University graduate Dan Lebo, 22, now attends Palmer Theological Seminary. He received a scholarship to work with Evangelicals for Social Action and helped distribute its call for Middle East peace. “The American political landscape can be a very frustrating place for younger evangelicals,” says Lebo, because the issues they care about fall across the spectrum. “It would be very hard to pigeonhole young evangelicals into any political sphere. However, at the same time we are becoming very politically engaged. We realize how important politics can be to the welfare of our society and our world and are understanding that being apathetic about politics doesn’t help anything or anyone.”

Beyond the 'Big Ditch': CAP holds Water Leadership Forum

Published in July 2008 issue of Tucson Green Magazine.

On May 14, the Central Arizona Project (CAP) held a Water Leadership Forum at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, inviting the public to learn about the history and future of Arizona's most valuable resource. In the face of eight years of drought, climate change, and a potential water shortage, the forum explored ways to meet the water needs of Arizona's exploding population.

During the early 1900s, the seven states of the Colorado River Basin--Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah--competed for access to Colorado River water. Out of this debate came the Colorado River Compact of 1922, which divided the states into the upper and lower basins, each allotted 7.5 million acre-feet per year. (One acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons, the amount used annually by an average family).

Legal and political disputes, particularly between Arizona and California, caused Arizona to be the last state to approve the Compact, which it did in 1944. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Colorado River Basin Project Act authorizing construction of CAP, and three years later, the Central Arizona Water Conservation District (CAWCD) was established to manage CAP and reimburse the federal government for construction costs.

From Lake Havasu to south of Tucson, CAP's canal system stretches 336 miles to distribute 1.5 million acre-feet of water per year to Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima Counties. CAP is "more than just a 'big ditch,'" said CAWCD General Manager Sid Wilson. It includes 14 pumping plants, a hydroelectric pump/generating plant at New Waddell Dam, 39 radial gate structures to control water flow, more than 40 turnouts to deliver water to treatment plants, and the Lake Pleasant reservoir. In order to lift water more than 2,900 vertical feet, the system requires significant energy--over 2.5 billion kilowatt-hours per year, which comes from the Navajo Generating Station, Hoover Dam and New Waddell Dam.

Coping with a potential shortage, which could begin as early as 2011, is a key concern for CAP. In a shortage, a priority system governs allocation. According to the Colorado River Basin Project Act, Arizona's allotted 2.8 million acre-feet is subordinate to other states in the basin. Within Arizona, there is another system of priorities. Municipal and Industrial (M&I)--including the City of Tucson--and Native American use will take precedence over non-Native American agriculture and excess water users such as the Arizona Water Bank and the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District.

The availability of water for downstream users is determined by the water elevation (above sea level) in Lake Mead, which is currently around 1108 feet. 1075 feet is considered the first level of shortage, but has no impact on water delivery. At 1025 or lower, water bank replenishment and agriculture would begin to face reductions. A recent study by Tim Barnett and David Pierce at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, forecasted a 50% chance that Lake Mead will go "dry" by 2021. CAP spokesman Bob Barrett called the study "flawed," not taking into account river augmentation efforts and shortage reduction plans.

In the event of a shortage, CAP is exploring a number of coping strategies, including replacing non-native salt cedars (tamarisks) with native cottonwoods, which absorb less water; desalinization and possible re-operation of the Yuma desalting plant, which has been dry for over a decade; imported surface water; groundwater development, and cloud seeding to increase Colorado snow packs. The Arizona Water Banking Authority was established in 1996 to develop long-term storage in underground recharge projects for times of shortage.

The forum also addressed conservation. The Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program of 2005 balances existing and projected Colorado River water usage with conservation of threatened species and habitat restoration. The 50-year program conserves existing habitat, creates new habitats (8,132 acres), and protects six endangered and threatened species, including the Yuma clapper rail, the southwestern willow flycatcher, the desert tortoise, the bonytail, the humpback chub, and the razorback sucker. CAP has agreed to cover $52 million of the project's total $626 million costs over 50 years.

To learn more about CAP visit online at www.cap-az.com or call its Phoenix office at (623) 869-2333

Yom HaShoah event recalls Kristallnacht

Published in Volume 64, Issue 10 of Arizona Jewish Post (May 16, 2008)

On Sunday, May 4, community members packed into Congregation Anshei Israel to commemorate Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), which was officially observed May 1. The ceremony held a special significance this year, marking the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht and the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel. The ceremony was themed "Kristallnacht Remembered," featuring keynote speaker Gerhard Weinberg, professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

The commemoration began with a Presentation of Colors by the Davis-Monthan Honor Guard and a processional of Holocaust survivors from Hungary, Poland, Greece, Germany and Ukraine. The survivors, escorted by students belonging to the Jewish-Latino Teen Coalition, lit six candles in honor of the six million Jews who perished in the genocide. Two survivors, Inge Schneider and Ester Harris, spoke of the horrors that began with Kristallnacht--the "Night of Broken Glass"--on Nov. 9, 1938, when Nazis destroyed Jewish homes and businesses throughout Germany.

Schneider was a 12-year-old in the German town of Dusseldorf when her family was awakened at 4 a.m. by Nazi troops bursting into their home. The soldiers ransacked the home and arrested her father. In the morning, she saw that the streets were littered with glass and the Jewish school she and Harris both attended had been burned to the ground. Her mother arranged for her father's release and brought Schneider and her two sisters on the ill-fated St. Louis, which sailed for Cuba in May 1939 but was not permitted to disembark upon arrival. All but 28 of its 937 Jewish passengers were forced to return to Europe, where most--including Schneider's mother--perished in concentration camps. "For the Nazis, this was a victory," she said. "It showed that no one wanted the Jews." Schneider survived Bergen-Belsen, but was hospitalized for typhus and tuberculosis after the camp was liberated. After the war, she and her sisters were reunited with their father in New York City.

Although they did not know each other at the time, Harris grew up in Dusseldorf and attended the same Jewish school as Schneider. She, too, remembers the terrifying events of Kristallnacht, when several soldiers broke into the house, brutally beat her father and destroyed the family's dry goods store. Harris had just turned 11. Her father managed to escape arrest because of his service in WWI. The next morning, the Jews of Dusseldorf wandered through the streets surveying the damage. "It was like a ghostly parade from another world," Harris said. Fearing for their future, the family fled to Belgium and then to France in May 1940, when the Nazis invaded Belgium. With the help of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, they eventually found refuge in Portugal.

Weinberg, a noted WWII historian whose own family fled Germany in 1938, discussed the context of Kristallnacht, explaining that it occurred following the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath, who was shot in Paris by a Jewish youth, Herschel Grynszpan. The Nazis sought to drive Germany's Jews out of the country and plunder their property ahead of the impending war, and used the assassination as a justification.

The program was coordinated by the Jewish Community Relations Council, the public affairs and social action arm of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona.

Solar festival offers a taste of green energy

Published April 15 in Tucson Green Magazine

As summer approaches, Tucsonans may view the sun as an ominous harbinger of sweltering 100 degree days to come. For some, however, Tucson's omnipresent sun represents an opportunity for change and a path toward sustainable living.

On April 26, solar enthusiasts will gather at Catalina State Park for the 26th Annual Festival of the Sun and Solar Potluck, a family-friendly celebration of the power of solar energy with music, food, and demonstrations on innovative solar technology. According to organizers, the event is one of the longest running solar events in North America, second only to the annual meeting of the American Solar Energy Society.

The potluck is organized by Citizens for Solar, which was formed for the purpose of putting on the event. Ed Eaton, a solar pioneer and founding member of the group, began the tradition in 1981 with a small group of friends. Over the next few years, the event continued to grow, and organizers began holding the potluck at Catalina State Park. Last year, the event drew about 1,500 people.

One new feature this year is the Teahouse of the Rising Sun, a place where attendees can gather in the shade, enjoy a cup of tea, and listen to a lineup of guest speakers who will address this year's Paths to Sustainability theme. Eaton will be one of the speakers this year, discussing the long history of the solar industry. Mark Schwirtz of Trico Electric Cooperative, and Bill Henry of Tucson Electric Power will explain the utility rebate program for solar systems. Bruce Plenk, solar coordinator for the City of Tucson, will offer another perspective, discussing what the city is doing to go green.

A solar-powered stage, supplied by George Villec of GeoInnovation, will provide live music, including local artist Black Man Clay.

In addition to speakers, performances, and hands-on kids' activities, there will be ample opportunities to see cutting edge solar technology in action. "It's almost become a game of one-upmanship every year between the exhibitors," said Jerry M. Samaniego, the group's president. "Everybody likes to have new things every year."

Samaniego, whose father owns Expert Solar Systems, grew up with an appreciation for solar energy. He has helped his father run the local business for 18 years, and been involved with Citizens for Solar for about ten years, serving as president for the past two. "The solar potluck is really my favorite solar event of the year," he said. "Now I bring my two kids out there, and they have fun."

While a variety of solar technology will be on display, the main attraction will be at least 50 solar ovens and cookers of various types. Some are quite powerful. One year, someone made stir fry and popcorn, which requires about 450 degrees, using an enormous solar reflector parabolic cooker. Other participants have made turkey, pizza, and a plethora of vegetarian food. Demonstrators will hand out food samples of all kinds throughout the day, culminating in a potluck dinner at 5 p.m.

Toby Schneider, treasurer of Citizens for Solar, has been involved with the group along with his wife, Vivian Harte, for many years. Solar power is increasingly entering the mainstream, said Schneider, in part for economic reasons. "With increased energy prices, more people are thinking of solar as a long term investment," he said. According to Schneider, an inverter, which changes DC voltage from solar panels into standard household AC voltage, typically lasts about 10 years, and the panels usually last more than 20.

Because of the low cost (you can pick one up for as low as $250), solar ovens are an attractive option for those who are just beginning to go solar. "[They're] a great, inexpensive foot in the door, a way of experiencing solar power and playing with it," said Samaniego.

Cari Spring, the group's vice president and a faculty member at Pima Community College and Prescott College, believes there is more to solar living than just the technology. "There's a solar culture in the world," she said. "When you practice solar and renewable energy, you place the sun at the center of your existence--and that means you don't just buy a technology and live the same life you used to."

In 1996, Spring bought a piece of land in Catalina and began designing a completely solar-powered home. She soon found that everyday activities--from laundry to cooking--required her to be conscious of the sun. "The center of your life shifts," she said.

Local artist adds superhero flair to prayer book

Arizona Jewish Post Vol. 64, Issue 7 (April 4, 2008)

Muscle-bound superheroes and Hebrew blessings may seem like an unusual combination, but to local artist Howard Salmon, it’s a combination that can renew interest in Judaism and enhance Jewish learning. Salmon’s “Comic Book Siddur” contains all the prayers for Saturday morning Shabbat services, printed side-by-side with snappy translations and comic book style illustrations.

The idea came to Salmon in May 2007 as he prepared to become an adult Bar Mitzvah. While studying his Torah portion, he began sketching a mini comic book called “Bar Mitzvah Comics.” It was a small project, encompassing eight pages of cut and paste material, but it sparked the idea of creating a full-length siddur. He brought the idea to Assistant Rabbi Benjamin Sharff of Temple Emanu-El, who agreed to edit the book. “There were a lot of difficult theological decisions” regarding the translations, says Salmon, and Sharff was instrumental in that process.

To Sharff, it is no coincidence that Jewish artists, including Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, have played a key role in the comic book industry. Many of the most popular comic book characters, he notes, “were picked on and faced tremendous challenges but now stand up for what’s right in the world. In many ways, that model is based on the Jewish people.”

Salmon says the siddur is aimed at helping students prepare for their B’nai Mitzvah, just as creating comics helped him prepare for his own Bar Mitzvah. “I wanted to make studying for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah have the thrills and excitement of reading a comic book,” he says. “If you like comic books and you’re struggling to study for your Bar Mitzvah, this book can help you learn Hebrew and study the prayers in an enjoyable way.” The siddur has also proved useful as a prayer supplement for kids, especially those who are having trouble with their Hebrew.

Lori Riegel, an account executive at the Arizona Jewish Post and a Hebrew teacher at Temple Emanu-El, plans to use the comic book with her fourth graders and during the services she leads at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. “It has everything in there,” she says. “It’s entertaining for the kids, but there are layers for the adults, too.”

Salmon graduated from the University of Arizona in 1985 with a degree in philosophy and earned his MFA from the university in 2002. He says he has wanted to be a comic book artist all his life, inspired by Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Captain America artist Jack Kirby, graphic artist Jim Steranko, and pop art pioneers Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Creating the book enabled him “to blend two interests: drawing a graphic novel and engaging my spirituality.”

“Comic Book Siddur” can be ordered online at comic booksiddur.com or purchased at the Temple Emanu-El and Congregation Anshei Israel gift shops. Salmon is available for speaking engagements and other educational events. He can be reached at hsalmon@howardsalmon.com.

Dishing up healthy food with heart

Published in April 2008 issue of Tucson Green Magazine

If there's an unlikely profile of someone who would launch a wildly popular vegetarian restaurant in the heart of Tucson, it's got to be Peggy Raisglid, owner and creator of Lovin' Spoonfuls. Raisglid grew up in Queens, NY, daughter of a Southern mother and Polish immigrant father who was a Holocaust survivor and escapee from the Warsaw Ghetto, worked her way through college with a stint at cooking chicken for "The Colonel," and for 13 years was a chemist for corporate giant Mobil Oil. But this background, with all of its back stories, became the quirky storm that propelled Raisglid to introduce her restaurant and the joy of vegetarian cuisine to a new wave of Tucsonans. She opened Lovin' Spoonfuls in 2006.

On any given day, you'll find Raisglid behind the counter, greeting her customers and sharing her enthusiasm for vegetarian and vegan food. Nestled inconspicuously in a strip mall on Campbell Avenue between Sauce Pizza and Wine and Opa, this Tucson treasure offers a tantalizing variety of meet-free, dairy-free, and egg-free meals.

In case you're wondering, there's nothing hippy dippy about this place. The atmosphere at Lovin' Spoonfuls is relaxed, with soft lighting, soothing natural tones, and classical music often playing in the background. With a combination of brick walls and wood paneling, the decor conjures a rustic coziness accented with touches of modern art.

Raisglid stopped eating meat in 1989. She walked into a Unitarian Church one Sunday a committed, hard core carnivore and walked out a vegan. She loved to cook, so set about recreating all of her favorite meals using a slightly different set of ingredients.

A vegetarian myself since age 14, I am used to limited culinary experiences, so the sheer number of possibilities on Raisglid's menu was almost paralyzing. As I scanned the amazing array of selections, I swear I heard that Rock 'n' Roll pop anthem, "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind," start playing in my head.

I was wracked with indecision: did I want the deli club sandwich ($7.95) stacked with veggie turkey, ham, and bacon? Or perhaps the mock tuna melt ($6.95)? Or maybe I should shun the faux meat altogether in favor of the falafel ($6.95) or one of the many salads? Maybe one of the tempting appetizers?

Finally, I bit the bullet and ordered the award-winning Route 66 bacon cheeseburger ($7.95). After ordering at the counter, we were handed a whimsical wooden spoon with a number on it to place on our table.

Before digging into my lunch, which appeared with quick and friendly service, I spent a few minutes chatting with Raisglid. Her passion for experimentation--which began with a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Arizona--has followed her from the lab to the kitchen.

"It's the same analytical approach," she said. "You keep experimenting, changing little things to perfect the recipe."

Her culinary zeal is evident. Asked how long she has been in the restaurant business, she replied without hesitation,"Two years, five months, and three days."

Although half of the restaurant's patrons are vegetarians or vegans, many say they simply like to eat more healthfully once in awhile. Others want to sample vegetarian cuisine out of curiosity, and definitely like the new experience. One woman and her husband said they have been back five times in the past two weeks, anxious to try every dish on the menu. "The food here has so much more flavor--and it comes without the calories, fat and guilt," the woman said. Her favorite meal so far: "The falafel pocket with carrot salad, it's fabulous."

My Route 66 grilled burger, made in-house mainly of soy, arrived on an organic whole wheat bun, topped with soy bacon strips, vegan cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and soy mayo. Like all sandwich baskets, this veggie burger comes with a bag of kettle-cooked potato chips, a pickle slice, and choice of potato salad, coleslaw, or carrot salad. I went with the potato salad, which was chunky and tasty with tiny bits of pickle, onion, carrot, and green peppers. Though somewhat bland, a dash of black pepper added just the right spice for me.

The burger was delicious. In fact, it was one of the best veggie burgers I've ever tasted, and I've tasted quite a few, since they're often the only thing I can order in a restaurant. While the soy bacon strikingly captured the taste and smell of real bacon, the strips were so thin as to nearly escape notice. However, they did lend a pleasant hint of crispiness to the burger. The soy cheese was nicely melted, though neutral in taste. The whole wheat bun was fluffy and wholesome tasting.

I tried the spiced iced tea, which had a pleasantly pungent aroma but a subtler taste. The flavor hit later, though, with a delayed kick.

My companion ordered the Portobello griller ($8.25), slices of grilled Portobello on a whole wheat hoagie bun with peppers and onions. Before I'd taken a bite of my burger and discovered its deliciousness, the tempting aroma of the mushroom wafting over from his sandwich gave me second thoughts about my order. Indeed, the savory combination of ingredients brought a satisfied smile to his face. He was likewise pleased with the accompanying carrot salad.

As tasty as our entrees were, the dessert proved most memorable. We shared a banana-nut muffin ($2.50), cake-like in texture with a hint of spice, halved and topped with caramelized strawberries. Though the muffin alone was scrumptious, delightfully crispy on top and fluffy everywhere else, the combination of muffin and strawberry was nothing short of heavenly. No crumb was left behind. And yes, for those who are not really muffin-lovers, there is chocolate at Lovin' Spoonfuls.

The dinner menu includes Pepper Steak, Green Chili Polenta, Picadilly Nut Loaf, Stroganoff Supreme, Thai Vegetable Curry, and Pasta Primavera. Breakfast offers a nice fare from a hefty stack to a Denver Scramble. Don't overlook the fresh fruit smoothies any time of day for an energy boost. And there's even a full selection of gluten-free meals.

You don't need to be a vegetarian or vegan to enjoy the food at Lovin' Spoonfuls. The place offers a pleasing reminder that there is no need to compromise taste for health. You can have your banana-nut muffin and eat it, too.

WHERE TO EAT

Lovin' Spoonfuls
29990 N. Campbell Ave.
520-325-7766
www.lovinspoonfuls.com

Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Hours: Monday-Saturday 9:30am-9pm; Sunday 10am-3pm
A range of vegan entrees, sandwiches, soups, and salads. Organic wines and beer available. Moderate prices.
Winner: Tucson Weekly 2006 and 2007 Best of Tucson Vegetarian Restaurant and Best of Tucson Veggie Burger.
Winner: Tucson Lifestyle 2007 Top Vegetarian Restaurant Culinary Award.
Named: One of the nation's top 20 eateries by VegNews Magazine in 2006.

The 21st century's Joseph McCarthy

Daniel Pipes tracks our nation’s traitorous professors so you don’t have to.

By Valerie Saturen
February 27, 2008

Published on CampusProgress.org

Illustration by August Pollak

Have you ever suspected that your campus may be little more than the intellectual equivalent of an Al Qaeda training camp, dutifully churning out youthful armies of Osama Bin Laden-hugging, America-hating traitors? Well, fear not. Pundit and right-wing crusader Daniel Pipes is keeping an eye on your university and the treasonous activity percolating therein. Thanks to Pipes and his website, Campus Watch, you can rest assured in the knowledge that someone is working to bring your subversive, un-American professors/terrorists to justice, Joe McCarthy-style, and to replace their indoctrination sessions with a curriculum as fair and balanced as FOX News.

Pipes’ nostalgia for the Cold War may be hereditary. His father, Harvard historian Richard Pipes, headed Team B, a group of extremely hawkish analysts devoted to studying Soviet military and political strategies. A Boston native, Daniel Pipes enrolled at Harvard, where his father was still teaching, in 1967, to study mathematics. Unfortunately, the abstract world of numbers went over his head. “I wasn’t smart enough,” Pipes confessed, “so I chose to become a historian.” While his classmates staged sit-ins in the Harvard administration building to protest the Vietnam War, he wondered why anyone would walk out of classes or miss meals they had already paid for.

Upon earning his B.A. in history, Pipes spent two years studying Arabic in Cairo, and then returned to Harvard to begin working on his Ph.D. in medieval Islamic history. In the late '70s and early '80s, in the wake of the Iranian Revolution and the assassination of Anwar Sadat by an Islamist militant, he abandoned his initial interests and became obsessed with radical Islam.

Pipes held teaching positions at the University of Chicago, Harvard, and the Naval War College, but did not get tenure. The field of Middle Eastern studies was in the midst of a radical paradigm shift, brought on by the publication of Edward Said‘s Orientalism, that would embitter Pipes for decades to come. According to Said, Western portrayals of the Middle East—from paintings and literature to traditional scholarship—contained a supremacist ideology of “Otherness” that served to justify imperialism. Said’s book changed everything within the field. Suddenly, Middle Eastern studies professors began preoccupying themselves with cultural sensitivity, rejecting notions of Western superiority and the “primitive, exotic” Arab. Pipes decided that academia no longer had a place for him.

In 1986, he began running the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a hard-line think tank which would begin agitating for war with Iraq immediately after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Since 1994, Pipes has been founding director of the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum, which “seeks to define and promote American interests in the Middle East” through an aggressive policy of military intervention. Its journal, The Middle East Quarterly, has published such enlightening pieces as “Western Feminists: At the Service of Radical Islam” and “The Arab Mind Revisited,”

which discusses the “inhibiting effects” of the Arabic language and stereotypes Arabs as having a “proneness to exaggeration” and a “tendency to blame others for [their] problems.”

Amid post-9/11 xenophobia and attacks on dissent, Pipes’ extreme views earned him celebrity status. The author of numerous books on Islam and the Middle East, he is a fixture on FoxNews and has appeared on CNN, the BBC, and Al Jazeera. His screeds appear in columns on “Islamofascism” for David Horowitz‘s Front Page Magazine and in an array of national publications, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The

Wall Street Journal. Pipes’ work can be read in languages ranging from Bulgarian to Kurdish on his website.

Pipes began his own personal "war on terror" with a 1995 piece in National Interest entitled “There are No Moderates,” which declared: “Unnoticed by most Westerners, war has been unilaterally declared on Europe and the United States.” Pipes made this statement shortly after the Oklahoma City bombing, which he and fellow right-winger Steven Emerson erroneously blamed on Muslims.

Pipes has been accused of spreading “Islamophobia” by organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which condemns his “history of hostility toward Muslims in general and to the American Muslim community in particular.” Pipes defends his statements, asserting that “the enemy is militant Islam, not Islam, the personal faith.” However, numerous statements reflect a general antipathy toward Muslims and a tendency to label all Muslims as supporters of terrorism. In an October 2001 speech at the American Jewish Congress Convention, he warned that the “increased stature, and affluence, and enfranchisement of American Muslims…will present true dangers to American Jews.” Around the same time, Pipes wrote a column for the New York Post, “Muslims Love Bin Laden,” which noted: “President Bush says bin Laden represents a ‘fringe form of Islamic extremism…rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics.’…Well, that ‘vast majority’ is well hidden and awfully quiet, if it even exists.”

Pipes is a strident supporter of U.S. intervention in the Middle East, promoting the view that it is through overpowering force alone that the region’s problems can be solved. A proponent of the Iraq war from the get-go, he said in an interview that the invasion would have a “positive effect” upon “militant Islam, the energy market, the Israeli conflict, the general problem of the Arab states modernizing, you name it.” He opposes any peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians and writes frequently about the need for Israel to “crush the will” of the Palestinians. In 1988, during the first Palestinian intifada, he published a New York Times column calling an eventual Palestinian state a “nightmare” for its intended beneficiaries. Statehood, he argued, “would hurt Arabs far more than Israelis.” Recently, he has set his sights on Iran, arguing in 2003, that the “situation has become crude and binary: either the U.S. government deploys force to prevent Tehran from acquiring nukes, or Tehran acquires them.” Of course, the recently released National Intelligence Estimate

on Iran’s nuclear capabilities has proved Pipes’ fears to be thoroughly overblown.

Given Pipes’ militaristic thinking and utter disdain for diplomacy, it struck many observers as deeply ironic when, in 2003, President Bush nominated him to the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a congressional institution dedicated to “peacebuilding.” Despite a maelstrom of controversy—Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), among others, vigorously opposed the nomination—Bush bypassed Congress with a recess appointment after the Senate session on his confirmation ended without a vote.

Pipes’ ideological crusade is not limited to the Middle East. It is a battle he has decided to take to college campuses throughout America, excoriating professors who fail to dutifully parrot the right wing’s ideology. In a November 2002 piece in the New York Post entitled “Profs Who Hate America,” he singled out a number of professors critical of going to war in Iraq. “Why do American academics so often despise their own country while finding excuses for repressive and dangerous regimes?” Pipes asked.

That year, he also created Campus Watch, a special project of the Middle East Forum. The Campus Watch website, condemned by The Nation as an example of modern McCarthyism, targets professors and students who hold views on the Middle East deemed unacceptable by Pipes. Campus Watch encouraged students to submit reports on teachers, which were published in “dossiers” on the site. Most controversially, the site published a blacklist of eight scholars and 14 universities. Among them was Georgetown University professor John Esposito, who has called for an examination of the root causes that lead to terrorism.

Subsequently, the blacklisted professors were attacked by spammers who sent large numbers of enormous files to their e-mail addresses. Among the victims was University of Michigan history professor Juan Cole, who reported that his e-mail had been disabled by thousands of hate messages the day after his name appeared on Campus Watch. In protest, over 100 professors around the country wrote letters denouncing Campus Watch for its “attempts to silence and muzzle dissenting voices.” Some insisted on being added to the list, in a gesture of solidarity. The website complied, listing the protesting faculty and distorting their protest, which he claimed was “in defense of apologists for Palestinian violence and militant Islam.” Eventually, Pipes removed the dossiers “in a gesture of goodwill,” but the site continues to update its “survey of institutions.”

Pipes swells with pride at the thought that his intimidation efforts may have had an impact. In a speech at David Horowitz’s Restoration Weekend in November 2003, Pipes remarked: “I flatter myself perhaps in thinking that the rather subdued academic response to the war in Iraq in March and April may have been, in part, due to our work.”

Indeed, the hysteria fomented by Pipes is far-reaching. In 2003, ripples of Pipes’ efforts reached Congress, prompting the House of Representatives to pass legislation (HR 3077) that would establish an advisory board to “study, monitor, appraise, and evaluate” university area studies programs. The bill also made federal funding under Title VI of the Higher Education Act contingent upon the “fair and balanced” nature of the curriculum. Pipes enthusiastically backed the bill, which was the result of a campaign by Stanley Kurtz of the National Review Online (a frequent publisher of Pipes’ work), who accused Middle Eastern Studies of tending to “purvey extreme and one-sided criticism of American foreign policy.”

The bill did not pass in the Senate, but its specter, along with the combined efforts of Pipes, Horowitz, and their ilk, has left a lasting impact upon college campuses. Their attempts to stifle debate continue to create an obstacle to serious discussion of crucial issues.

Memorable Quotes: The Wisdom of Daniel Pipes

On racial profiling: “For years, it has been my position that the threat of radical Islam implies an imperative to focus security measures on Muslims. If searching for rapists, one looks only at the male population. Similarly, if searching for Islamists (adherents of radical Islam), one looks at the Muslim population.”—“Why the Japanese Internment Still Matters”, New York Sun (December 28, 2004). (And yes, the article does applaud the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII.)

And: “There is no escaping the unfortunate fact that Muslim government employees in law enforcement, the military, and the diplomatic corps need to be watched for connections to terrorism, as do Muslim chaplains in prisons and the armed forces. Muslim visitors and immigrants must undergo additional background checks. Mosques require a scrutiny beyond that applied to churches, synagogues, and temples. Muslim schools require increased oversight to ascertain what is being taught to children.”—“The Enemy Within (and the Need for Profiling)”, New York Post (January 24, 2003).

On Iraq: Pipes wrote in the New York Post that Iraq needed a “democratically-minded Iraqi strongman” since its people “mentally live in a world of conspiracy theories” and were not quite ready for full-fledged democracy.—“A Strongman for Iraq”, New York Post (April 28, 2003).

On immigrants: “Western European societies are unprepared for the massive immigration of brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and maintaining different standards of hygiene… All immigrants bring exotic customs and attitudes, but Muslim customs are more troublesome than most.”—“The Muslims are Coming! The Muslims are Coming!”, National Review (November 19, 1990).

On black Muslims: Pipes referenced “a well-established tradition of American blacks who convert to Islam turning against their country.”—“[Beltway Snipers]: Converts to Violence?”, New York Post (October 25, 2002).

Valerie Saturen is a writer and activist with an M.A. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Arizona. She can be reached at vsaturen@yahoo.com.

Burial society conference at CAI explores the ultimate selfless mitzvah

Published in The Arizona Jewish Post Volume 64, Issue 4, February 22, 2008

Members of the burial societies known as chevra kadisha (literally, "Holy Societies") gathered Sunday, Feb. 10 at Congregation Anshei Israel to discuss "rites, rituals, protection and procedures." The conference took place three days before the 7th of Adar, the anniversary of the death of Moses, which is traditionally associated with the chevra kadisha. Chevra kadisha members often commemorate the day together, and some fast to atone for any disrespect they may have inadvertently shown the deceased. The conference, cosponsored by the Tucson Board of Rabbis, brought together chevra kadisha members from several local synagogues for the first time.

Preparing a person for burial is considered one of the highest mitzvot a Jew can perform. Rabbi Robert Eisen of Anshei Israel explains that it's the ultimate selfless act, "one of the few things you can do for which they can't say 'thank you.'"

The conference began with a demonstration of the tahara, or ritual purification of the body, using a mannequin. During the tahara, the body is cleansed with an unbroken flow of water. The ritual strongly emphasizes respect toward the deceased person, called the met (male) or metah (female). Men perform the ritual for men, and women for women. While performing the tahara, one does not wear jewelry, chat with others, pass objects over the met, stand in direct alignment with the head of the met, or turn one's back toward the body. Before and after attending to the body, the chevra kadisha asks forgiveness for anything that may have offended the deceased person. After the tahara, the met is wrapped in a burial shroud without jewelry or adornments, signifying that all are equal in death.

The demonstration was followed by a discussion in which attendees raised questions and shared advice. Next year's conference, says Eisen, will place a greater focus on exploring personal experiences.

Most local congregations have volunteers trained in the tahara ritual. For many years, Anshei Israel had the only organized chevra kadisha, which has existed as long as the congregation itself. Over the last several years, other congregations have begun forming their own. The chevra kadisha members are not limited to their own congregations, however, and volunteer wherever they are needed.

Max Ellentuck has been the chevra kadisha coordinator at Anshei Israel for two years, as part of his job as ritual coordinator. "It takes a special kind of person [to join a chevra kadisha]," says Ellentuck. "These are the strongest people I know."

Eisen agrees that the volunteers have made a unique commitment. "No matter how many times you do it, every tahara is unique. It's an emotional investment," he says. "It becomes a final tribute that comes from the heart."

Rescuer of art stolen by Nazis to speak at JCC

Published February 8, 2008 in Volume 64, Issue 3 of the Arizona Jewish Post

U.S. Army Capt. James Rorimer oversees removal of looted art from Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Germany.

Harry Ettlinger, a member of the team assigned to recover art plundered by the Nazis, will speak at two showings of the film The Rape of Europa during the Tucson Jewish Film Festival on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.

At age 19, Ettlinger and 2,500 other men of the 99th Infantry Division were on their way to the bloody Battle of the Bulge when he and two others were stopped and ordered off the convoy. Though he didn't know it at the time, Ettlinger was about to become part of a historic effort to rescue cultural treasures stolen by the Nazis. Born in Germany, Ettlinger had fled to the United States with his family in 1938. Because of his fluency in German, the army sent him to Munich to begin an assignment as a translator. "This was of great significance to me and my life," Ettlinger told the AJP, "in light of the fact that there were eight buddies of mine that I had trained with, three of which were killed in action and five of which were wounded. I was spared that sacrifice."

During his assignment, Ettlinger met Capt. James Rorimer, the head of the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section of the Western District's Seventh Army. Rorimer took the young soldier under his wing, making him one of 350 men and women charged with protecting the artistic and cultural treasures of Europe. Ultimately, the group--who came to be known as the Monuments Men--recovered more than five million items, about one-fifth of Europe's art.

In the summer of 1945, Ettlinger was given the task of recovering 900 pieces of stolen art stashed in salt mines at Heilbronn, just 70 miles from his childhood home. The mission had been made possible by French art historian and museum overseer Rose Valland, who secretly recorded information about plundered artworks circulating through the Jeu de Paume museum, which the Nazis used as a collection point for looted items. In the summer of 1944, after the invasion of Normandy, she brought the mine activities to Rorimer's attention, prompting him to ensure that the mines were protected and the artworks restored. "She was a great heroine," says Ettlinger.

Among the works found in the mines were a prized self-portrait by Rembrandt and musical instruments such as the rare eight-stringed viola d'amour, but for Ettlinger, one of the most memorable discoveries was the "Stuppach Madonna" by the 16th century painter Matthias Gruenwald. Rorimer, who later became director of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, sought to buy the painting from the Stuppach church to which it belonged for $2 million, but the church turned down the offer.

The mines hid more than cultural artifacts. They had also housed underground factories manned by Hungarian Jewish slave labor. "They were going to go into production building jet engines," says Ettlinger. "If they had been successful, they would have lengthened the war by a year or two" by enabling the Germans to shoot down American planes making advances into Germany. In April 1945, shortly before American troops reached Heilbronn, the 500 to 1,000 slave laborers were shipped to Dachau. Most froze to death along the way.

The story of the Monuments Men entered the public spotlight with the publication of Rescuing Da Vinci, a photographic and historical volume written by former oilman Robert Edsel. In January 2007, Edsel worked with Rep. Kay Granger of Fort Worth, Texas, to introduce House Resolution 48, honoring the Monuments Men. On June 6, 2007, the 63rd anniversary of D-Day, the Senate passed the similar Resolution 223, sponsored by Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. The Rape of Europa film, co-written by Edsel and Lynn H. Nicholas, author of a book by the same name, tells the story of the massive theft, recovery and survival of European art during the war.

Ettlinger, now 82, has served as deputy director of a division of the Singer Sewing Company that produced guidance systems for submarine-launched nuclear weapons. His WWII experiences inspired him to participate in Holocaust education and he is co-chair of the Wallenberg Foundation of New Jersey, which promotes the ideals of Holocaust rescuer Raoul Wallenberg.

"The cultural significance of what we did was very unique in the history of civilization," says Ettlinger. "We were the first country in the history of civilization that, in lieu of taking the spoils of war, did not take it. Our mission was to bring culture back to Europe."

Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students, seniors and JCC members. For more information call 299-3000, ext. 200, or go to tucsonjewishfilmfestival.org.

Local business adds personal wedding touch

Published February 8, 2008 in Volume 64, Issue 3 of the Arizona Jewish Post.

A Japanese-inspired huppah created by Original Design Huppah

When Margery and Eli Langner were married in 1989, the two artists decided to design their own huppah, or wedding canopy, rich in Jewish symbolism, combining the words of the Baal Shem Tov with 32 flames--the number that corresponds with the Hebrew word for "heart." The huppah was so admired by guests that the Langners immediately created a new business, Original Design Huppah, and began making personalized huppot for clients around the world.

The huppah, a symbol of a couple's first home together, is a reminder of the tents of our nomadic ancestors. It is also a physical reminder of the couple's commitment to one another as well as a piece of Jewish artwork with special meaning to its owners. Creating a customized huppah can give a couple the opportunity to reflect on the history of their relationship and the places, objects and people that add meaning to their lives. For many of the Langners' clients, the huppah also serves as a family heirloom. Some couples incorporate the huppah into baby-naming ceremonies for their children or use the fabric to create a bris pillow. Others send their huppah back to be adapted for their children's weddings, sometimes having the names of each new family member embroidered onto the fabric. "It's like a fabric record of the important events that happened in the family," says Margery.

To add a personal touch, couples often incorporate pictures of family members or materials that have sentimental value to the bride and groom, such as a piece of clothing, fabric from a mother's or grandmother's wedding dress, or in the case of one groom, a square cut from his baby "blankie."

Jacob Friedman and Marcy Subrin, a Tucson couple whose wedding is coming up in June, have eight friends and family involved in making their huppah. Each person will help design a square with embroidery, hand drawings or transferred pictures. "It's a great way of having everyone's blessing for the wedding," says Friedman. The couple was drawn to the concept of a huppah that will become a lasting part of their home. "We decided it would be nice to have something to hang up in our home afterward," says Friedman.

Often, couples choose to combine personal elements with traditional Jewish symbols and verses, including images of doves, the city of Jerusalem or lines from the biblical Song of Songs. Friedman and Subrin's huppah, for example, will include the imagery of a Tree of Life.

The Langners each bring their own talents into the process of creating a huppah. Margery, a former schoolteacher who also trained at the Parsons School of Design in New York, typically discusses ideas with clients and works on the embroidery. Eli, who majored in drawing at New York's Pratt Institute, where he received a degree in fine arts, does the sketches. "It's a great joy" to be able to work so closely together, says Eli.

In addition to serving local clients, Original Design Huppah works with couples worldwide through its website, customjudaica.com. One of her most enjoyable experiences, Margery says, was where she met three couples for whom she had designed huppot. In each couple, an American businessman had married a Japanese woman who had subsequently converted to Judaism, and the couple wanted a huppah that blended Jewish and Japanese symbols.

The Langners also design religious artwork for synagogues, including Torah covers, tallitot, ark curtains and bris chairs. For Margery, creating the items is both artistically and spiritually significant. "I feel very honored and blessed to have the ability to make objects that get to be used in such an important and spiritual way," she says.

Margery appreciates the opportunity to become part of a family's process of marking important events and creating a legacy. "It really means a lot to me," she reflects, "because I become part of their family tradition."

For more information, contact Margery and Eli Langner at (800) 517-1965 or (520) 749-8111, or e-mail margerylangner@comcast.net.

Making it last: from junior high to grandkids, Tucson couple celebrates

Published February 8, 2008 in Volume 64, Issue 3 of the Arizona Jewish Post.

It all started with a bad blind date at the Jewish Community Center, back when it was still on Tucson Boulevard. Judy, then a 14-year-old student at Mansfield Junior High, was suffering through an awkward evening with another boy at a B'nai B'rith Youth Organization mixer when 16-year-old Tucson High sophomore Ted Direnfeld approached her and asked her to dance. "I wasn't very nice," Ted recalls, chuckling. "I stole her away." The two have been together ever since, sharing more than five decades of love, friendship, and family.

The Direnfelds remember their youth in the 1950s as a time of simplicity. At first, Ted didn't have a car, so the young couple had to rely on Ted's older sister for rides. Like many other young Jews in Tucson, their social lives revolved around BBYO, which frequently hosted social events and community service activities. Ted was involved in AZA (Aleph Zadik Aleph), the boys' branch of the organization, and Judy was active in the local and regional chapters of BBG (B'nai B'rith Girls). They talked on the phone every night. "I never dated anybody else," says Judy. "He was the only person I ever dated."

A taste of freedom came along with Ted's first car, an old '36 Chevy Club Coupe. "As we got older and knew we were going to get married," Judy says, "he stayed later at night and snuck out so my parents wouldn't know how late he was there." The car ran so noisily that the only way Ted could leave undetected was to push it down the street, jump in, and get the car going.

In 1956, the year Judy graduated from high school, Ted asked her parents for their daughter's hand in marriage. "I was sitting in her folks' kitchen, and the subject came up as to what I was going to give her for a graduation present," he remembers. "And I said 'a ring, and engagement ring.'" They were married a year later at Congregation Anshei Israel, where Ted had celebrated becoming a Bar Mitzvah. The congregation has since remained an important part of their lives; all of their children have been named, become Bar Mitzvah, or married there.

The couple has three children: Robert, a physical therapist (married to Amy Broad); Debra, a chemical engineer; and Barbara, who works in sales (partner, Sherry Campbell). They also have two grandchildren. Elayna is a freshman at the University of Arizona, and David is a junior at Catalina Foothills High School.

Ted studied at UA for two years while working at Dee's Shoes, the family business. Judy also attended the UA for a year before spending two years working at RCA, a government contract agency, as a typist and proofreader for government manuals for Fort Huachuca. When Ted entered the family business full time, the business kept expanding. As the children got older, Judy began to help by doing the books and sometimes filling in for store workers. Ted is now the sole owner of Dee's Shoes, while Judy volunteers at Tucson Medical Center, where she is a "cuddler" for babies in the nursery.

On Nov. 4, 2007, they celebrated their 50th anniversary at their home with 75 friends and family. They say the event was particularly special because all the original wedding attendants were present, including their best man, who flew in from China.

The secret of a long-lasting relationship, Ted and Judy agree, is "compromise." After five decades of marriage, they still take the time to do little things to show their appreciation for each other. "Ted always helps out around the house," says Judy, and will sometimes surprise her by coming home with flowers. Ted adds that it's important for couples to know that "there will be difficult times" in addition to joyful ones. The Direnfelds' closeness is obvious in their habit of finishing each other's sentences. "After 50 years, you learn to be a mind reader," Judy says. "Sometimes we'll sit in silence for a long time without the need to say anything, and suddenly we'll start to say the same thing at the same time."

Teens learn leadership skills through performing arts

Tucson Green Magazine, February 2008

A group of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, teens star in the musical performance they wrote and produced through a City at Peace program in their community. Using the performing arts as a vehicle, City at Peace is a national organization developing the next generation of engaged community leaders and believes in a society where teenagers are valued, respected, and play a leading role in creating vibrant communities.

Imagine a society where teenagers are valued and respected and play a leading role in creating vibrant communities. A national non-profit organization, City at Peace, is making that dream a reality through programs in selected cities around the world.

City at Peace has developed a program for teens, based on the philosophy that the performing arts provide an excellent means for teenagers to create social change while finding their voices as leaders. The project has manifested the idea in a variety of ways, from Israeli and Palestinian youth in Tel Aviv finding common ground through drama, music, and dance, to Washington, D.C. teenagers turning a discussion about stereotypes into an original musical. Inspired by the project's successes, Rev. Gerry Straatemeier of the Culture of Peace Alliance is spearheading an effort to bring City at Peace to Tucson.

City at Peace has chapters in six U.S. cities--Washington, D.C., Charlotte, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, New York City, and Baton Rouge--in addition to chapters in Israel and South Africa. The program brings together city youth of diverse backgrounds, teaching them principles of nonviolence through performance art.

The teens go through an intense year-long creative process through which they write an original musical based on stories from their own lives, and on their ideas for a better world. They also create community change projects where they take those ideas and act on them in their own city.

Each year-long program begins with the selection of a Production Team to serve as the program's leaders, recruitment of a diverse pool of teens, and intensive team-building and performance training. Throughout the following months, members learn conflict resolution skills and hold in-depth discussions about issues like stereotypes, bullying, and gang violence, which become the inspiration for the teens' original creative work.

The project reports a number of positive results. Since 2002, 91 percent of City at Peace participants have gone on to college, compared with a national average of 68 percent; 99.3 percent (compared with 71 percent) stay in school; and 92 percent say they now resolve conflicts differently as a result of their City at Peace training. Participants also describe "intangible" results, such as personal empowerment and strengthened relationships.

City at Peace originated in 1994 in Washington, D.C., when teenagers, parents, and community leaders came together out of a shared concern about racial tensions and violence plaguing the city. Founder Paul Griffin, a longtime youth advocate, has been honored at the White House as a Tomorrow's Leader Today and has received the Changemaker Award from Public Allies and the National Hamilton Fish Institute Award for Service for his efforts. He continues to work with City at Peace, currently serving as its president. The project has been featured in a 1995 episode of "Nightline" with Ted Koppel and was the subject of a 1999 HBO documentary entitled "City of Peace." It has recently opened a national office in New York City.

Like the youth in other cities, many young Tucson residents face the reality of violence at home, at school, and on the streets. The 2006 Arizona Youth Survey of Pima County, provided by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, reveals that among tenth graders surveyed, 25 percent have had gang involvement, 15 percent have been involved in a physical fight in school, and 45 percent report family conflict.

Straatemeier hopes that creating a Tucson chapter of City at Peace will help address these problems in our community. The project is currently in the planning stages, concentrating on fundraising and community-building. She said fundraising efforts will comprise two phases. During the planning phase, the goal is to raise $10,000-15,000. Once the project has established itself within the community, she said it will require a budget of about $50,000 to begin core activities. So far, about $7,000 has been raised. Ongoing fundraising activities include a partnership with the Invisible Theatre Company, which allocated a portion of its ticket sales to the project from a January 14 showing of Baghdad Burning, based on the blog of a young woman in war-torn Iraq.

A retired clinical social worker and an independent New Thought minister, Straatemeier is a founding member of the Tucson-based Culture of Peace Alliance and has co-chaired the Gandhi/King Season for Nonviolence in Southern Arizona since 2000.

Straatemeier intends to establish the program with auditions for the 2008 school year. She is looking for funding and for youth aged 13-19 who show a strong commitment to social change, regardless of their skill or experience in the performing arts. Finding participants from a wide variety of ethnic, economic, and gender backgrounds will be another key issue. "A diverse group helps confront the many 'isms' that are a part of our culture," she said.

She hopes the program will inspire teens to become leaders who have found their voices. "We envision a new generation of young leaders in Tucson who can change the culture to one of nonviolence."

Marana parents want Rattlesnake Ridge recycling

Tucson Green Magazine, February 2008

"For me, it's a matter of necessity to change the world, and you've got to change it beginning with the children," said Adrian Marks, a Marana, Ariz. resident.

Marks, whose daughter is a third grader at Rattlesnake Ridge Elementary in Marana, was stunned when he learned that none of the 17 schools in the Marana Unified School District recycle. As chair of the newly formed PTO recycling committee at his daughter's school, he is working with other parents, teachers, and students to change that. So far, the group has been instrumental in getting a recycle bin and pick-up service at the school by a local company, Saguaro Environmental.

As the newest school in the Marana district, Rattlesnake Ridge hopes their pilot program will set a precedent for other schools, showing that recycling can work, and also soothe concerns of district administrators.

According to Marks, the school district said it would require a budget of more than $8,000 per year to implement a district-wide recycling program--a budget they say they don't have. Marks, however, believes schools can reduce that cost to zero with proper education about recycling.

"By filtering out recyclables, the school can replace one of their dumpsters with a second recycling bin at no additional cost." The success of the program would depend on the cooperation of teachers, students, and staff. Rattlesnake Ridge teachers have agreed to help create assemblies focused on educating students and staff about the importance of recycling. They also plan to work with the student council and Tucson Clean and Beautiful on environmental awareness programs for the students.

Marks estimates that 15-23 tons of trash from Rattlesnake Ridge ends up in the landfill each year. When that number is applied to the entire district, Marks said the school district's trash totals 391 tons per year. He said a successful recycling program at the school would reduce that waste by half.

"It's kind of endless what you can do. It's just a matter of organizing it and taking small steps."

What Does Mike Huckabee Have to do With the Apocalypse?

Recent polls show the previously little-known Mike Huckabee now running a close race with contenders Mitt Romney and John McCain. Huckabee, who won the key Iowa race, owes his rising star to a surge of support from evangelicals. Comprising about 25% of Americans, evangelicals have formed the core Republican voting bloc since the 1970s. While most Americans are aware of the "family values" domestic concerns of this group, fewer understand its foreign policy agenda, which is tied to the powerful, yet little-understood phenomenon of Christian Zionism. Rooted in a literal interpretation of biblical "End Times" prophecy, this ideology carries profound implications for our role in the Middle East, and it is a crucial factor in the 2008 Republican race.

Christian Zionism stems from the belief that the catastrophic events depicted in the biblical Book of Revelation are humanity's literal destiny, and that two-thirds of the Earth's population will perish in an apocalyptic battle of good and evil while the "saved" are "raptured up" to heaven. For Christian Zionists, this catastrophe is a necessary precedent to the Second Coming. Followers of this ideology comprise an estimated 20 million Americans, a number that grew rapidly after September 11 and increased Mideast violence within recent years. Aided by a surge in sales of books such as the best-selling Left Behind series, which portrays Revelation as a modern-day battle, the view of Mideast violence as an apocalyptic "sign of the times" is rapidly gaining ground. Significantly, Huckabee has received an endorsement from Left Behind author and leading Christian Zionist Tim LaHaye.

While those outside of evangelical circles may dismiss such beliefs, they have played a critical role in influencing U.S. foreign policy, and they will continue to affect policy as long as the United States remains under Republican leadership that relies upon evangelical support. Christian Zionism has implications for the U.S. role in Israeli-Palestinian relations, a potential confrontation with Iran, and relations with the Muslim world.

For Christian Zionists, belief in biblical prophecy means support for right-wing Israeli policies such as settlement expansion and opposition to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Against the opinion of most Israelis, Christian Zionists view relinquishing any part of biblical Israel--including what is now the West Bank--as an affront to Israel's prophetic destiny. Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor who once declared "I got into politics because I knew government didn't have the real answers…the real answers lie in accepting Jesus Christ," vowing in another speech to "take this nation back for Christ," shares this view. He has written that "the Jews have the God-given right to reclaim land given to their ancestors and taken away from them." Regarding a future Palestinian state, Huckabee has stated that he supports a Palestinian state--and it should be formed far away from Israel, perhaps in Saudi Arabia. This view is a step away from advocating ethnic cleansing, as it is unlikely that the Palestinians would voluntarily leave.

Evangelical foreign policy extends far beyond Israel. Inspired by the "Iranian threat," evangelical pastor John Hagee formed Christians United for Israel, which promotes Christian Zionism and advocates a militant policy toward Iran. In his book Jerusalem Countown, Hagee predicts a nuclear showdown with Iran that could be "the beginning of the end." Huckabee, who has said that Congressional approval is not necessary in going to war, argues that the U.S. must do "whatever it takes" to confront Iran, including a military option. If elected, it is likely that his evangelical backers will pressure Huckabee to pursue this option.

Like other evangelicals, Huckabee tends to view the "War on Terror" as a cataclysmic battle with apocalyptic connotations. "We need to understand that this is, in fact World War III," he has said. "Unlike any other war we've ever fought, this one is one we cannot afford to lose."

Whether or not Christian Zionists can predict the future, the human potential to create self-fulfilling prophesies is undeniable, and this is why Americans should pay attention to this ideology.

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Valerie Saturen received an M.A. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Arizona. Her thesis addressed Christian Zionism and U.S. foreign policy. Contact her at saturnv82@yahoo.com.

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Copyright © 2008 The Baltimore Chronicle. All rights reserved.

Republication or redistribution of Baltimore Chronicle content is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.

This story was published on January 23, 2008.

Thesis: Enticing the End: Christian Zionism & Its Impact on the Middle East

Abstract: The role of the United States in the Middle East is strongly impacted by the powerful, yet little-understood, phenomenon of Christian Zionism. Although the roots of Christian Zionism in the United States are as old as the nation itself, the ideology has grown in importance since the rise of the Christian Right as a prominent force in U.S. politics. While Christian Zionism appears steeped in concern for Israel and the Jewish people, its enthusiastic support does not come with no strings attached. Beneath the surface agenda of the evangelical-Israel alliance lies a deeper motive rooted in biblical prophecy and support for far-right policies such as settlement expansion and aggressive military solutions to the region’s conflicts. The ideology carries serious implications for Palestinians, Israelis, and Americans alike, promoting a policy of aggression toward the Palestinians, a belief in the necessity of sacrificing the Jewish people for the redemption of “saved” Christians in a chilling End Times scenario, and a hindrance of the ability of the United States to play a role in fostering peace in the region.

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