Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Stuck In Traffic Issue 37
==================================================================
Stuck In Traffic
"Current Events, Cultural Phenomena, True Stories"
Issue #37 - May 2001
Contents:
Cultural Phenomena:
On Witnessing Executions
===================================
Cultural Phenomena
On Witnessing Executions
I have been thinking about how much death I want in my life. It
started with all the news stories about the impending execution of
Timothy McVeigh, the man convicted of murdering 168 people in the
bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal building.
There has been much debate over how public his execution should be,
most of it over an Internet media company's request to broadcast the
execution on the Internet. It amazes me how quickly the chattering
classes and the talking heads have managed to take a stand on the
issue. Death is a big thing. Death by execution is even bigger.
Before I could come up with my own position on the McVeigh execution,
I had to answer that very odd question, "How much death do I want in
my life?"
Pretty much my only experience with death is at funerals.
Occasionally over the years, I've attended the funerals of friend and
co-workers. I'm proud of the fact that I've attended as many funerals
as I have. "Proud" is perhaps a very odd choice of words, considering
the event; but I'm sticking to my guns on this one. For the record,
it's not out of some morbid superiority complex that I'm proud. It's
not like I'm gloating that I have somehow survived longer than they
have. I'm proud of my funeral attendance because I was able to make
myself do it.
Most recently, a co-worker of mine, a fine fellow by the name of
Averall Miller passed away suddenly of a severe asthma attack. I
didn't know him well, but I knew him well enough to know he was a
salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. While we work in the same
organization, our paths didn't cross to often. I could have made
excuses. I could have avoided going. And indeed, I wavered until the
very last minute before committing myself to attending. I didn't want
to go to his funeral. I didn't particularly even feel a social
obligation to go. But somehow, some way, it felt important to go.
In These Modern Times, rituals have become unfashionable. Ritual is
for the superstitious. Ritual is for people who lack the intellectual
capacity to understand something. Ritual is for wussies. But that's
so far from the truth it makes me wonder if the guardians of our
culture, the talking heads of our era, are actually aliens.
Averall's funeral was somewhat typical of funerals in the South, a
mixture of tribute and religion. At first glance, Averall's life
seemed abut as average as one could get. But in the end, the life of
an average man and his family is remarkable. The fact that he was
able to support his family, get through hard times with them, maybe
even have a little fun every now and then, seems like an amazing
accomplishment in retrospect. And the religious message was simple
and clear. Life goes on. It goes on for us. It goes on for Averall.
We heard it from the preacher. We heard it in the hymns. We heard it
from scripture.
I have a ritual of my own at funerals. It's not one that I invented.
But I saw it at my Grandmother's funeral many years ago. She was born
and raised in a small town in west Texas. This is an area of the
country where people can still wear cowboy hats with sincerity. This
is an area of the country where people still check up on each other to
make sure they're ok. This is an area of the country where
"community" is so deeply ingrained into the landscape that you never
hear the word used.
At my grandmother's funeral, I got a sense of this community, not from
seeing nearly everyone in town attend, but by a ritual I observed at
the service. Like most funerals in the south, it was "open casket,"
which means that everyone can walk up in front of the body and see it
for him or herself. I noticed that almost all of the elderly people
attending reached out and touched my grandmother's body as the passed
by. Seemed like a rude and ghastly thing to do at the time. I found
out later that this was a ritual practiced by many folks who grew up
in the country. It took me years to understand, but now I know why.
Once you touch the body of a deceased friend, there's no way you can
deny to yourself, at any level, the fact that this person has passed
away, never to return. So I have adopted this ritual as my own. Did
I really want to touch the dead body of Averall Miller? No. This is
not something you do for fun. I did it because it forced me to deal
with death.
My other grandmother is getting on in years. I can't imagine here
being around for much longer. The family has had more than one scare
already in which we thought her death was at hand. What am I going to
do? Pretend that she's not dying? Am I going to ignore her? Shelter
myself from the pain and leave her alone? Of course not. She lives
half way across the country from me, so I do not see her daily. But I
try to be a part of her life to the extent I can. We speak on the
phone. I send her letters. I send her pictures. And the last time I
visited her, at a Very Nice retirement home in Tulsa, I didn't just
sit by her bedside in a deathwatch vigil. I did in fact try to bring
a little bit of fun and life into her room and the retirement center.
We went out to eat. We drove around Tulsa. Actually, we got lost in
Tulsa, but it seemed like an adventure at the time.
The last night of my visit, she told me, point blank, that she was
tired of living. What do you say in return? Should I have given her
my best pep-rally style speech about how she still has so much to live
for? That she's going to get through here current medical crisis just
fine and get back to a normal life again? Maybe. Maybe I should have
tried. But it didn't feel right to me. All I could say in return is,
"I know you are." I honestly think she appreciated the fact that I
showed some sympathy to her situation, rather than to pretend that
every thing is going to be ok.
I wouldn't be right for me to ignore the fact that she's dying. It
would be nice to pretend otherwise. But it's important that we be
sympathetic and supportive of our loved ones and face death with them
as much as possible.
It's important that we face death; that we deal with it. Ignoring
death is not healthy for our loved ones, our community, or us.
What then about executions? I say it's even more important that we
face executions head on. Deal with them directly. Not only are
executions about death. They are about the fact that we are causing
it.
I am not going to argue about the death penalty. That's a different
subject all together. I'm willing to accept, at least for the sake of
argument, that there are some crimes so bad that society as a whole
does not feel like justice has been served unless the criminal is put
to death.
Given that executions are going to happen, and given that our society
as a whole makes them happen I think it's important that we face them
together, as a society. Therefore I have to say that I think it's
both appropriate and necessary that executions be public events that
the society as a whole can see.
And, frankly, if an event requires an in-person attendance, it's not
public enough for something this important. So I have to come out in
favor of broadcasting executions. I recognize that doing so is a
morbid, unpleasant thing. I recognize that it's inappropriate for
some to see it and it's ok for people to choose not to see executions.
I'm willing to accept putting procedures in place to prevent people
who shouldn't see them (minor children for example) and I'm willing to
put procedures in place so that people don't accidentally get
subjected to the trauma of the execution. But I think every member of
society that wants to see an execution should have a reasonable
opportunity to do so.
I don't want to attend the funerals of acquaintances and loved ones.
I don't want to touch the bodies of the deceased. But it's a
necessary and important ritual that helps me to accept the fact that
people die.
I don't want my grandmother to die. But at the same time it's
important to not ignore her failing health and it's even more
important to be sympathetic and supportive when she says she's "tired
of living."
We, as a society, don't want to see a real live person being put to
death, no matter what their crime is; but it's important that we do
so. It's important that we bear witness.
=======================================
About Stuck In Traffic
Stuck In Traffic is a monthly magazine dedicated to evaluating
current events, examining cultural phenomena, and sharing true
stories.
Why "Stuck In Traffic"?
Because getting stuck in traffic is good for you. It's an
opportunity to think, ponder, and reflect on all things, from the
personal to the global. As Robert Pirsig wrote in Zen and the Art
of Motorcycle Maintenance,
"Let's consider a reevaluation of the situation in
which we assume that the stuckness now occurring,
the zero of consciousness, isn't the worst of all
possible situations, but the best possible
situation you could be in. After all, it's exactly
this stuckness that Zen Buddhists go to so much
trouble to induce...."
Contact Information
All queries, submissions, subscription requests, comments, and
hate-mail should be sent to Calvin Powers via E-mail
(powers@attglibal.net).
Copyright Notice
Stuck In Traffic is published and copyrighted by Calvin Powers
who reserves all rights. Individual articles are copyrighted by
their respective authors. Unsigned articles are authored by Calvin
Powers.
Availability
The Web based version of Stuck In Traffic can be found at
http://www.StuckInTraffic.com/
To subscribe to the free e-mail edition of Stuck In Traffic, go to
http://www.onelist.com/community/StuckInTraffic
Trades
If you publish a 'zine and would like to trade issues or ad-space,
send your zine or ad to either address above.
Alliances
Stuck in Traffic supports the Blue Ribbon Campaign for free speech
online. See http://www.eff.org/blueribbon.html for more
information.
Stuck In Traffic also supports the Golden Key Campaign for
electronic privacy and security. See
http://www.eff.org/goldkey.html
==================================================================
