Lady Mocha's Story

Posted about a year and half ago over at Gangstyle.com:

My Date Rape by Lady Mocha

12 of them
1 of me
raped for 4 hours straight
raped viciously
couldnt fend for myself
i was barely 13
the youngest G member 21
the leader,43
they pushed me down a hill
so no one could see
it was there that
whatever they wanted to pursue
would be done successfuly
2 G members pinned my arms
up over my head
another 2 G members
stripped me and parted my legs
the leader went first
then one of the G members said
" ayo homie your hogging all the pussy
that shit aint fair"
bout 20 mins past then the leader declared
" look homie,theres enough to go around
you're gon get your share"
i felt like a prisoner
with a life sentence without bail
the shock of the attack was choking me
making it hard for me to breathe
i was paralysed i couldnt even
inhale or exhale
not 1 of them quit
without cumming inside
i remember saying to myself
if i end up pregnant
ima commit suicide
they were all over me
licking me,kissing me
saying they aint never seen
a girl as beautiful as me
4 hours passed
and the G members were satisfied
you'd think they'd atleast have a speck
of sympathy or remorse inside
but you could just tell
they're hearts were cold
stone cold infact
it was all in thier eyes
the G members think
they stripped me of eveything
HUH,they only stripped me of my clothes
I STILL HAVE MY DIGNITY!!!


xoxMochaxox

For those of you who don't know Mocha (I know her some from online), she's a wonderful person. God has set aside a special place for people like her, where she'll get to meet more wonderful people, including our Savior and His Mom, and where she will get to spend quality time with them....

3:8 "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
3:9 "Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie -- indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
3:10 "Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
3:11 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown."
(from the Revelation of St. John the Divine)

God has also set aside a special place for the people who did that to her. They will get to meet all kinds of interesting people -- people just like themselves -- and they will get to interact with those people, and spend quality time with them... a great deal of quality time....

1:2 God is jealous, and the Lord avenges;
The Lord avenges and is furious.
The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies;
1:3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
And will not at all acquit the wicked.
(from the Book of the Prophet Nahum)

66:4 "So will I choose their delusions,
And bring their fears on them;
Because, when I called, no one answered,
When I spoke they did not hear;
But they did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight."
(from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah)

Sorghum Pancakes

One new post, three new labels!

Yesterday the family was preparing sorghum. (Do a little research and learn about it.) Sorghum is a tropical grain that grows on a grass-like plant. Except for the tropical part, it is not very different from barley, or even from wheat for that matter.

We bought the grains for my wife. She prepared the dried grain by boiling it. Once we had a big pot full of the stuff, I suggested to our older daughter that she might want to make hotcakes with some of it.

Normally for hotcakes the ingredients are flour, soymilk or coconut milk, banana or applesauce, baking powder and baking soda. If you insist on eating animal-based products like most Americans do, you are perhaps more familiar with using cow's milk and eggs in place of the soy- or coconut milk and banana or applesauce.

Anyway, I suggested to our older daughter that she put the stew-like cooked grains in a blender with the other usual ingredients, adding in only enough flour to thicken the mixture sufficiently. Seldom are the occasions that she takes my advice. Consequently, she did not blend the mixture, but just mixed in flour, soymilk and other ingredients in a bowl, and cooked the pancakes like that.

Since she didn't blend it, the sorghum was not broken up. As the flapjacks came off the griddle, I tried a couple. The chewy sorghum inside of them gave them a surprising texture. They were pretty good, actually. We fed them to the little munchkins. They were a little apprehensive of the texture, but ate their pancakes as well.

You can get sorghum dried in bags. You may want to try it. Also, by using banana (when most of America uses egg) and by using coconut milk (when most of America uses cow's milk), our griddlecakes typically have a somewhat tropical flavor to them. It's just barely noticeable, but quite pleasant, and makes for a really nice change from what is too often a boring routine in our country. And, eliminating the animal-based products is much healthier!

Beware: If you question the "healthier" remark in a comment, I probably will only acknowledge your comment, and not answer it right away. I plan many posts on explaining why eliminating the animal-based products from your diet is better for your health, and typically cheaper, too!

When I Grow Up...

In an email from Minister Maurice over at Living Water Ministry (see sidebar), God'z Man wrote to me that the Lord had asked him one time what a Baptist is when he matures. When God'z Man replied that he didn't know, the Lord told him, "A Christian." When next asked what a Pentecostal is when he matures, God'z Man again replied that he didn't know, so the Lord again said "A Christian."

Some of the wisdom that he communicates sounds very inspired. The Lord must be doing something in Minister Maurice's life!

Anyway, we ask our kids what they want to be when they grow up, that is, when they mature physically, trying to get them to think about (and maybe even prepare for) their future.

How much more so should we think about (and maybe even prepare for) eternity?

2 Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

When you get there, do you want to have been part of His problems, or part of His solutions?

Or, put another way: When you get to eternity, when you have matured spiritually, what do you want to be?

St. Mary of Egypt

(Originally posted at Gangstyle.com; this reposting is dedicated to Fr. George & family and the parish of St. Elias Orthodox Church.)

St. Mary of Egypt

Mary left her parents when she was twelve years old; she went to Alexandria. For the next seventeen years, she lived as one addicted to sex. Some call her a prostitute, but she often refused payment for sex, and made a living at times working with flax or begging.

Eager for new adventures, when she met some men traveling to Jerusalem, she asked to go there with them, hoping to find, among other things, new sexual partners in the Holy City. Since she had no money, she offered herself as payment to the pilgrims, and they accepted.

When she got to Jerusalem, she spent a few days in her usual way of life, until she felt a desire to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to attend the celebration. While others entered the church, she felt something invisible barring her from entry; she couldn’t get in! Seeing an image of the Blessed Mother, she repented and asked the Virgin Mary for help. After that, she tried again to enter the church, and this time got right in. She venerated the Life-Giving Cross, and, leaving, stopped by the icon of the Blessed Mother to give thanks. There she heard a mysterious voice telling her to go into the desert, where she would find true peace. On her way, she acquired three loaves of bread, and there in the desert she lived for 47 years alone, praying to God.

At that time, an angel appeared to a devout monk, Father Zosimas, and instructed him to go into the desert. Fr. Zosimas understood he would find someone more spiritually advanced than he, but expected to find this person in a monastery. Wandering into the desert, he saw in the distance a blackened person with white hair. Knowing that the desert was reputed to be a place where demons wandered, he apprehensively approached the person.

The person, Mary, called to Fr. Zosimas by name, and asked him for his cloak, since she was without clothes. Curious about her, Fr. Zosimas knew he was in the presence of a living saint, although she asked for his blessing, since she was “only a woman and a sinner” and he was a priest. As they talked, Mary, an illiterate woman, quoted the scriptures, which she had never seen and in any case could never have read. They agreed to meet the next year, on Holy Thursday on the bank of the Jordan, where Fr. Zosimas was to bring her holy communion, but was not to cross the river.

That next year, as Fr. Zosimas sat and watched, night fell and a full moon began to rise. Suddenly he saw Mary standing on the opposite bank. She made the sign of the cross, and walked across the Jordan River as if on dry land. After receiving Holy Communion, Mary asked Fr. Zosimas to meet her again one year later, again on Holy Thursday, but this time where they had originally met, twenty days’ journey into the desert.

As requested, Fr. Zosimas went the next year, and found Mary’s dead body next to a message she had written in the sand, where she explained that she had died on the very day in which she took part of the immaculate Mysteries (Holy Communion), and asked him to pray for her. Fr. Zosimas was amazed that she had made that twenty-day journey into the desert in one night. Fr. Zosimas was an old man, and had no strength to dig her grave; suddenly, a lion appeared, and dug furiously until there was a hole big enough for Mary’s body. After Fr. Zosimas buried her, the lion bowed to him, and they parted ways.

As the Lord glorified St. Mary of Egypt, so does the Lord glorify those who repent of their sins.

18:21 "But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
18:22 "None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.
18:23 "Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord God, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live?"
(From the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel)

Wikipedia: Mary of Egypt

Monachos.net: Mary of Egypt, Complete Life by Patriarch Sophronius of Jerusalem"

Greek Orthodox Archdioces of Australia: St. Mary of Egypt

Father Alexander: Lives of Saints, March and April

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America: Mary of Egypt

Some Lessons from Naaman

The story of Naaman, from the Second Book of Kings, NKJV (Fourth Book of Kings in Orthodox Translations):

5:1 Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper.
5:2 And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman's wife.
5:3 Then she said to her mistress, "If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy."
5:4 And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, "Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel."
5:5 Then the king of Syria said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.
5:6 Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said, Now be advised, when this letter comes to you, that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.
5:7 And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me."
5:8 So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."
5:9 Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha's house.
5:10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean."
5:11 But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, "Indeed, I said to myself, 'He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.'
5:12 "Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage.
5:13 And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?"
5:14 So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Here is Naaman, a great warrior and military leader. He answers directly to his (earthly) king, and represents his king before other kings. He is an important man in his time and place. Yet, notice how God works in his life through a slave girl, through Naaman's own servants, and through something quite ordinary for the time: a bath in a river.

Often God works in our lives in ways that we don't notice. If God were more theatrical, constantly working big, showy miracles (like what Naaman expected to see), miracles that obviously could come only from Him, more people would obey Him -- out of fear! (Or would they? -- more on that in a moment!) That does not seem to be what He wants. Instead, He wants people to seek Him out of faith.

Originally, He gave humanity instructions on what to do to be happy in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve rebelled, and now we have thousands of years of human history, much of which is misery.

He also gave humanity advice through His prophets and through His Son. Many people don't pay much attention to His advice, and the misery continues. Even "good Christians" goof things up every day.

So, despite how bad we have goofed things up in this world, we insist on not following His advice and on doing things our own way. Rather than beating us over the head with the fact that He is God (and we're not!), He allows us to make our mistakes. At some point, if nothing else out of desperation, we start looking for something more than what we have here, which is woefully inadequate, and then we begin to seek Him.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

So, God works in our lives in ways that are often low-key, through ways that we might not notice, and through people that we often would not pay attention to. In the case of this story of the mighty warrior Naaman, He worked in his life first through a slave girl.

Later, the prophet Elisha sends Naaman to wash in the Jordan River, which is hardly an impressive place to bathe; even in Biblical times, it was rather polluted. Expecting some great miracle, Naaman, who wasn't even greeted by the prophet himself, was offended, thinking that he had been "had" and played for a fool. After all, if a mere bath could cleanse him, would not a bath in water that was actually clean be more useful?

Angry, Naaman was leaving, but those accompanying him saved the day. Again, the focus may have been on the prophet here, but in many ways it was the ordinary people in Naaman's life that convinced him to give this bath in the Jordan a try, rather than just calling it a wasted trip at that point. So, having traveled to see this prophet, Naaman went ahead and bathed in the Jordan River, as instructed, and...

It worked! He was cleansed of his leprosy!

What's the point of all this?

If someone were standing in front of you parting the Red Sea and sending plagues on your hometown, you would pay attention to him, right? After all, those miracles are pretty impressive. Seeing is believing, right?

Maybe you wouldn't pay a whole lot of attention. After a while, parting the Red Sea wouldn't be so impressive any more, and you might be tempted to say, "Hey, if God is really working here, let's see the Atlantic Ocean get parted!" Our threshhold for the miraculous would just keep climbing.

Instead of playing that game, God does it His way. He has given us instructions and advice, which we typically don't heed. So, He works in our lives in subtle ways and through people who, to us, seem relatively inconsequential. He asks us to do ordinary things, but to do them in faith, and to do these things with Him.

It is usually only after we turn to Him in faith and start doing things with Him that we begin to notice all the little things in our world that He is setting in place for us.

Who was it who said that some things have to be believed to be seen?

Believe in Him, believe that He is a Rewarder of those who seek Him, and begin to see the miracles all around you!

Date Rape: Blame vs. Judgment

In the last two decades or so, American society has become aware of a phenomenon now known popularly as date rape, but perhaps more accurately as acquaintance rape or acquaintance sexual assault.

It is a crime wherein the victim is forced, coerced or somehow compelled to play a role in sex-related acts against the victim's will and, at times, without the victim's knowledge.

A common scenario is for the victim, typically a woman, to be at some kind of social event with the perpetrator, typically a man that she knows, but one that she perhaps does not know very well. The perpetrator or assailant somehow gets the victim to perform sex acts. Sometimes this is violently, but very often this is done through intimidation or some means that falls short of physical violence, although often the threat of physical violence, though perhaps not explicit, is present.

Another common scenario is for the victim to be drugged, such that the victim is unable to make sound decisions. At times the victim is incoherent and perhaps only semi-conscious. Under such circumstances, the victim may have agreed to the act, and it is not uncommon for more than one assailant to assault the victim.

There are many variations on this theme. The key element is that as the assault begins, the assailant and the victim are not total strangers; they may have met a few hours previously, they may have known each other for years, but they have some acquaintance, hence the term acquaintance rape. Since a common scenario is for the victim to be assaulted while on a date with the assailant, the crime is commonly known as date rape.

It is not my intention to go into the legalities and illegalities surrounding this crime; for further information, I have added a new panel in the sidebar with a great many links. My intention for this post is to focus in on the issue of judgment.

For perhaps as long as there have been men and women, there has been the crime of rape. While American society only now has a name for it, I'm confident acquaintance rape has been around just as long.

One phenomenon typical to sexual assaults of any kind, as long as they have been occurring, is the effort to justify the crime. This typically involves blaming the victim. In the case of date rape, the crime often gets brushed aside by excuses like:

1) Things just got a little out of control.

2) She said 'no', but she meant 'yes'.

3) If she didn't want to do it, why did she accompany him to [wherever the crime occurred]?

4) If she wasn't looking for that kind of action, why was she dressed like that? Why was she hanging out at that place or with that person?

Etc.

Again, such comments are efforts to justify an act that should not have happened. They are efforts to blame the victim for the crime.

Make no mistake about it: a sexual assault is a sexual assault. For a sexual act to not be a sexual assault, there must be consent, and for there to be consent, it is implicitly understood that the one consenting be able to give consent.

Legally, this is not the case with people under a certain age, the "age of consent" -- although the person may have said "yes", it is accepted by society that the person is too young for that decision to be an informed one. There are similar laws regarding people who have some kind of mental handicap. There are also similar laws regarding people who have ingested drugs or alcohol; although the person may have consented, the effects of the drugs or alcohol cast doubts on the legitimacy of the consent, and so the sex act is a crime in many jurisdictions.

The victim is not the one to blame.

Typically, however, in addition to anger (which is legitimate and understandable), the victim also feels a sense of guilt. It is this that I wish to address.

Although the victim is not to blame, that does not mean that the victim made no mistakes; that does not mean that there is nothing that the victim could have done differently to avoid the attack. This may be more often the case in acquaintance rape situations than in situations where the assailant and the victims are total strangers.

Let me explain this by making an analogy.

You are driving your car down the highway. The speed limit is 60 MPH. It is daytime, the weather is excellent, you are well-rested, your vehicle is free of mechanical errors, and there are few other cars on the road. You are driving at 58 MPH.

Are you breaking the law?

An oncoming car, which has been staying in its lane, at the last moment crosses the road into your lane and there is a collision. Later it is determined the other driver was intoxicated.

The other driver is to blame. That driver should not have been driving while intoxicated. Since there was no indication to you of a problem until the last moment, is there anything you could have done better?

In short, were you using good judgment?


Now we consider a different set of circumstances. It is now late at night, after midnight. You are very tired. Since it is nighttime, visibility is not what it is in the daytime. There has been a slight intermittent drizzle, which has left the road slippery. Furthermore, the drizzle worsens visibility. You are driving a little slower, at 50 MPH.

Are you breaking the law?

Ahead of you there is an oncoming vehicle. Because visibility is bad, and because you are tired, you don't notice that it is swerving around the road. As it approaches you, it crosses the road and collides with you in your lane. Later it is determined the other driver was intoxicated.

The other driver here broke the law by driving while intoxicated. As a result of that, the other driver crossed into your lane -- another violation of the law -- and collided with you. The accident is that other driver's fault.

Were you using good judgment? Or, had you made some decisions that limited your ability to avoid or react to the drunk driver?

In many rape trials, the victim is on trial as much as the accused. In defending her (or his) reputation, the victim is essentially raped again by the judicial system.

Many accusations against the victim in such circumstances center not around whether the victim broke any laws, but rather around whether the victim was using good judgment. I suspect that it is often the case that the victim looks back on the event and realizes that good judgment was not used; I further suspect that this may at times be a source of the "guilt" that the victim feels.

In the links on the sidebar there can be found information on how to prevent date rape. Many of the suggestions there are simply what I call using good judgment.

Again, make no mistake about it: the perpetrator who is committing the assault is the one breaking the law; the perpetrator is to blame.

My point is this: let's not make the perpetrator's crime any easier to commit than we have to; let's not limit our abilities to either avoid or at least react to the assault.

Let's use good judgment.

(Many thanks to a friend of mine, a former Wisconsin State Trooper and former judge, who originally explained this phenomenon to me years ago with a similar analogy.)

Powerful People

This is an interesting headline from two weeks ago: Twice-assaulted teacher calls it quits

BALTIMORE - A Baltimore middle school teacher who resigned two weeks ago after twice being physically assaulted by students learned Friday that the city school system is now moving to pull her state certification.

“Teaching in a city school is the job I signed up for, and it’s not my intention to skip out before the end of the year,” said Waverly Elementary/Middle School art teacher Julia Gumminger. “But I got into this to teach, not to fear for my safety.”

Gumminger said she’s been thrown against walls by eighth-grade boys four times since November and threatened with further bodily harm. She said she’s received little support from school or administration officials.

The 26-year-old earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a master’s degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She started teaching through Baltimore City’s residency program last year, and in December completed her certification coursework at Johns Hopkins. In November, she said she was thrown against a wall by a student she told to report to the principal’s office. After a two-day suspension, the student was right back in her class — a source of continual frustration for city teachers.

So, here's a teacher trying to enforce the rules, and she gets physically assaulted by one of her students.

What do you suppose the school "management" does? Essentially, nothing. The kid should have been escorted out of that school by the police, never to return; expulsion and prosecution.

At a Feb. 27 school board meeting, Baltimore Teachers Union president Marietta English testified to school commissioners that “the 8,000 teachers and paraprofessionals in the system have faced numerous assaults, only to have the student return back to class.”

Apparently, the problem is widespread in that school district.

Teachers have said principals and administrators limit the number of suspensions to prevent schools from being listed as “persistently dangerous,” but students begin to feel they can get away with anything.

What does it mean if the school gets listed as "persistently dangerous"...? Well, it means the administrators aren't doing their job, and that reflects badly on them. So, what do the administrators do? They cover up the fact that they aren't doing their job by limiting the number of suspensions.

The administrators are concerned not about the safety of the teachers and other students, but about the safety of their own careers and reputations. Of course, the kids, who are not dummies, pick up on what is going on -- they may not know the details, and they may not know why it is happening, but they know enough to exploit the situation.

In January, after sending another student to the principal’s office for cutting class, Gumminger said she was thrown against a wall three times by the boy after the principal released him from her office at dismissal. That student was suspended for 45 days, Gumminger said. After initially seeking a transfer to another school, which she was told was impossible, she decided to look for other employment.

So, this is not the first time this teacher has tried to enforce the school's rules and then be attacked by a student for doing so. Out of legitimate concern for her own safety, seeing the school administration is going to do nothing to ensure safety in the school, she resigns. The school's response? Punish the teacher!

The school told her they are asking the state Department of Education to suspend her certification because she is breaking her contract.

Doesn't the school administration have some kind of rules that apply to them, or are they above the law? Isn't there a contract that the administrators have broken? Like one that says they get paid to do a job, and they're not doing it, so they are fired? How's about revoking their license to be involved in public schools in any capacity in that state?

Gumminger will be notified of an opportunity to appeal the suspension of her certification at a school board meeting, union spokesman David Barney said.

“I lived in this neighborhood for a year before I started teaching and I wanted to be here,” Gumminger said. “... But [now] I’m too afraid. I have students wait by my car and threaten to hurt me.”

No kidding.

But, there's more....

More assaulted teachers come forward:

BALTIMORE - After Waverly Middle School art teacher Julia Gumminger, who quit Monday after twice being assaulted by students, came forward with her story in Wednesday’s Examiner, she heard from Mayor Sheila Dixon’s office, the Baltimore Teachers Union, several media outlets and one college classmate.

She is pleased that the crisis of student-on-teacher assaults in Baltimore schools is coming to light and that other teachers are speaking out, but she’s also disappointed in the focus of the attention.

“A lot of people are concentrating on that fact that the city is trying to pull my teaching certificate for breaking my contract,” Gumminger said Thursday, “but that’s not why I came forward. I thought standing up and talking about what I went through was the best thing I can to do for the kids. It’s a small percentage of students dragging schools down and the whole system is crumbling underneath the strain. Ninety-five percent of the kids are bright, creative, insightful and talented in art.”

I guarantee you these bureaucrats will try to smear this teacher in order to save their own pathetic careers. They already sacrificed her safety, as well as the safety of the other faculty and the students, with their decision to cover up the problems they have.

But, this young lady is not trying to get something out of this for herself. Just like when she was enforcing the rules, she's doing her duty now by trying to call attention to the situation.

Another teacher, a classmate of hers from the University of Maryland, had her back injured in a similar situation:

One call Gumminger didn’t expect was from Stephanie Rawlings, her classmate at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a cohort at Johns Hopkins in the Baltimore teaching residency program.

Rawlings, a Canton Middle language arts teacher, has been out of work since Jan. 28 following an assault and a later fight in her classroom in which her back was injured.

While that situation was treated a little more seriously, it still was not treated adueqately:

When the student who assaulted her came back into her classroom four times after returning from a 45-day suspension (she said she was told he would be expelled), Rawlings suffered her first “panic attack.”

And,

Melissa McCallister, a teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary/Middle, said she’s been assaulted four times since December by students. McCallister has been hit in the head with a textbook, pushed against a wall, and grabbed twice — once in what her husband described as an “inappropriate manner.”

[. . .]

Both teachers, like Gumminger, indicated they are being pushed into a corner because their transfer requests to other schools have been denied.

Their choice is either returning to an unsafe school or having the city request the state department of education pull their teaching certificate.

“I’m basically in the same situation as Julia,” Rawlings said. “I can’t return to that building — I have to quit.”

The administration should have expelled and prosecuted these students. They didn't. Instead, they tried to cover it up so as to get good reviews about their schools, thereby helping their own careers.

Now the school board needs to deal with these administrators: fire them, and prosecute them as appropriate.

If the school board refuses to deal with the situation, the voters need to deal with the school board: fire them. When is the next election there?

One indexing for this article is The Pit (see previous post by that title). The reason for that is simple. There are those who will try to get people out of The Pit. There are also those who will stand near The Pit and merely look inside it -- they themselves aren't in The Pit, what do they care, it's entertaining.

Here, we have an example of people -- these administrators -- who push people down into The Pit and then won't let them out, all to save their own sorry asses:

Powerful people prevent proper procedures; prefer pushing into pit.

Here's a newsflash for that group of administrators, and others like them:

There's a pit out there somewhere for you, too.

The Pit

From Godzman: Street Prophet Called For The Streets

Some time later God spoke to me the words, TEN FINGER MINISTRY. As strange as that sounded, God explained it to me. I saw in my mind a pit full of people, desiring desperately to get out, but could not. God explained, "There Are Some Folks That Would Stand At The Edge Of The Pit, Trying To Pull people Out. But There Are Some That Would Forsake Themselves, Jump Down Into The Pit And Give Them Ten Fingers To Stand On , And Push Them Out." God should know, He made Himself man, (JESUS), and jumped down in to this worldly pit, Suffered, died, and was resurrected, so that we which were captive, would be set free, and free indeed. This was my FIRST PIT, the pit of the streets, where Gangs, Drugs and Death rains. But God has created a people to invade this darkness, and with the Light of His Spirit God has saved many lives to this day.

Go to Street Prophet Called For The Streets and read the rest!

I like this so much that it is now going to be a label to index other posts by.

A Fraction of a Second

So I'm checking some things out on Google. I try using the advanced search. I get search results in less than half a second.

In addition to that, Google advises me that I can save time by hitting "ENTER" on my keyboard, instead of clicking "Search" with my mouse.

But, I need further information from Google, and I don't know who to ask!

1) How much time will be shaved off from this fraction of a second? Is it a significant amount? Like, a tenth of a second or so?

2) How much time does it take to move my hand from my mouse to the ENTER key on my keyboard? Is that more or less time than I will save by hitting ENTER?

3) How could I best use this time that I will be saving? Could I, like, save it up, and go on vacation, or perhaps retire early?

Enquiring minds want to know....

"You 'can't hear' me...."

[An opening scene from the movie Kelly's Heroes. It's France, late summer 1944. Standing in a barn at night, sheltering from the rain and from an ongoing but inaccurate mortar barrage, Big Joe (played by Telly Savalas), a sergeant leading a reconnaissance platoon, is talking on the radio to a guy named Mulligan.]


"You 'can't hear' me. The reason you 'can't hear' me is because you're firing your mortars at your end, and they're dropping here, at our end."

Who's a Gangmember?

From the City of Madison, WI, Police Department's DANE COUNTY NARCOTICS AND GANG TASK FORCE -- GANGS - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

"STREET GANG MEMBER":

An individual shall be considered a "Street Gang Member" when that person meets any one of the following criteria:

1. When the individual admits membership in a gang.

2. When a law enforcement agency or reliable informant identifies an individual as a gang member.

3. When an informant of previously untested reliability identifies an individual as a gang member, and it is corroborated by independent information.

4. When the individual resides in or frequents a particular gang's area and affects their style of dress, use of hand signs, symbols or tattoos, and/or maintains ongoing relationships with known gang members; or has been arrested several times in the company of identified gang members for offenses which are consistent with usual gang activity; and where the law enforcement officer believes there is reasonable suspicion that the individual is involved in gang-related criminal activity or enterprise.

"STREET GANG AFFILIATE":

An individual who does not meet the criteria for a "Street Gang Member," but is known to affiliate with active gang members, and law enforcement personnel have established a reasonable suspicion that the individual is involved in criminal activity or enterprise, or promotes the criminal activity of a gang.

What jumps out to me is No. 4 under the definitions of a Street Gang Member.

Even if a young person is just hanging around with gang members, that young person runs a very serious risk of suffering in the same fate as the gangmembers.

If you dress like a banger, if you act like a banger, if you hang around with bangers, you are considered a banger.

Not only will the Madison, WI, Police Department treat you like a banger, but rival gangs will, too. When they do a drive-by shooting, they are not going to stop and ask you technicalities about whether you have been properly initiated into your set; they're just going to open fire, then beat it.

This is why acquaintances and family members of gangbangers have an alarming tendency to die violently.

And that is part of the reason ganglife is so painful. Bangers watch even the relatively innocent people in their lives get gunned down in the crossfire.

Then, they want to take revenge, so they go and shoot at the people that they believe are their enemies (they're not checking ID's either), and more people die.

Then someone avenges that, and the violence continues....

Isn't that kewel...?

Getting Out of a Gang

Institute for Governmental Research: FAQs about Gangs. (See original for hyperlinks to sources.)

Are youth gangs involved in organized crime?

The “gang” characterization is sometimes broadly extended to mean terrorist gang, prison gang, or criminal gang as in organized crime, and “in each of these instances, the word ‘gang’ implies a level of structure and organization for criminal conspiracy that is simply beyond the capacity of most street gangs” (Klein, 2004: 57). To remain in business, organized crime groups such as drug cartels must have strong leadership, codes of loyalty, severe sanctions for failure to abide by these codes, and a level of entrepreneurial expertise that enables them to accumulate and invest proceeds from drug sales (p. 58). In contrast, “most street gangs are only loosely structured, with transient leadership and membership, easily transcended codes of loyalty, and informal rather than formal roles for the members” (p. 59). Very few youth gangs meet the essential criteria for classification as “organized crime” (see also Decker, Bynum, and Weisel, 1998; Weisel, 2002).

The loose structure discussed above helps explain why, despite threats that a member is in a gang for life and will be killed if he or she tries to leave, many street gang members who try to leave are able to do so successfully.

But, read on....

How do youths become involved in and leave a gang?

[...] research has documented that former gang members, especially marginal and short-term ones, typically left the gang without complication or facing any serious consequences (Decker and Lauritsen, 2002; Decker and Van Winkle, 1996). However, for the more long-term and/or core members, the process of leaving the gang is likely to be more gradual and met with greater difficulty—particularly for youths in more highly organized gangs that have a firmer foothold in a community or neighborhood. Other situational factors that make leaving the gang more difficult include greater dependence on or personal status in the group, continuing perceptions by others (e.g., rivals) that the person is a bona fide member of the gang, and the lack of viable lifestyle alternatives (that is, conventional pursuits such as employment opportunities). Further, more hierarchically structured gangs may threaten or enact certain sanctions for those wishing to leave the gang.

Organization, habit, criminal record and associations are significant factors. Younger kids in loosely affiliated street gangs have an easier time getting out than experienced gangmembers who are involved in more organized criminal endeavors. Still, it is possible even for "hardened criminals" to change their lives.

Younger gangmembers: get out now, while you still can!

More experienced gangmembers: get out now, because you still can!

Eze 18:20-23 "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord God, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live?"

God does not judge you the way people judge you.

To Him, you are a hardened criminal only as long as you harden your heart and refuse to change. The moment you turn to Him and seek help and healing, you are like a new-born child ("born again"), and He will be happy to work with you.

When you continue to do what is wrong, when you continue to do what hurts yourself and others, this saddens Him; but He is very happy when you decide to change your ways. He loves you, and is very pleased when you turn to Him and give Him the chance to help you. He knows you need it -- and you know it, too.

Eze 18:27-28 "Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die."

Getting Started in Gangs

Institute for Governmental Research: FAQs about Gangs. (See original for hyperlinks to sources.)

Are today's youth gangs different from gangs in the past?

Some of the gangs that have emerged in the past decade are noticeably different from those that emerged before the mid-1980s (Howell, Egley, and Gleason, 2002; Howell, Moore, and Egley, 2002). These gangs are commonly described as having a “hybrid gang culture,” meaning they do not follow the same rules or methods of operation, making documentation and categorization difficult (Starbuck et al., 2001). They may have several of the following characteristics: a mixture of racial/ethnic groups, a mixture of symbols and graffiti associated with different gangs, wearing colors traditionally associated with a rival gang, less concern over turf or territory, and members who sometimes switch from one gang to another. Members of contemporary gangs often “cut and paste” bits of Hollywood images and big-city gang lore into their local versions of gangs. Small town and rural gangs also differ from urban gangs in other important respects (Howell, Egley, and Gleason, 2002), hence urban models of gang development and response do not necessarily apply in rural areas (Weisheit and Wells, 2004).

To me, what this one above indicates is the possibility for a group of wannabes to become a gang by trying to imitate behavior they see in the movies or become aware of through music or videogames. When it comes to taking kids down the wrong path, every little bit can hurt.


What are the major risk factors for gang membership?

Risk factors that predispose many youths to gang membership are also linked to a variety of adolescent problem behaviors, including serious violence and delinquency. The major risk factor domains are individual characteristics, family conditions, school experiences and performance, peer group influences, and the community context. Risk factors predictive of gang membership include prior and/or early involvement in delinquency, especially violence and alcohol/drug use; poor family management and problematic parent-child relations; low school attachment and achievement and negative labeling by teachers; association with aggressive peers and peers who engage in delinquency; and neighborhoods in which large numbers of youth are in trouble and in which drugs and firearms are readily available (Howell and Egley, 2005; see also Esbensen, 2000; Hill, Lui, and Hawkins, 2001; Thornberry, 1998; Wyrick and Howell, 2004). The accumulation of risk factors greatly increases the likelihood of gang involvement, just as it does for other problem behaviors. The presence of risk factors in multiple risk-factor domains appears to increase the likelihood of gang involvement even more (Thornberry et al., 2003). A complete enumeration of risk factors for juvenile delinquency and gang involvement and data indicators can be accessed at the National Youth Gang Center Web site (http://www.iir.com/nygc/tool/).

"Risk factors predictive of gang membership include [...] negative labeling by teachers[.]"

In my short time teaching in the public schools, I saw enough of that. I tried not to do it, but it takes constant vigilance. I can only imagine a young kid teacher (No offense intended to you young kid teachers!), fresh out of college and overwhelmed with "bad" kids (There! I just labeled them!), or a teacher who has been dealing with "thugs" (I did it again!) for many years.

We are very blessed that God doesn't write us off, the way I so often have written others off, but rather, that He insists on saving us, and sent His Son to do so.

Denominations

I love it when evangelical Christian groups tell me that I should be in a "Bible-based" church. They seem to have an aversion to traditions in "The Church" -- even as they establish their own traditions.

Who was instrumental in producing The Bible as we know it?

"The Church."

For the first couple of centuries of Christianity, there was no Bible, and there were many counterfeit "gospels" that kept cropping up like weeds ("The Gospel according to Judas" and trash like that). Finally, "The Church" got together and decided what scriptures should be recognized as genuine, and "The Bible" was born.

How did "The Church" decide what was genuine and authentic, and what was counterfeit? In part, the decision was made based on which scriptures were keeping with the traditions handed down from Christ Himself.

Traditions

2 Thes 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

2 Thes 3:6 But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.

1 Cor 11:2 Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.

Christ's Apostles established five patriarchates. Little by little the one in Rome changed its traditions and "evolved" away from the other four, until, finally, after roughly one millenium of Christianity, there was a decisive split of the Western Church (which became the Catholic Church) from the Eastern Church.

Roughly half a millenium later, a group of Christians in the West, reading their Bible (which had been translated, finally, into a language they could understand) decided that the Roman Church had gotten away from the Scriptures, and the Protestant Reformation was born.

Just as Martin Luther accused the Catholic Church of getting too far from the Holy Scriptures, so did others then accuse Luther's movement of doing the same; and, now we have a whole plethora of denominations, thousands of them. Pandora's box is wide open; the genie is out of the bottle.

So, how should you answer someone who tells you that you need to be in a Bible-based church?

The Church should not be founded on the Bible! The Church should be based in Christ Jesus!

1 Cor 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Am I saying that you will not get into the Kingdom of God unless you are Orthodox Christian? Absolutely not!

What I am saying is this:

1) Don't tell me I have to believe what you believe or I'm going to Hell, because that is so wrong as to be quite foolish!

2) And don't arrogantly tell me that you stand closer to the Cross than I do, because that is more foolishness!

It is up to Jesus Christ to decide who "stands closer to the cross" -- and I imagine He will consider who is keeping His commandment:

John 13:34-35 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

And don't ask me if I have been saved, and when, or tell me that you were saved on thus-and-such a date, as if it were some event, when salvation is, in fact, a process. Rather,

Php 2:12 ... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

and, if someone tries to pin you down to a specific moment when you were saved, you would be wise to reply that, like the rest of humanity, you were saved in that moment when our Lord and Savior was crucified for our sins.

God bless you, my friends, and I will see you in the Kingdom of God, if not before!

A Teacher with a Student Who is Trying to Leave a Gang

I recently had an email from a teacher who expressed concern about a student she had in his early teens who was involved with gangs. I offered her my thoughts regarding the situation, and she answered me very positively: "It's good to have someone to talk to about the hard stuff."

It was very rewarding and humbling that what I had to offer seemed to be so genuinely appreciated. I post the key elements of the situation and of my response here, with the hope that they will be of use to others, as well. The information has been sanitized to eliminate references to any specifics.

The basics of the problem is that a male gangmember in his early teens was in trouble with law enforcement for a drug-related issue, which, in turn, was gang-related. The gangmember expressed an interest to this teacher to leave the gang, and she wanted to know what to do to help him. My response was:

In circumstances like this, a coordinated approach, involving law enforcement, school staff, parents and clergy has often worked.

It goes like this: the gangmember decides he wants to get away from the gang. Of course, the gangs always say you can't leave. However, nearly all gangs usually respect a sincere desire to leave the gang and turn to God. So, the now-soon-to-be-former gangmember gets the cops, school, the family and clergy involved, and tells them he (or she) just wants to leave the gang -- not tell on them, just walk away -- and turn to God.

With this support network in place, the gang has nothing to lose by letting him go, since the member is not telling anyone, especially the cops, details about the gang. However, the gang does have something to lose by messing with the former member, since everybody knows that the person is leaving the gang, and anything bad that happens the gang will be investigated first. If the member has difficulties, the school, family and clergy can work together to help steer him on the right track.

[ ... ]

To me, the key is to get Jesus involved in his life to open doors for him. As a teacher, presumably in a public school, First Amendment considerations may prevent you from evangelizing. However, nothing prevents you from reporting what you were told is an effective strategy. If the student asks your personal opinion on it, you would then be free to offer your opinion.

Another key feature is attitude.

Please relay to him from me the following advice:

Change your life. Change the way you dress, so you don't look like a banger. Change the way you act -- you may not realize it, but to some extent you act, and react, like a banger. In short, change everything that might make someone think you are a banger. They will stop associating you with gangs, and the gang problems will leave you alone.

Many people think that just by moving somewhere different, they can get away. But, without realizing it, they take with themselves the same attitude, dress and mannerisms that let others know they are gang-affiliated. So, even though they are trying to avoid trouble, trouble finds them.

A friend of mine was a banger on the northwest side of [a major American city]. He moved to the south side, deep in a rival gang's country. Nobody knew him in the new hood, and his homies from the old hood wouldn't go to that part of town. He changed the way he dressed, talked, acted. He started going to church, got married. Today, he's a devout Christian, happily married with kids, his wife has a nice job, he's going to college, and his job as a security guard allows him to study on the clock. Now he can kind of joke about his past.

Get with Jesus, and ask Jesus to show you the way. Jesus will be happy to show you how to get out of trouble, because He hung on a cross exactly to get you out of trouble.

In her response, the teacher expressed concern about involving herself in the situation, due to possible ramifications for her family. She also commented about how other faculty members were already working with this student, including some who were more specifically detailed to deal with these types of problems. Consequently, she was allowing the other faculty to take the lead in this situation.

The basis for concern seemed to be that she felt she knew very little about gang-related issues.

My comments were as follows:

For some kids, the "fond" memories of what they did with their gang buddies are overpoweringly tempting, and they backslide. Some kids aren't very sincere to begin with; they're just hoping to get out of trouble with the authorities that they are currently in. But, it is important that the kids have somewhere other than the gang to turn to.

If there is that much concern about a gang problem in your community, then, as a teacher, I suggest you visit our website. Reading the message boards could be especially enlightening: http://www.streetgangstyle.com/gs/board/listboards.php

After spending two to three hours a week over the course of several months, you'll be much better prepared to identify gang-related issues and you'll have a better handle on how to deal with them.

One of the best things you can do is just be there for the kids. They have parents who often don't understand them, or who have problems themselves; they have teachers who are so often too inundated with workload and bureaucracy to help them. They have friends, who are just as lost as they are. What they really need are authority figures who will take the time to get to know them and help them out.

What I'm recommending here is legitimate professional concern. Let some of the kids come in and sit with you before or after school for a little while. Help them with their homework, and maybe they can help you decorate the classroom. Solicit their input in preparing class activities and assignments. And, be ready to listen to them. Learn about what kind of resources are available in your community for drug-related, gang-related and rape-related issues. When you come across a particularly bad problem, steer the little gal or guy in the appropriate direction for the help needed.

You can be a real light for them in a world that is usually dark and scary. And, they will love you for it. Your Creator will appreciate it, too.

Seek the Lord's help with all the issues you face in life. Nothing is too small or too trivial for Him. He created you, He knows all about you; nothing should be too embarassing to bring to Him.

On the contrary, if you think that a matter is too unimportant or embarassing to address with God, then that matter and its associated concerns become a small barrier between you and Him, and that is not good: what you want is for Him to show you how to solve your problems.

The Views

For over two years now, I've been fairly active online with "Internet evangelism" especially at Gangstyle.com, currently Streetgangstyle.com and found at that address.

The work has been very satisfying and enjoyable, as I have made not just new acquaintances, but have become part of the "Gangstyle Family," a group of people that I am very close to, yet, at the same time, from whom we all maintain ourselves in a relative degree of anonymity.

While I intend to continue my interaction at Gangstyle, I would also like a forum for other topics that I wish to address. A blog is the most appropriate format for now, so this blog will be that forum.

One of the initial themes will be helping people who are involved in street gangs. As such, much of the work here on that theme will be cross-posted over at Gangstyle.

This is a Christian blog, so another theme will be addressing issues related to Christianity.

Other themes will be addressed as they arise. Since God is the Creator of all, and His Son, Jesus Christ, is the Lord of all, Christianity is a way of life. Therefore, all topics will be addressed within a Christian context, since that is the only true context for them.

As our Lord and Savior said (John 13:34-35), "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

I would like all to be welcome here. For those who behave here as our Lord and Savior has commanded, that will be the case. If you disagree with me, you are free to do so here politely. If you wish to disagree rudely and use excessive profanity, find some other place to do it, and come back here when you are ready to behave as you would before our Lord.

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