I Did My Own Research: Here's What I Learned (Satire Alert)

"Don’t be fooled by the 'fake news' in the mainstream media. 

Do your own research if you really want to know the truth.” 

-Abraham Lincoln, as quoted by Pope Leo XIV       

With tongue firmly in cheek, here is the information I've gained from doing my own online research:

1. The earth is flat after all, not a round ball floating in space like I was taught in school. 

https://www.theflatearthsociety.org/home/index.php/blog/einsteins-relativity-proves-earth-flat

2. The Democratic party is mainly catering to "Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals." This comes straight from the President's press secretary, a high-level source.

3. Childhood vaccinations have caused an untold number of deaths, and pregnant women using Tylenol are to blame for a dramatic increase in children with autism. I got this vital information from our nation's Health and Human Services Secretary.

4. Slavery was as much of a blessing as it was an injustice for African Americans, and slavery had little to do with the American Civil War. The Confederacy was only formed to preserve states' rights and to defend the Constitution.

5. Donald Trump clearly got the most votes in the 2020 election, and Biden became president only because of massive voter fraud.

6. The January 6 uprising was largely a peaceful event except for some Antifa and other bad actors who infiltrated the crowd. 

7. Large numbers of those involved in the most recent No Kings Day demonstrations were agitators paid to take part by wealthy people like George Soros and by others who hate America.

8. Most of the political violence in the US in the past decade has been by people on the fringe left who are out to destroy our country.

9. President Biden supported the most massive surge in human sex trafficking in history, and the Clintons operated a child sex ring in a pizza establishment in the District of Columbia for decades. 

10. Climate scientists from all over the world, unlike researchers in other scientific fields, are being bought off by solar and wind power industries to persuade us that global warming is dangerous and is caused by our increased reliance on fossil fuel.

But don't just take my word for any of the above. If you research hard enough you can find all these alternative facts verified on line. 

Keeping Christ In Our Christianity

This ancient yoke was on display as I gave a sermon at the
Zion Mennonite church on how those yoked to Jesus are
bound to live, love and serve as He did.

We're hearing a lot these days about Americans needing to promote Christian values. But often Christian language is used to promote beliefs and practices that support our personal or political views but which are inconsistent with Jesus's actual teachings.

Here are some examples:

1. Every true Christian should aim to marry, settle down and raise a family.

Jesus, while strongly supporting fidelity in marriage and consistently opposing divorce, was himself never married, a fact no one seems to note.. And the New Testament, in sharp contrast to the rest of scripture, offers the names of only two complete families, that of Zechariah, Elizabeth and John, and of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Jesus clearly elevates the importance of the worldwide kingdom-of-God-family over the nuclear family.

2. It is the patriotic duty of good Christians to pledge allegiance to, and sacrifice their lives for, their country.

Jesus taught that only the worldwide, heaven-governed Empire of God demanded our supreme loyalty, and never aligned himself with either liberal Sadducees, conservative Pharisees, revolutionary Zealots, pro-liberation nationalists, or loyal Roman citizens. One cannot picture him tossing free Make Israel Great Again caps into any of the crowds he addressed.

3. Christians should earn as much as possible, tithe what they earn, but save all they are able for a comfortable retirement and to pass on to their heirs. 

Very few proponents of Christian values ever even mention Jesus's teachings about the impossibility of serving both God and money and the need to avoid hoarding ever more wealth. Nor do they note the fact that the Son of Man, their Supreme Prophet (Teacher), Priest and King never owned a place to lay his head. As North American Christians we tend to justify our sense of entitlement as among the wealthiest people on the planet.

4. Christians should give primary attention to good things in their nation's history and not on  stories that highlight its sins and shortcomings. 

The Bible is one of the most brutally honest texts in the world when it comes to exposing unvarnished and necessary truths from our past. Jesus and the prophets spare no words when it comes to calling for thorough repentance for past wrongs.

5. Christians should support every means necessary to keep desperate foreigners from crossing their borders, and to apprehend those whose visas have expired, even if it means separating families. 

Jesus's Bible, the Pentateuch, has more to say about welcoming foreigners and treating them with respect than it does about the observance of the Sabbath. And Jesus commended both a Roman occupier and a Phoenician outsider for their faith, and showed special regard for despised half-Jews in neighboring Samaria. 

In the words of Richard Rohr, "The only way evil can succeed is to disguise itself as good. And one of the best disguises for evil is religion. Someone can be racist, be against the poor, hate immigrants, and be totally concerned about making money and being a materialist but still go to church each Sunday and be 'justified' in the eyes of religion. "

https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2017/03/a-demonic-trinity-of-evil-nationalism.html

Petitioning For A Model Criminal Justice System

If you are a Virginia resident, please add your name and zip code to the petition below as a message on our FB page or feel free to print copies, gather signatures and mail them to VJC, P.O. Box 434 , Harrisonburg, VA 22803 by November 15.

When I was in college in the sixties, some fellow students and I made regular visits to the former jail at 60 Graham Street, which had a capacity of around 50 men and with one small cell for several women. Our experiences with Sheriff Strawderman and his staff, and especially with those in his charge, forever changed my life.

Thirty years later, in 1995, our community opened a new jail at 25 South Liberty Street, designed for 250 inmates. But in less than three decades after it opened, the new facility had been double bunked to hold as many as 400, with up to an additional 200 housed at the Middle River Regional Jail in Verona.

While those numbers have leveled off since covid, something about that dramatic increase just didn’t seem right to many of us, which led to the formation of the Valley Justice Coalition, a citizens group focused on alternatives to incarceration. 

We wondered why, with our local census numbers increasing only around 55% since 1965 (much of that due to JMU’s rapid growth), our jail numbers skyrocketed by over 600% during that period. Were we really seeing that much more crime? And are Americans in general so much more criminal than other industrialized nations in the world that have far, far lower rates of incarceration?

Much of that increase can be attributed to a rise in drug related sentences, which is why we have fully supported Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst’s (and others’) efforts in establishing a Drug Court and a Day Reporting alternative to incarceration for those with substance use disorders. 

We also applaud Sheriff Hutcheson for providing educational tablets for inmates. These offer music and other forms of entertainment that can be accessed by individuals availing themselves of a set number of educational and self-improvement classes on these devices. With over 90% of the jail population being repeat offenders, the sheriff hopes, in the words of Marsha Garst, to have jail become more like a greenhouse rather than simply a human warehouse.

We were also pleased to collaborate with Delegate Wilt in his championing legislation to create a Public Defender’s Office for our community last year, through a bill he co-sponsored with Delegate Sam Rasoul, a Democrat. Good representation in court for those unable to afford an attorney can result not only in more just sentences but also in less court time and taxpayer money spent in costly appeals.

In a recent Zoom conversation with Delegate Wilt and Virginia Department of Corrections Director Chadwick Dotson, we were able to share our concerns about the fact that the Virginia Parole Board, whose mission it is “to grant parole or conditional release to those inmates whose release is compatible with public safety,” actually released only 16 persons in 2024, some of those due to serious health problems. We noted that for the first time ever, there are more aged and often ailing individuals eligible for geriatric release than for all other current categories combined, creating astronomical healthcare costs for taxpayers in the Commonwealth. And according to the Parole Board’s most recent report, it granted not even one release last month. Has our Department of Corrections failed to correct even a single one of the nearly 200 cases the Board reviewed in September?

We also recently had retired professor Howard Zehr as a guest at one of our recent VJC meetings, someone  known worldwide for his pioneering work in Restorative Justice alternatives to typically adversarial court processes. Our local Fairfield Center is ready and able to facilitate this kind of process, one in which offenders meet with their victims to work out a plan for making satisfactory restitution to repair harms they have inflicted, rather than simply being prescribed a punishment and denied the right--and the responsibility--to make things right.

None of these alternatives represent being “soft on crime,” but rather our becoming more “smart on crime,” and more effective in actually correcting wrongdoers, which is what a Department of Corrections should be all about.

In the interest of promoting a model criminal justice system in the Commonwealth, we are circulating a "public purpose"  petition in support of policies we believe are in every citizen’s best interest, regardless of their political leanings, as follows:

A PETITION IN SUPPORT OF SAFER AND MORE JUST COMMUNITIES

To: Public servants in Virginia involved in criminal justice issues

By:Concerned taxpayers in the Commonwealth

We favor the creation of an ever more just and effective criminal justice system, one that supports:

• Rehabilitation over mere punishment.
• Restorative justice alternatives that give high priority to victims' needs for reparation and restitution by offenders.
• Supervised release for aging and thoroughly rehabilitated persons behind bars.

NAME (legible, please)   ZIP CODE  (required)   PHONE OR EMAIL (optional)

In the spirit of the prophet Micah, we believe we are all required to not only do justice, but  to love mercy and together walk humbly with our just and merciful God. 

More Affordable Housing For Growing Families

The following was published in Tuesday's edition of the DN-R.

Columnist Jim Parrott of the Urban Institute estimates that some 6 million homeowners 65 and older live in homes that are over twice as large as the national average. He states, “As older Americans pay for excess space, younger families are stuck in homes too small to meet their needs.”

One of his proposals is to eliminate capital gains taxes for all but the most expensive homes, thus providing incentive for more people to sell their homes, downsize, and move to smaller spaces. 

Of course many of these homes may still not be affordable for young families, but should we be concerned about all the excess space in expansive homes in our neighborhoods with only one or two occupants?

Here are four simple principles to consider:

1. No one should be homeless.

2. Large homes should be occupied by large households.

3. Smaller homes should be occupied by smaller households.

4. Empty nesters should consider downsizing or taking in extra occupants.

So might the housing problem in our community be less about a shortage of space than a lack of equitable access to it? 

Fortunately, there are many modest homes, apartments, townhouses and duplexes in our community that provide adequate housing to individuals and small families, along with mobile homes and other older dwellings in various states of repair. Yet at the same time, the Harrisonburg Housing Authority has hundreds of people on their waiting list for subsidized housing, and those on low incomes are finding it ever more difficult to find a house or apartment they can afford.

According to a recent locally funded United Way ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) report, a family of two adults and two children in our area needs a combined income of over $66,000 in order to afford housing and other living costs. But based on information available from Trulia.com there are almost no 3-bedroom homes available for rent for under $1000 a month, and very few homes that can be purchased for under $200,000.

Here are some things we empty nesters and others with more space (and more stuff than we need), might do to help:

1. Put our home on the market and purchase or rent a smaller place, including the option of moving into an independent living facility at a retirement community. This would immediately make more homes and more bedrooms available to growing families. It would also encourage us to downsize, get rid of some of our surplus things and make things easier for our children and others when we pass on.

2. Take in international or other students and/or offer hospitality to other individuals who need a bedroom on a short term or long term basis.

3. Make our home available to an organization like Oxford House or some other group home for persons in recovery or with special needs, or turn it into a homeless shelter(!). I know there are zoning issues that could get in the way, but our community should be able to work together to make reasonable accommodations for more just and equitable housing.

4. Join with others in the community in a campaign to help make existing housing more energy efficient, thus reducing housing costs and helping save the planet.

Harrisonburg is known as the "Friendly City." I hope that means being hospitable to those who are struggling to make ends meet as well as a willingness to help make more good homes available for growing families.

Is John 3:16 Only About Life In The Hereafter?

The small blue dot in space we get to inhabit inhabit is a part of the vast cosmos God loves.

"Christ is the perfect teacher, and his sacrifice is the perfect sacrifice."    

- Menno Simons 

One of the most quoted texts in the Christian Bible is John 3:16, often referred to as "the gospel in a nutshell." It is part of a response to Nicodemus, a noted religious leader who came late one night to learn more about Jesus, whom he addressed as "Rabbi" and as "a teacher sent from God." 

Here's the key verse from that conversation (King James Version):

For God so loved the world (the cosmos, a word used to describe the complete, orderly and harmonious universe)

that he gave his only begotten Son (God in human form, incarnate as a human being)

that whosoever believeth in him (all new-born people everywhere who embrace and live by his life-giving message)

should not perish (come to an end or be destroyed)

but have everlasting life (a life that will be forever secure and lasting)."

Jesus goes on to say, in the next verse "For God sent not his Son into the world (again the cosmos) to condemn the world (cosmos), but that the world (cosmos) might be saved."

We have typically interpreted these words to apply only to how each of us can receive assurance of living forever in a far off heaven, based on the sacrificial death, by crucifixion, Jesus was later to suffer. 

But is it only that, or is Jesus' redeeming work even more consequential that just that?

In other words, is God, through the Word made flesh, intending to salvage and restore all of creation to its original state of shalom, where "nothing is marred and nothing is missing?"

I'm beginning to see it as both, as later affirmed by the apostle Paul: 

"God was pleased to have his whole nature living in Christ. God was pleased to bring all things back to himself. That’s because of what Christ has done. These things include everything on earth and in heaven. God made peace (Greek word is eirene, Hebrew is shalom) through Christ’s blood, by his death on the cross."   - Colossians 1:19-20 (NIRV)

Two More Deaths At Deerfield Prison Last Week

Deerfield Correctional Center houses over 1000 men, many with serious medical conditions requiring costly tax funded medical care. According to someone there I regularly correspond with they currently have no full time MD on staff. 

Last week's deaths were not untypical, with one person dying of cancer who had just been put on chemo, and the other with severe heart disease.

 Here are the names of some persons who have agreed to meet with Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections Chadwick Dotson at an upcoming visit of the facility. 

1) Charles Zellers, 1036758

Born: 04/10/68 (Age 57)

COMPAS Score: LOW RISK for General or Violent Recidivism
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Long COVID, severe sleep apnea, severe Peripheral Neuropathy, Pulmonary Fibrosis, Dupuytren's Contracture (both hands), and he must be on 2 Liters of continuous supplemental oxygen.
Home Plan: 1/3 ownership of home at 723 East 6th Avenue, Kenbridge, VA, with his two sisters
Financial Goal: To be on Full Disability
Mandatory Release Date: N/A
Infraction free over 25 years
First time in prison.
January 2026, would have served 33 consecutive years.

2) John Thomas Carter, 1419465
Born: 06/04/56
COMPAS Score: ?
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Legally blind, had reconstructive surgery to face, has a tube in his trachea to breathe, severe headaches, intestinal issues, and etc.
Home Plan: Live with son and daughter-in-law in Farmville, VA
Financial Goal: Social Security
Mandatory Release Date: 10/??/42

3) Denny Coggin Melton, 1177600
Born: 03/05/1954
COMPAS Score: ?
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Black lung, Cancer, Diabetic, COPD, etc.
Home Plan: To Brother Allen Thomason @ 28 Clover Hill Drive, Stafford, VA 22554 (540) 846-1550
Financial Goal: Social Security
Mandatory Release Date: N/A

4).Jackson Puckett, 1456242
Born: 10/19/51
COMPAS Score: LOW
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Stage 4 Kidney Disease, broken screw in neck (makes him shake), needs pacemaker, needs cataract surgery, type 1 diabetic, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hiatus hernia, acid reflux disease, and etc.
Home Plan: Own home at 403 Fields Avenue, Blue Ridge, VA 24064
Financial Goal: Social Security
Mandatory Release Date: 08/11/31

5) Linwood T. James, #1095666
Born: (Age 67)
COMPAS Score: Low/Low
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Back issues, disabled veteran
Home Plan: Live with sister
Financial Goal: Social Security, Veterans Administration
Mandatory Release Date: N/A
Infraction free 20 years
Served 37 years

6) Troy L. Weeks, 1037843
Born: (Age 58)
COMPAS Score: Medium/Low
Chronic Medical Condition(s): Crohns Disease, Hypoglycemic, Pancreas problems
Home Plan: with brother in Vinton, VA
Financial Goal: Working with DOC or P&P as a Peer Recovery Specialist
Mandatory Release Date: Single Life (Fishback)
Infraction free 17 years
Served 29 years

Some others willing to meet:
1) Dennis Ray Graves, 1176500 - Legally blind
2) Minor Junior Smith, 1158588 - Legally blind
3) Richard Palmer, 1092784 - Legally blind, Diabetic, Diabetic Neuropathy, Lower Back issues, Circulation issues, etc.
4) George Edward Cooley, 1135561 - Dementia
5) Oscar Lee Robbins, 1119888
6) John Bennie Williams, 1091323 - Legally blind

Guest Post: Justice Matters DN-R Column: Introducing The Public Defender's Office

Abigail Thibeault (Tee-bow) is a real blessing to our community.

When I moved to Harrisonburg in 2021, I thought I would work for the public defender.

I was living in northern Virginia, where I worked as an assistant public defender in Maryland and was committed to public defense. I was shocked to learn that Harrisonburg and Rockingham County didn’t have a public defender’s office. Public defenders staffed courtrooms in Staunton, Winchester, Charlottesville, and even Page County, but not here.

In Maryland, every county, no matter how small, has a public defender’s office. Instead of waiting, I joined the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Western District of Virginia and daydreamed about the day the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission (VIDC) might open an office in Harrisonburg.

I’m a public defender to my core, and I believe in the power of a public defender’s office. An office of attorneys and professionals committed to indigent defense working together can stand up for defendants and stand against the abuse of power in a way that individual attorneys may not be able to. Harrisonburg and Rockingham County still had court-appointed attorneys — zealous lawyers in private practice willing to take on court-appointed cases individually — but no office solely dedicated to indigent defense. I wondered why a place as big as Rockingham County didn’t have this awesome resource until last fall.

Last fall, I left the Federal Public Defender’s Office, and we quietly began to build the first Office of the Public Defender for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. The work started years ago, when the VIDC, community members, courthouse stakeholders such as VIDC Commissioner and local attorney Aaron Cook, and local government, along with state Dels. Tony Wilt, R-Rockingham, and Sam Rasoul, R-Roanoke, who cosponsored the bill that established our office, started advocating for public defense in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Our office was founded on the hard work of countless individuals.

For me, the work started last September, in my living room, where I reviewed employee applications and introduced myself via email to everyone I imagined might be helpful — the sheriff, the commonwealth attorney, the Department of Social Services, the Community Services Board — anyone I thought might be a colleague, ally, or resource for our clients.

In October, I became “we,” and we began working in our office at 50 West Market Street. The office manager and investigator joined me at a long conference table in an otherwise empty office, where we began to imagine our office and set big goals.

We spent months hiring nine other attorneys, two mitigation specialists, two paralegals, and two legal assistants. Finally, we rounded out our team on Sept. 10, when our tenth attorney joined the office.

The Office of the Public Defender represents individuals facing criminal charges in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County who cannot afford to hire private counsel. Most people charged in criminal court are eligible for court-appointed representation, which includes the services of the public defender. The VIDC is dedicated to protecting and defending the rights and dignity of our clients in criminal court through zealous, compassionate, high-quality legal advocacy. We take our mission seriously. We work to protect our clients’ rights, knowing that our advocacy ensures fairness for every member of our community. Every day, we hold the line on our Constitutional rights and the fair enforcement of the law.

We believe that your wealth should not dictate the quality of the legal advocacy you have in criminal court. To that end, we fight for freedom every day. We cherish our own and take to heart the words of Toni Morrison, “the function of freedom is to free somebody else.” We further strive to show the Court, the Commonwealth, and the community the whole of our clients, who are too often the most vulnerable residents of Rockingham County.

We are pleased to partner with many outstanding community advocates in town, including the Valley Justice Coalition, which played a key role in the establishment of our office. Through these partnerships and our work in the court, we aim to enhance public safety. That may sound strange given we defend people charged with committing crimes, but we believe that a fair, humane, and forgiving court system improves safety and reduces crime.

To celebrate our first year, we are hosting an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. on Oct. 24 at our office, 50 W. Market St., in Harrisonburg. Please take a moment to visit our office, speak with our team, and ask any questions you may have about public defense. Light fare will be provided. We are grateful to be here.

Abigail M. Thibeault is the chief public defender of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. Justice Matters columns are provided by members of the Valley Justice Coalition, a local citizen voice for criminal justice reform in our community and in the Commonwealth since 2014.