Elizabeth (the delinquent, ecumenical) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hermionesviolin) wrote2007-07-29 11:54 pm
hermionesviolin) wrote2007-07-29 11:54 pm
[CAUMC] Red Hook Community Justice [2007-07-26]
from Eric's Tuesday e-mail:
I was a little uncomfortable at the beginning with the insistence that drugs are bad.
They do say that if kids aren't addicted, they aren't gonna be stealing to pay for said drugs. But that would still be solved with legalization -- I mean, people are addicted to cigarettes, but most of them get along just fine financially. Not that there shouldn't be treatment programs -- obviously I don't think being addicted to anything, be it caffeine or gambling or heroin, is an ideal situation.
I know the purpose of this Center isn't to change pre-existing laws, and definitely getting these kids into detox is a good thing all things considered, just some of how it was presented early in the video made me uncomfortable.
I was also uncomfortable that all the authority figures were white, but not too long into the video we saw people of color in various authority roles, which gladdened me.
I liked early on one of the guys said that veterans given the choice between 30 days in jail and an 18 month treatment program will tell him to go screw himself. It emphasizes the importance of early intervention.
The video took pains to show that sometimes they're hard-asses, and I think the way the stories were edited (they focused on a few specific clients) the viewer's verdict often wasn't the same as the judge's (though I could extrapolate and see likely why the judge made one decision or another) which I thought was unfortunate.
Early in the video they talked about how they're involved in community meetings, and it would have been nice to see more about the community involvement. I did like that we saw the Center workers consistently caring about their clients (asking about their families, checking up on them, etc.).
***
Affirmations:
Eric Affirmed that I'm going to Convo. He said he's tried to imagine what it would look like for him to go, and he just can't do it.
I said: But you went to Turkey! Other people said: But that was a honeymoon! That was fun! I said that I hoped Convo would be fun, that I wasn't going because I liked pain.
He said: but it's gonna be challenging, there's gonna be pain, they're gonna ask you to change the world.
Partway through I started thinking about white privilege stuff from my time at Smith, but by the time he finished I joked(?) that they're gonna ask me to change the world and I'm gonna say: Yeah, no.
I've been thinking about this since (especially since I started actually looking at the schedule in earnest. The whole time, I've been thinking about going to this as basically a fun academic experience -- panels and worship services and suchlike.
Meredith Affirmed how comfortable I look in my environment.
Claudia [visiting from Sweden] likes my laugh.
Jess likes my steady presence.
Mike Affirmed my shirt -- looks good on me, sets off my tag. [It's my white short-sleeved button-up shirt. I wear it 'cause it's the lightest shirt I own, but I always get compliments on it as well, which is nice.]
I Affirmed all the work Eric has done in stepping up fill Trelawney's leadership shoes while she's away, and I mentioned the well-organized weekly e-mails he sends out and just started gushing, which I hadn't expected since I had already sent him an e-mail expressing my love for it, but yeah, I guess it's not all that surprising.
***
This was the last small group I'll be at for a month (one Thursday at Convo, then 3 in Europe). I've only missed one other time (for SC Reunion) since I first went to CAUMC small group August 7 (it used to be on Mondays) of last year.
This week is upon us! (aren't they all that way?) Specifically:The video turned out to be about the Red Hook Community Justice Center.
Thursday July 26
Small group begins at 7pm over dinner in room 15. We will continue our series on criminal justice with a 50 minute video about a community justice center in New York. Because it seems best to watch the entire video first, we will start the video promptly at 7:40pm (over dinner, if you like) and follow with discussion afterward.
I was a little uncomfortable at the beginning with the insistence that drugs are bad.
They do say that if kids aren't addicted, they aren't gonna be stealing to pay for said drugs. But that would still be solved with legalization -- I mean, people are addicted to cigarettes, but most of them get along just fine financially. Not that there shouldn't be treatment programs -- obviously I don't think being addicted to anything, be it caffeine or gambling or heroin, is an ideal situation.
I know the purpose of this Center isn't to change pre-existing laws, and definitely getting these kids into detox is a good thing all things considered, just some of how it was presented early in the video made me uncomfortable.
I was also uncomfortable that all the authority figures were white, but not too long into the video we saw people of color in various authority roles, which gladdened me.
I liked early on one of the guys said that veterans given the choice between 30 days in jail and an 18 month treatment program will tell him to go screw himself. It emphasizes the importance of early intervention.
The video took pains to show that sometimes they're hard-asses, and I think the way the stories were edited (they focused on a few specific clients) the viewer's verdict often wasn't the same as the judge's (though I could extrapolate and see likely why the judge made one decision or another) which I thought was unfortunate.
Early in the video they talked about how they're involved in community meetings, and it would have been nice to see more about the community involvement. I did like that we saw the Center workers consistently caring about their clients (asking about their families, checking up on them, etc.).
***
Affirmations:
Eric Affirmed that I'm going to Convo. He said he's tried to imagine what it would look like for him to go, and he just can't do it.
I said: But you went to Turkey! Other people said: But that was a honeymoon! That was fun! I said that I hoped Convo would be fun, that I wasn't going because I liked pain.
He said: but it's gonna be challenging, there's gonna be pain, they're gonna ask you to change the world.
Partway through I started thinking about white privilege stuff from my time at Smith, but by the time he finished I joked(?) that they're gonna ask me to change the world and I'm gonna say: Yeah, no.
I've been thinking about this since (especially since I started actually looking at the schedule in earnest. The whole time, I've been thinking about going to this as basically a fun academic experience -- panels and worship services and suchlike.
Meredith Affirmed how comfortable I look in my environment.
Claudia [visiting from Sweden] likes my laugh.
Jess likes my steady presence.
Mike Affirmed my shirt -- looks good on me, sets off my tag. [It's my white short-sleeved button-up shirt. I wear it 'cause it's the lightest shirt I own, but I always get compliments on it as well, which is nice.]
I Affirmed all the work Eric has done in stepping up fill Trelawney's leadership shoes while she's away, and I mentioned the well-organized weekly e-mails he sends out and just started gushing, which I hadn't expected since I had already sent him an e-mail expressing my love for it, but yeah, I guess it's not all that surprising.
***
This was the last small group I'll be at for a month (one Thursday at Convo, then 3 in Europe). I've only missed one other time (for SC Reunion) since I first went to CAUMC small group August 7 (it used to be on Mondays) of last year.