Accusations and Verdicts

January 25, 2015.

Passing Thoughts

And so life speeds by, and we reflect once again.  There is such a fascinating thread that weaves through my life and the lives of others.  We know that "To Kill a Mockingbird" is regarded as the most influential book in America in the 20th Century, and I think the statistic is that about 68% of the population has read it.
We know that the story is set in Alabama,  as is my tale.  The fictional story has a shocking outcome:  the jury, in spite of overwhelming evidence comes back with a guilty verdict.  This is what Jonny and Mark were not prepared to risk for Greg.  They understood what they should be afraid of.

 I know that Loretto Academy gave me the courage to speak up.  A silly female voice that grew from the legacy of a five hundred year old tradition of teaching girls to be accomplished.  My Latvian heritage taught me that material things could be taken away at anytime, and so were not worth suffering over.  Natalie's health issue made me realize that making Greg pay a 'fine' and draft a statement that would satisfy his accuser which would make the criminal charge go away, as inconceivable of that idea was to my values of civilization, suddenly that option was worth it.  Suddenly the extortion money made sense, and I was willing to change my position.  But does telling the Universe mean that I am like a journalist, and will have my head cut off?  Jonny wanted me to be quiet until he could get Greg 'out' so to speak, and when I told him I was going to write a story about my experience, I pretty near killed him with a massive stress attack and his eyeballs popped out of his head.  I will tell him about my blog on February 1,  2015.

Today's reflection makes me think that women might hold the key in solving world problems by opening a dialogue.  Good and evil exists as sure as day and night and it is that problem that causes the great divide.  Who is going to say "I am evil."  The battle between right and wrong, good and evil is the concept that  'my side is better than your side' and the assumption that " I am right" clouds our actions, as no one is ever willing to accept even the slightest possibility, that they might be wrong, or perhaps even think that thay are actually doing something wrong.  Women have been told for centuries that they are 'wrong'.  They have been prevented from voting,  receiving inheritences,  attending school, driving cars, etc etc etc etc - a 2,000 year plus, long list of inequalities.  So I guess it is dangerous to speak up, more dangerous for a journalist, and I guess really dangerous to be a female journalist.  And  to think, "To Kill a Mockingbird" was written by a women, and is the most influencial novel in 20th Century American Literature.
Interesting.  I will now reflect on that passing thought.