City Pages

originally published February 16, 2005

Jimmy Carter
Sunday School Teacher

The small city of Americus in southwestern Georgia has a long history, but many visitors know it mainly as the place of Habitat for Humanity International's headquarters. Recently, my husband and I sought a quiet place to spend the night there before touring the nearby Confederate military prison in Andersonville early the next morning.

As we registered, the hotel desk clerk suddenly asked, "Tomorrow is Sunday, so you must be going to Jimmy Carter's Sunday school class in Plains?" Surprised, we responded, "Do you mean we can just walk in without any special arrangements?"

Mike Conroy

Jimmy Carter

She replied, "Sure, lots of folks come here to do just that. It's just 10 minutes down the road. It's real easy to get to the church, but even though his Sunday school starts at 10, you'd best be there at 8:30 to get a good seat."

So the next morning we headed out to a church in Plains instead of to a prison in Andersonville.

Plains. How well named. This part of Georgia is flat, flat, flat, compared to the rolling hills of Athens. To get to the church, we turned right just before Billy Carter's service station. The little run-down gas station brought back memories of how the media loved to report what the President's brother was doing and saying down in Plains, while Jimmy occupied the White House from 1977 to 1981. We hope the people of Plains will always preserve this little bit of history.

The fields outside of town are still farmed. Maranatha Baptist Church looks out over a hayfield across the road. Next to the church parking lot is a cotton field. Fluffy white cotton bolls fluttered in the wintry breeze. Just looking at that field brought back stories of Jimmy Carter's boyhood and the hard work he did picking cotton on his own family farm a short distance away.

It was exactly 8:30 a.m., and already the parking lot was nearly full. At the front entrance, security guards checked each visitor. Cameras were permitted in the sanctuary, but the rules for visitors were carefully spelled out by a retired schoolteacher with a microphone and a no-nonsense expression on her face.

The rules were clear. Don't applaud when Jimmy Carter comes in; don't take photos after he asks where visitors are from, don't repeat a state or country once it has been mentioned, and most important, don't say you are a preacher unless it's true, because he may ask you to stand up and lead the opening prayer!

Visitors who wanted to have their pictures taken with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were told not to stand between the couple; they always hold hands, so visitors may stand only on either side of them. Also, no one may set anything down on the church grounds, because security never permits any unattended items near our former 39th President and First Lady.

When Jimmy Carter walked into the simple but lovely sanctuary at 10 a.m. that morning, we realized how fortunate we were to have visited this particular Sunday and not when he was traveling around the world somewhere. He explained that he had just returned to the United States. He described his work in the Middle East where he had monitored the Palestinian elections, and talked about his phone calls to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon regarding the long waits that the Palestinians had to endure in order to vote. He then referred to the Gospel according Mark and discussed how Jesus appointed 12 disciples to preach to the people. Carter recalled the importance of his faith during his own campaign and how it helped him reach out to people.

At 81, Carter still exudes enormous energy and interest in his work and worship. His hair is now white, but his smile is the same. Sitting quietly all that time was well worth it. Some families left after his Sunday school lesson, but most stayed for the 11 a.m. church service. Also, we were glad we had money with us when the customary offering basket was passed around for both the Sunday school and the service.

After the service, the Carters stood outside for picture taking. The only problem occurred when a group of tourists from Beijing lit up cigarettes and then tossed their cigarette butts into the church parking lot, offending some church members. Apparently, they hadn't been told of the tourist's rule of thumb to maintain respect for a church, temple or synagogue whether inside or outside the actual place of worship. We all lined up on the sidewalk. Church volunteers carefully took each visitor's camera and snapped exactly one photo of the person with the Carters, and that was the end. Or so we thought.

When we went to lunch at Mom's Kitchen just down the road, we sat at a table near the Carters, their friends, relatives and Dan Ariail, the pastor. Except for the security men in their dark suits and earpieces, it was like any country gathering of neighbors and churchgoers out for a good, hot Sunday dinner.

We went on to see more places of interest on that beautiful Sunday in mid-January. The old Plains High School, from which Jimmy Carter graduated in 1941, is now a museum. The Carter family farm has been beautifully preserved for self-guided tours. The old railroad depot that served as campaign headquarters for his 1976 run for President is also open to tourists.

Plains presents an important part of American history, yet it maintains the sense of a small, hospitable, farming community. Maranatha Baptist Church also makes all visitors feel welcome, though finding room for everyone in the sanctuary is quite a challenge when unexpected busloads of tourists roll into their parking lot on Sunday morning. Otherwise, they're delighted to welcome visitors from anywhere in the world into their church to worship with them and to join in a Sunday school class with Jimmy Carter.

Website: www.maranathachurchplains.org

Email: maranath@sowega.net or maranathabaptist@hotmail.com

Liz Conroy

Liz Conroy is a local writer and frequent contributor to Flagpole.

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Historic Ramp
Up In The Air

When he entered last July's meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission at the ACC Planning Department, Briggs Carney thought getting his skateboard ramp approved would be a cinch. Carney, a local real estate agent, is a homeowner on Hiawassee, a quiet niche of the Boulevard Historic District. Last summer, he built a skateboard ramp (20' x 33') in the rear yard of his home, which faces Hiawassee.

Jason Thrasher

In July, 2004, Carney applied to the Commission for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA). In Athens, eight historic districts are designated under the Historic Preservation Ordinance, and properties within these areas must apply for a COA before making exterior changes.

Planning department staff recommended approval of the structure with modifications: dark paint or stain, a handrail, and immediate installation of "fast-growing evergreen shrubs measuring 6'—8' in height."

Carney did not get approval for the structure before building it. "If a building permit had been obtained prior to construction, this could have been avoided," committee member Sean Hogan commented.

The structure is too large. The ACC zoning ordinance, which states that accessory structures should be built within 25 percent of the size of the house. Planning staff indicated a variance should be applied for.

Neighbors spoke in favor of the ramp, though some expressed concerns over noise.

Carney was unperturbed. "Noise is controllable. When the decks are enclosed and insulated, the sound will be muffled. This issue cannot be addressed until I get the okay to finish it."

Developer Rick Stanziale spoke in favor of the ramp. Stanziale, a skateboarder since 1975, viewed the structure as "more of a sculpture, a work of art."

Historic preservation committee member Jeanne Strong asked Stanziale if he would be able to sell a house next to a skateboard ramp. Stanziale quipped, "I don't know, but I have been selling houses next to a train track."

The tone of the meeting changed when a letter from an absent neighbor was read protesting the skate ramp. In this letter, the neighbor implored, "please do not let them have this skating ramp… for the love of God please turn [the request] down."

Citing ill health, the neighbor was not in attendance at the meeting.

The commission denied approval for the ramp.

Overwhelmed by the rejection and hesitant to further impair relations with the historic preservation commission, Carney did not appeal the decision to the mayor and commission, hoping the issue might resolve itself. Then on the morning of December 16, the ACC Community Protection Division served a citation on Carney, ordering the structure dismantled by April 1, or Carney would face a $1000 fine.

Preservation planner Evelyn Reece, whose own yard has been known to sport a "quarter-pipe" ramp, advises patience. "According to the preservation ordinance, he can re-apply. Change the plan, and bring it back in."

Deirdre Sugiuchi

Deirdre Sugiuchi is a local writer.

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Got To Dream
Arthur Miller, 1915-2005

At this moment, somewhere in the world, someone is saying one of Arthur Miller's lines. One of his plays is being performed in French or Cantonese or labored high-school-drama-club English before an audience of people who are being profoundly or subtly transformed by the experience. This is not hyperbole. With the passing of Arthur Miller on Feb. 11 we have lost one of our defining voices, the last of the great dramatists - Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, Miller - of the American Century.

"I don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person." (Death of a Salesman, Act 1, Part 8)

While it's true that in his day he ran in the ritziest circles and snagged the trophy wife of all time, Marilyn Monroe, Miller was in fact that rare thing, a true populist. His characters were the most ordinary of people, his recurring theme the ever-elusive American Dream. He had the ability to give the simple struggle for happiness epic proportions, because he understood intimately that the Dream is ultimately a paradox. It dangles seductively and whispers sweet nothings of rewards for hard work and honesty, then bestows its favors on the undeserving. Death of a Salesman's protagonist; the poor, doomed Willy Loman, devotes the better part of his life to the credo "Be liked and you will never want" only to find himself liked but useless, passed over by a culture that replies, in the words of Willy's neighbor, "The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell."

Miller's play marked the turning point in our history where a handshake ceased to seal a deal and the Puritan work ethic became quaint, slamming the lid shut on the Horatio Alger myth. The irony of this is that Miller himself was the classic self-made man. The son of a Polish garment manufacturer whose business went belly-up in the Great Depression, Miller worked menial jobs to put himself through college, all the while writing and winning awards for his work. For Death of a Salesman he drew upon memories of the road warriors who'd show up at his father's office, and the play catapulted him to success beyond their wildest dreams, winning the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and cementing Miller's reputation as one of the most vital voices of our time.

"[A] person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between." (The Crucible, Act 3, Scene 1)

Miller's allegory of the Joseph McCarthy "witch hunts" of the 1950s, The Crucible, is as powerful a condemnation of our past, present and future easy embraces of demagoguery and institutional terror as were ever written. Set during the actual Salem witchcraft trials of the 1600s, Miller's play damned the forces that brought down his friends and did its best to crucify him as a liberal intellectual. (In 1957 he was found guilty of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee; the charge was overturned on appeal.) But his play also resonates today, as we hear variations of the quote above issuing forth from the President and the Attorney General of the United States. He knew firsthand the petty cruelties of the powerful and opposed them all his life with his angry eloquence and fierce humanity. Vietnam, the Gulf War, whatever the hell the current morass we're in now is called - Miller stood against them all with the righteous outrage of the individual with both eyes truly open: "The apple cannot be stuck back on the Tree of Knowledge; once we begin to see, we are doomed and challenged to seek the strength to see more, not less."

That confluence of clarity, populism, outrage and erudition; the ability to capture lives of quiet desperation moment by moment, runs through the whole of Miller's output - Salesman, Crucible, All My Sons, The View from the Bridge and others - making it a body of work nigh unparalleled in American or any other literature. It has been reported that when Death of a Salesman was first performed in Communist China in the 1980s, audiences in Beijing believed it had been written specifically about their lives. And so it was. Arthur Miller was one of our greatest ambassadors to ourselves, his work a constant and candid reminder of what is best and worst about the human condition, no matter where or when it manifests itself.

John G. Nettles

John Nettles is a local writer who contributes to www.popmatters.com, where this tribute also appears.

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Divine Calling
Concept Becomes Idol

George Bush is quoted as saying, back in 2003, "… we live in an amazing world. And yet, in the midst of our world, there's a lot of folks who are dying and will die."

In the 300's, the leader of the Roman church, Gregory of Nyssa, during a period of social change said, "Concepts are only idols; only wonder comprehends anything. People kill one another over idols. Wonder makes us fall to our knees."

These two quotes are similar and yet greatly dissimilar. The dissimilarity spells the difference between life and death.

The similarity is they both speak of amazement, wonder, death and idolatry. They differ in what is viewed as the ultimate, that is, at what altar one should place one's life?

If we substitute the word "ideology" for "concept," we readily note the difference. George Bush has an ideology, a concept, that can easily become idolatrous. In both his Inaugural and State of the Union addresses, he spoke of bringing freedom to the world. He longs to democratize the entire world. This longing and desire he believes is inspired by God. As President, he believes it is his divine calling.

And, of course, there is nothing wrong with freedom or democracy, but the concept can become idolatrous and usurp the divine rule in life. This can especially be the case when the oppressors are forced to democratize lands at the point of a gun. The mandate becomes, "Let your people go, or die!" Thus as he said two years ago, "… in the midst of our world, there's a lot of folks who are dying and will die."

Was George Bush unconsciously uttering a warning or being prophetic? Was he putting the world on notice that death will become a common experience as this superpower plods around in the world, nation building?

President Bush links freedom with the will of God. And certainly this can be justified and even applauded, for the divine does seek to free all of creation. But the way to freedom does not have to involve the shedding of blood.

Even though it's a messy world, there are non-violent ways to set the captives free. Unfortunately, if we look at Mr. Bush and the hawks who surround him, any means justifies the end.

The manifest destiny the President has espoused may be admirable, but it could also become an idol when the means to freedom are given divine sanction. We've all been told how dear Mr. Bush holds his faith. How many times does he use the word "God" in his speeches? How many times have we seen him clasping a Bible? How often have we heard about his conversion from wild drinking parties to regular church attendance?

God set George Bush free from the demons that oppressed him, but not at the end of a gun. God worked in his life to show him the uniqueness of his life, and the beauty of his existence. Why doesn't he believe God can do the same beyond the narrow confines of Crawford, Texas or the borders of the United States of America?

It is very easy for civil religion to replace God in the soul of a nation. When this happens, the concerns of a country become detached from the reality that God has made us all, and that we share this planet with different people of different cultures and different understandings of the divine presence in their lives. And our concerns take on ultimate significance and drive all our decisions. It is at this point that the concept becomes an idol and thus evil - even the concept of freedom.

Mike Marsingill

Mike Marsingill is Pastor of Young Harris Memorial United Methodist Church here in Athens.

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Bush Gone Wild
War Against Iran

We're already at war with Iran. The question isn't whether or not they'll fight back. The question is when and how.

Bush used his State of the Union address to signal that Iran is his next target of war, calling it "the world's primary state sponsor of terror - pursuing nuclear weapons while depriving its people of the freedom they seek and deserve." Though Condoleezza Rice pledges that war against Iran "is simply not on the agenda at this point," she issued similar assurances in 2002 when, in fact, Bush had already green-lighted war against Iraq. "When asked [at her confirmation hearing] whether the United States' goal was to replace the Islamic Republic [of Iran]," reports the International Herald-Tribune, Rice "did not say no." And for good reason. As the White House confirms, U.S. Special Forces commandos have been operating on Iranian soil since last year, scoping out military bases as targets of future airstrikes. United Press International reports that U.S. spy jets have been deployed over Iran in order to goad defense radar stations into locking in on them, revealing their positions for the coming war. Can you imagine how Bush would react to news that Mexican ground troops were snapping souvenir photos of Los Alamos, or that the Canadian air force was jetting over the Midwestern stratosphere? There's no difference. In such a case Bush could easily get the UN to sign off on war. This is more than a one-time border incursion. This is invasion, under international law the ultimate justification for a declaration of war - by Iran.

Since they declared "mission accomplished" in Iraq a couple of years ago, the hard-right Bush Administration's most bellicose zealots have been itching to invade Iran. But Bush probably can't let Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz have their way. Afghanistan and Iraq have used up all of our available troops and cash. Even cutting and running from Iraq wouldn't do the trick. If 150,000 soldiers stationed in Iraq can't defeat a few thousand resistance fighters with RPGs and IEDs, how will they fare against Iran - a nation three times the size of Iraq, whose terrain includes a range of big-ass mountains, which has a half-million-man standing army equipped with modern hardware?

Denied their longed-for ground invasion, the neocons have fallen back to the next best thing: using Israel to launch proxy airstrikes against possible WMD and other military installations in Iran's eastern desert. Placing Iran at the "top of the list" of the world's most troublesome nations during a high-profile television appearance, Dick Cheney referenced Israel's 1981 preemptive bombing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor as a model for U.S. military action against Iran. "They understand that they were overly optimistic about Iraq," a person in a position to know the Administration's intentions tells me. "But they think they've learned from their mistakes, that young Iranians want democracy. If we put the mullahs off-balance, they say, the people will overthrow them."

That's a big gamble. Iran already has, in Ian Bremmer's words, "one of the most pluralist and (relatively) democratic regimes in the Middle East." Moreover, distrust of the United States - which overthrew Iran's democratic government in 1953, backed the Shah's vicious dictatorship and has worked tirelessly to ruin the Iranian economy through sanctions and covert sabotage since the 1978 Islamic revolution - can hardly be overstated. The kids may want freedom, but they don't believe the U.S. will deliver it. And they live right next door to Iraq, where American "liberation" leaves something to be desired.

In the middle to long run, "surgical" airstrikes on Iranian military infrastructure would probably be even more costly to U.S. interests than an outright ground invasion. Because Iranian officials have lived under the threat of attack for 25 years, they've taken pains to carefully conceal their extensive military infrastructure, which may include nuclear weapons. Pentagon analysts concede that these efforts have been effective enough to deny Israel or the United States the ability to cripple Iran's ability to field fighter jets or launch missiles.

Iranian leaders already feel the squeeze between U.S.-occupied Iraq and Afghanistan. The day after an Israeli or U.S. attack, Iranian leaders would correctly surmise that failure to respond would undermine their domestic political credibility. Jumping through U.S.-imposed hoops, as Saddam did during the winter of 2002—3, would be perceived by the Bushists as an indication of weakness. Ex-president Hussein can tell you how well cooperation works.

The nightmare scenario happens to be the most likely. To stand a chance in its confrontation with the United States, Iran would require the support of neighboring Arab countries. But now that Iraq has been neutered by partition, civil war and occupation, Iran is the only large majority Shia nation in the Middle East. Since many Sunnis consider Shiaism a heretical strain of Islam, Iranians would otherwise suffer alone. Were Iran to retaliate against Israel - whether responding to an attack originating from the United States or from Israel wouldn't matter, since Iran's missiles could only reach the latter - that would change. Arab states, forced to choose between Shia Iran and the Jewish state, would yield to popular pressure to come to Iran's aid. If the Iranians have managed to build one nuke, they might use it against Tel Aviv. Cheney's half-baked rehash of 1981 could fulfill every late 20th century worst-case scenario by setting ablaze the entire Middle East.

If war follows its own internal logic, so does the clash of words and gestures that leads up to it. The United States has backed Iran into a geographic and diplomatic corner, breaking the first rule of Machiavelli 101 by encouraging nuclear proliferation as the sole guarantee against U.S.-led regime change. (Kim Jung Il, President Khatami on Line 1.) Losing the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq made the Bushists Gone Wild lose face; now they need a bigger win than ever. One hopes for cool heads to prevail, but they are in short supply. The two sides are locked in a death grip in which self-perpetuation necessitates the other's destruction.

Ted Rall

Ted Rall is the author of "Wake Up, You're Liberal!: How We Can Take America Back From the Right" and "Generalissimo El Busho: Essays and Cartoons on the Bush Years."

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Animal Control
Last Week's Scorecard

Athens-Clarke County Animal Control responded to 76 calls.
       11 complaints of animal cruelty
       2 bite cases
       3 complaints of barking dogs
       6 citations for ordinance violations

40 animals impounded
       39 dogs
       1 raccoon

37 dogs placed
       7 adopted
       16 reclaimed
       14 turned over to other agencies

ACC Animal Control press release for the week of Feb. 3 to Feb. 9.

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Divine Calling

Concept Becomes Idol

originally published February 16, 2005

George Bush is quoted as saying, back in 2003, "… we live in an amazing world. And yet, in the midst of our world, there's a lot of folks who are dying and will die."

In the 300's, the leader of the Roman church, Gregory of Nyssa, during a period of social change said, "Concepts are only idols; only wonder comprehends anything. People kill one another over idols. Wonder makes us fall to our knees."

These two quotes are similar and yet greatly dissimilar. The dissimilarity spells the difference between life and death.

The similarity is they both speak of amazement, wonder, death and idolatry. They differ in what is viewed as the ultimate, that is, at what altar one should place one's life?

If we substitute the word "ideology" for "concept," we readily note the difference. George Bush has an ideology, a concept, that can easily become idolatrous. In both his Inaugural and State of the Union addresses, he spoke of bringing freedom to the world. He longs to democratize the entire world. This longing and desire he believes is inspired by God. As President, he believes it is his divine calling.

And, of course, there is nothing wrong with freedom or democracy, but the concept can become idolatrous and usurp the divine rule in life. This can especially be the case when the oppressors are forced to democratize lands at the point of a gun. The mandate becomes, "Let your people go, or die!" Thus as he said two years ago, "… in the midst of our world, there's a lot of folks who are dying and will die."

Was George Bush unconsciously uttering a warning or being prophetic? Was he putting the world on notice that death will become a common experience as this superpower plods around in the world, nation building?

President Bush links freedom with the will of God. And certainly this can be justified and even applauded, for the divine does seek to free all of creation. But the way to freedom does not have to involve the shedding of blood.

Even though it's a messy world, there are non-violent ways to set the captives free. Unfortunately, if we look at Mr. Bush and the hawks who surround him, any means justifies the end.

The manifest destiny the President has espoused may be admirable, but it could also become an idol when the means to freedom are given divine sanction. We've all been told how dear Mr. Bush holds his faith. How many times does he use the word "God" in his speeches? How many times have we seen him clasping a Bible? How often have we heard about his conversion from wild drinking parties to regular church attendance?

God set George Bush free from the demons that oppressed him, but not at the end of a gun. God worked in his life to show him the uniqueness of his life, and the beauty of his existence. Why doesn't he believe God can do the same beyond the narrow confines of Crawford, Texas or the borders of the United States of America?

It is very easy for civil religion to replace God in the soul of a nation. When this happens, the concerns of a country become detached from the reality that God has made us all, and that we share this planet with different people of different cultures and different understandings of the divine presence in their lives. And our concerns take on ultimate significance and drive all our decisions. It is at this point that the concept becomes an idol and thus evil - even the concept of freedom.

Mike Marsingill Mike Marsingill is Pastor of Young Harris Memorial United Methodist Church here in Athens.

Mike Marsingill

Mike Marsingill is Pastor of Young Harris Memorial United Methodist Church here in Athens.