Hold the dew!

Before we get all dewy-eyed about Al Gore’s richly deserved Nobel Peace Prize and wallow in what might have been had it not been for hanging chads and butterfly ballots, we should consider four words:

Vice President Joe Lieberman.

Mothers' Day and Peace

In the Hillsdale Farmers' Market on this Mothers' Day, my friend Martie Sucec enlightened me on the American origins of Mothers' Day.

And, no, she said, the day is not a Hallmark Holiday, although sadly, for many, it has become one.

In this country, Mothers' Day's beginnings go back to the years immediately following the Civil War when mothers grieved the loss of sons and husbands.

Mothers' Day was a call to peace initiated by Julia Ward Howe, known for her "Battle Hymn of the Republic." In 1870, Howe wrote a Mothers' Day proclamation calling for mothers to convene to oppose war and to nurture a world of peace.

What better time than now, this very Mothers' Day, to renew her call? What better way to honor mothers than to rededicate this day to the cause of peace?

Wilson High's "Peace" problem solved!

Wilson High School administrators have gone all wobbly about students’ writing “Peace” on the Hillsdale school’s windows. Seems that "Peace" is a political statement.

My sources tell me that if the word isn’t expunged early next week, the student painters face suspension.

“Peace” as a problem?

Let’s see, we have “Peace be with you,” “Peace of Mind,” “Let peace begin with me,” “The US Peace Institute,” “Go in peace,” “Blessed are the peacemakers,” and “Peace studies.”

Hmmmm.

OK, agreed, context shapes meaning. Let’s assume that in this time of war the word “peace” might be taken as opposition to war in general, and the bungling, bellicose Bush Administration/Halliburton oil-grab in Iraq in particular.

Now that we are hyper-aware of context, what do we make of Wilson's martial mascot—the helmeted Trojan, who is either a battle-ready warrior or the logo for a contraceptive (subtle message there, kids)?

Either way, isn’t the mascot a political statement? As an opponent of war, I’m personally offended by the thoughtless choosing of Trojan warrior as a mascot, just as I am that the biggest sports rivalry in the state is called “The Civil War.”

Many “family values/anti-sex education” activists might have problems with a beneath-the-radar condom logo association—especially now that I’ve pointed it out to them.

And if politics is a problem, the school itself is named after Thomas Woodrow Wilson. Here we have double trouble. Wilson was both a politician and the winner of the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize. Yes, you read it right: "Peace Prize."

Oh-oh.

So here’s my suggestion: if the school can be named after a politician and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and the mascot can be a warrior or a contraceptive logo, then the name and the mascot are fair game for “Peace” and non-violent heroes.

In the name of “Peace,” let’s rename the school “Peace High School” and make its mascot Gandhi. The sports teams can be called “The Passive Resisters” (known for unusual defensive play) and the cheer from the throngs can be Gandhi’s call for peaceful change: “Satyagraha! Satyagraha!” which roughly means “Seek Truth!”

"Seek Truth!" indeed.

Peace.