My partner ordered Joanna Brooks's memoir The Book of Mormon Girl; it arrived this weekend. Once I've had a chance to read the whole thing, I may post a review. But for now, here's a selection I found particularly moving. This is a very short chapter about 3/4 of the way through titled "sealed portion."
The square brackets are in the original. The bolding is me highlighting a phrase that resonated immediately with me.
************
[Here are parts of the story I do not want to tell.
But I will for you, wayward Mormon boy or girl. I will for you, girl seeking.
Because our stories are not told in sacred books. They are not told over the pulpit. They are not told by the prophets.
No one says: I felt my church turn away from me, and it was a kind of death to me.
No one says: I drove into the desert. I wandered around the city in the dark. I was alone and it was cold and inside me was desolation.
No one says: I sat in the hotel lobby bathroom, my ribcage wracked with sobs, until a stranger, insistent, knocked at the stall door, handing me a Kleenex and urging me to be strong.
No one says: when my family treated me as a stranger, I preferred the company of strangers, and I walked among strangers and what did I find but God in every one of their faces.
No one says: I broke rules, I broke rules, I broke rules--I broke all the rules. That one. And that one. And that one too. Yes. I did.
No one says: I laid on the floor of the Venice Beach apartment and Parliament was on the record player and my friend and I, we looked at the ceiling, and I waved the smoke from the air with the back of my hand, and when he asked "Help me understand what this Mormonism means to you?" I said "it is my first language, my mother tongue, my family, my home; it is my heart, my heart, my heart."
No one says any of these things. But they should.
Because no one should be left to believe that she is the only one.
No one should be left to believe that she is the only Mormon girl who walked alone into the dark. No one should be left to feel like she is the only one broken and seeking.]
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Freedom Riders
Tonight I caught part of a PBS documentary on the Freedom Riders. Their courage was awesome. But my personality being what it is, my primary visceral reaction to what they went through was rage. And as I often do, I'm going to express that rage in language provided by my religious tradition.
So, to the mobs who harassed and assaulted the Freedom Riders and their local black supporters, and to the Southern white authorities who prosecuted the Riders or refused to protect them--I repeat to you words spoken about 125 years earlier to other mobs and other white authorities not too far to the north and west of you:
So, to the mobs who harassed and assaulted the Freedom Riders and their local black supporters, and to the Southern white authorities who prosecuted the Riders or refused to protect them--I repeat to you words spoken about 125 years earlier to other mobs and other white authorities not too far to the north and west of you:
Their basket shall not be full;Sigh. I feel better now.
their houses and barns shall perish;
they shall be despised by those who flattered them.
It would be better for them
if a millstone had been hung around their necks
and they had been drowned in the depth of the sea.
Wo to all those
who discomfort, and drive, and murder my people,
says the Lord of Armies.
(Especially
Bull Connor,
John Patterson,
and Ross Barnett.)
A generation of vipers will not escape
the damnation of hell.
(D&C 121: 20, 22-23)
Sunday, February 5, 2012
2/5/1992 - The Zona Franca
This post is part of what's meant to be a monthly series in which I commemorate my mission, 20 years ago, by "looking back" at where I served and "checking in" on what's happening in those places now. I missed last month's post because I got so busy preparing classes.
Twenty years ago today, I was serving as a missionary in the city of La Romana in the Dominican Republic. Back in December, I wrote a post that offered a general introduction to the city. Today, I want to post some information I've gathered about the zona franca, a complex of factories just outside the city. On P-days, when we missionaries would take the bus out to Casa de Campo, a tourist resort, we would drive past the zona franca, which from that viewpoint was just a bunch of warehouse-type buildings behind a gate. I have a memory of one morning watching crowds of people push their way onto the buses that would take them out to work in the zona franca. I also remember talking once with a woman who worked in the zona franca. She'd just been given a new sewing machine at work and was trying to figure out the instructions for using it, which were in English, not Spanish. I spent some time trying to help her out, though I had no idea how to translate a lot of the terms.
I've seen the term zona franca translated various ways: free zone, free trade zone, duty-free zone. The idea is that the Dominican Republic has set up these zones to encourage foreign companies to set up production, with the expectation that they'll hire local people and, ideally, make use of other local resources. Companies that set up factories in the zona franca are exempted from paying various kinds of fees and taxes for a period of 15 years. The zona franca I used to ride past was the first one created in the DR, back in 1969. Today there are various zonas francas in different parts of the country.
According to a 2000 report from the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), in 1997 zonas francas employed 17 percent of the Dominican workforce. In other words, nearly 1 in 5 Dominicans who are employed work in a zona franca. According to the same report, zonas francas accounted for 80 percent of the country's exports, most of which went to the U.S. The white shirts I bought at Mr. Mac's to take with me on my mission were made in the DR: I figure it's very likely they were made in a zona franca. Clothing manufacture is the primary industry in the zonas francas; the majority of the workers are women.
Since that report was written, the recession and changes in the global clothing market have led to a downturn for the zonas francas: plants have been closed, and tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs. The phasing out of an international trade agreement called the Multifiber Arrangement (MFA) has a lot to do with this because it means the DR can't compete with places like China as well as it used to. I haven't looked into this enough to know what the MFA is. My ignorance on this matter makes me realize how little I know about the mechanisms of the global economy—even though these mechanisms govern my life and the lives of Dominicans I'm personally connected to.
According to one source I found, in 2006, the government-mandated minimum wage for the zonas francas was RD$4,450 a month. I also learned that as of January of this year, that minimum wage is supposed to have risen to RD$6,320. I don't know what that means in terms of purchasing power. When I was a missionary, 20 years ago, we received about RD$2,800 a month: that was supposed to cover food, utilities, and incidentals (but not rent, which the mission office paid for directly).
The HIID report tells me that most firms operating in the zonas francas pay a bit more than minimum wage. However, some people who work in the zonas francas might be making less money than they would be making if they did the same work outside a zona franca. This is because Dominican law mandates different minimum wages for different kinds of work, except in the zonas francas where there's one minimum wage mandated regardless of the kind of work. That minimum wage is lower than the wages mandated for some kinds of work outside the zones.
I've found multiple sources that identify "low labor costs" as one of the things that make the zonas francas attractive to foreign firms. Let's be clear about what that means: The firms can pay workers less in the zonas francas than they would have to pay in some other countries. That's not something anyone should feel good about, even if, as I'm sure the firms would say in their defense, people are better off working in a zona franca than they would be if they didn't have those jobs. Perhaps at the judgment bar, God will have something extenuating to say about that, but the inherently exploitative nature of the situation is a sign that "the world lieth in sin" (D&C 49:20).
Wages aside, the labor situation in the zonas francas is not good. An article in Making It magazine reports "deplorable" working conditions, illegal unpaid overtime, and union-busting. Even the HIID report, which aims for a balanced assessment, points to "'numerous reports' of forced overtime in the Dominican free trade zones, when the exit doors of the factory would be locked and workers fired if they refused to work overtime." I heard such stories as well from people I met on my mission. The HIID report also reports that "unions have 'considerable difficulties' in negotiating collective agreements. The seven returned as of the date of the study were very limited in scope, with no agreements on wages for example." This quotation from the HIID report is especially infuriating:
I'll give the last word in this post to this zona franca employee interviewed by BehindtheLabel.org:
Twenty years ago today, I was serving as a missionary in the city of La Romana in the Dominican Republic. Back in December, I wrote a post that offered a general introduction to the city. Today, I want to post some information I've gathered about the zona franca, a complex of factories just outside the city. On P-days, when we missionaries would take the bus out to Casa de Campo, a tourist resort, we would drive past the zona franca, which from that viewpoint was just a bunch of warehouse-type buildings behind a gate. I have a memory of one morning watching crowds of people push their way onto the buses that would take them out to work in the zona franca. I also remember talking once with a woman who worked in the zona franca. She'd just been given a new sewing machine at work and was trying to figure out the instructions for using it, which were in English, not Spanish. I spent some time trying to help her out, though I had no idea how to translate a lot of the terms.
I've seen the term zona franca translated various ways: free zone, free trade zone, duty-free zone. The idea is that the Dominican Republic has set up these zones to encourage foreign companies to set up production, with the expectation that they'll hire local people and, ideally, make use of other local resources. Companies that set up factories in the zona franca are exempted from paying various kinds of fees and taxes for a period of 15 years. The zona franca I used to ride past was the first one created in the DR, back in 1969. Today there are various zonas francas in different parts of the country.
According to a 2000 report from the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), in 1997 zonas francas employed 17 percent of the Dominican workforce. In other words, nearly 1 in 5 Dominicans who are employed work in a zona franca. According to the same report, zonas francas accounted for 80 percent of the country's exports, most of which went to the U.S. The white shirts I bought at Mr. Mac's to take with me on my mission were made in the DR: I figure it's very likely they were made in a zona franca. Clothing manufacture is the primary industry in the zonas francas; the majority of the workers are women.
Since that report was written, the recession and changes in the global clothing market have led to a downturn for the zonas francas: plants have been closed, and tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs. The phasing out of an international trade agreement called the Multifiber Arrangement (MFA) has a lot to do with this because it means the DR can't compete with places like China as well as it used to. I haven't looked into this enough to know what the MFA is. My ignorance on this matter makes me realize how little I know about the mechanisms of the global economy—even though these mechanisms govern my life and the lives of Dominicans I'm personally connected to.
According to one source I found, in 2006, the government-mandated minimum wage for the zonas francas was RD$4,450 a month. I also learned that as of January of this year, that minimum wage is supposed to have risen to RD$6,320. I don't know what that means in terms of purchasing power. When I was a missionary, 20 years ago, we received about RD$2,800 a month: that was supposed to cover food, utilities, and incidentals (but not rent, which the mission office paid for directly).
The HIID report tells me that most firms operating in the zonas francas pay a bit more than minimum wage. However, some people who work in the zonas francas might be making less money than they would be making if they did the same work outside a zona franca. This is because Dominican law mandates different minimum wages for different kinds of work, except in the zonas francas where there's one minimum wage mandated regardless of the kind of work. That minimum wage is lower than the wages mandated for some kinds of work outside the zones.
I've found multiple sources that identify "low labor costs" as one of the things that make the zonas francas attractive to foreign firms. Let's be clear about what that means: The firms can pay workers less in the zonas francas than they would have to pay in some other countries. That's not something anyone should feel good about, even if, as I'm sure the firms would say in their defense, people are better off working in a zona franca than they would be if they didn't have those jobs. Perhaps at the judgment bar, God will have something extenuating to say about that, but the inherently exploitative nature of the situation is a sign that "the world lieth in sin" (D&C 49:20).
Wages aside, the labor situation in the zonas francas is not good. An article in Making It magazine reports "deplorable" working conditions, illegal unpaid overtime, and union-busting. Even the HIID report, which aims for a balanced assessment, points to "'numerous reports' of forced overtime in the Dominican free trade zones, when the exit doors of the factory would be locked and workers fired if they refused to work overtime." I heard such stories as well from people I met on my mission. The HIID report also reports that "unions have 'considerable difficulties' in negotiating collective agreements. The seven returned as of the date of the study were very limited in scope, with no agreements on wages for example." This quotation from the HIID report is especially infuriating:
Most (10) managers said that the absence of a union was a major or crucial factor in their decision to locate in the Dominican Republic. One manager said that he would "leave immediately" if a union started in his factory. Another said that a number of years ago union organization began to take place in his firm, but that he "took care of it" by firing everybody suspected of organizing it. As a result he had been to court on a number of occasions, but he had won on each occasion and felt that the time and effort was "definitely worth it."That last individual is fortunate that a fiery hell doesn't actually exist.
I'll give the last word in this post to this zona franca employee interviewed by BehindtheLabel.org:
In Jesus' name, amen.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
First-Friday contemplative service
Last night I led a first-Friday service of contemplative song and prayer. The theme was "Christ, our hope." The readings for the service were those assigned for the Feast of the Presentation, which had been the day before. The concluding prayer, if I recall correctly, was adapted from a prayer of the Taize community.
************
PSALM 84
How lovely is your temple, Holy One!
My heart yearns for your courts!
With body and soul, I sing for joy
to you, the living God.
By your altar, even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow builds a nest to lay her young.
Happy are all who dwell in your house!
They never cease to sing your praise.
Better to spend a single day in your courts
than a thousand anywhere else!
Better to serve as a simple doorkeeper in your temple
than to feast in the pavilions of the unrighteous.
Holy God, you are our safe haven and our shield.
Your kindness and favor shine upon us.
Your generosity abounds to those who walk uprightly.
Happy are all who place their trust in you!
************
HEBREWS 2:14-18
Christ became flesh and blood,
like us,
so that by dying,
he could destroy the power of death.
Thus he could set us free
from the fear of death
that had enslaved us all our lives.
Christ did not come to be with angels:
he came to help feeble human beings.
He became our brother,
like us in every way.
By his own human experience,
he learned to be a merciful priest,
who intercedes for us
and makes sacrifice to atone for the sins of his people.
Because he himself has suffered,
he is able to help us in our suffering and trials.
***********
LUKE 2:22-38
At the time prescribed in the commandments,
Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord in the temple . . .
In Jerusalem, there lived a man named Simeon—
a devout and righteous man,
who lived in faith that God’s people would soon be delivered.
For the Holy Spirit had revealed to him
that he would not die
until he had seen the coming of the Promised One.
Led by the Spirit,
Simeon came into the temple.
There he saw Jesus,
being brought into the temple by his parents.
Simeon took the infant in his arms
and broke into praise.
He said,
"Faithfully I have served you, my God,
and faithfully you have kept your promise!
Now I can leave this world in peace,
for I have seen with my eyes
the salvation you have prepared in the presence of all peoples—
a light of glory for the people of Israel
and a light of revelation for the Gentiles!"
Mary and Joseph were amazed
by what Simeon was saying about their child . . .
There was also in the temple a prophet named Anna—
a woman eighty-four years old,
who had been widowed after seven years of marriage.
She never left the temple
but worshipped there night and day,
with prayer and fasting.
She too came and saw,
and praised God,
and spoke about the child
to all who were waiting for the day of redemption.
************
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Jesus Christ,
you came to fulfill all God’s promises
and to bring about the redemption of the world.
Your work has begun; we pray for its completion.
We pray for the poor,
for those who suffer injustice,
and for those who are in any kind of danger.
Be their safe haven and their shield.
We pray for those who are in sorrow,
in pain,
or living with disease.
Comfort them in their suffering.
Free us from the fear of death.
We pray for the world.
Unite the peoples of the earth in peace.
Establish justice and equity.
We pray for your creation.
Make your earth flourish.
May all living things know the joy you intend for them.
We pray for your church.
Strengthen us in our weakness.
Teach us mercy and compassion.
Give us grace to be your servants.
************
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Christ Jesus,
although we have not seen you, we love you.
Without seeing you, we place our trust in you.
And in you, we find hope and peace.
************
PSALM 84
How lovely is your temple, Holy One!
My heart yearns for your courts!
With body and soul, I sing for joy
to you, the living God.
By your altar, even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow builds a nest to lay her young.
Happy are all who dwell in your house!
They never cease to sing your praise.
Better to spend a single day in your courts
than a thousand anywhere else!
Better to serve as a simple doorkeeper in your temple
than to feast in the pavilions of the unrighteous.
Holy God, you are our safe haven and our shield.
Your kindness and favor shine upon us.
Your generosity abounds to those who walk uprightly.
Happy are all who place their trust in you!
************
HEBREWS 2:14-18
Christ became flesh and blood,
like us,
so that by dying,
he could destroy the power of death.
Thus he could set us free
from the fear of death
that had enslaved us all our lives.
Christ did not come to be with angels:
he came to help feeble human beings.
He became our brother,
like us in every way.
By his own human experience,
he learned to be a merciful priest,
who intercedes for us
and makes sacrifice to atone for the sins of his people.
Because he himself has suffered,
he is able to help us in our suffering and trials.
***********
LUKE 2:22-38
At the time prescribed in the commandments,
Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord in the temple . . .
In Jerusalem, there lived a man named Simeon—
a devout and righteous man,
who lived in faith that God’s people would soon be delivered.
For the Holy Spirit had revealed to him
that he would not die
until he had seen the coming of the Promised One.
Led by the Spirit,
Simeon came into the temple.
There he saw Jesus,
being brought into the temple by his parents.
Simeon took the infant in his arms
and broke into praise.
He said,
"Faithfully I have served you, my God,
and faithfully you have kept your promise!
Now I can leave this world in peace,
for I have seen with my eyes
the salvation you have prepared in the presence of all peoples—
a light of glory for the people of Israel
and a light of revelation for the Gentiles!"
Mary and Joseph were amazed
by what Simeon was saying about their child . . .
There was also in the temple a prophet named Anna—
a woman eighty-four years old,
who had been widowed after seven years of marriage.
She never left the temple
but worshipped there night and day,
with prayer and fasting.
She too came and saw,
and praised God,
and spoke about the child
to all who were waiting for the day of redemption.
************
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Jesus Christ,
you came to fulfill all God’s promises
and to bring about the redemption of the world.
Your work has begun; we pray for its completion.
We pray for the poor,
for those who suffer injustice,
and for those who are in any kind of danger.
Be their safe haven and their shield.
We pray for those who are in sorrow,
in pain,
or living with disease.
Comfort them in their suffering.
Free us from the fear of death.
We pray for the world.
Unite the peoples of the earth in peace.
Establish justice and equity.
We pray for your creation.
Make your earth flourish.
May all living things know the joy you intend for them.
We pray for your church.
Strengthen us in our weakness.
Teach us mercy and compassion.
Give us grace to be your servants.
************
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Christ Jesus,
although we have not seen you, we love you.
Without seeing you, we place our trust in you.
And in you, we find hope and peace.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Bain Capital's final audit
Reblogged from The Mormon Worker:
Someday Mitt Romney and the rest of the leadership of Bain Capital will stand at the judgment bar of the great Jehovah, where the books will be opened for a final audit. According to the Gospel of Matthew, the interview will include an exchange something like this:
AUDITOR: You know, I worked for several years at one of the plants you shut down. I was left unemployed with a family to feed, while you made . . . let’s see, where’s that figure . . . ?
ROMNEY: Um, excuse me, I’m sorry . . . sir . . . I don’t understand. You’re saying you were an employee of one of our companies? There must be some mistake . . .
AUDITOR: Truly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these–
You know the rest.
Disclaimer: My audit will be grueling, too, for different reasons.
Someday Mitt Romney and the rest of the leadership of Bain Capital will stand at the judgment bar of the great Jehovah, where the books will be opened for a final audit. According to the Gospel of Matthew, the interview will include an exchange something like this:
AUDITOR: You know, I worked for several years at one of the plants you shut down. I was left unemployed with a family to feed, while you made . . . let’s see, where’s that figure . . . ?
ROMNEY: Um, excuse me, I’m sorry . . . sir . . . I don’t understand. You’re saying you were an employee of one of our companies? There must be some mistake . . .
AUDITOR: Truly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these–
You know the rest.
Disclaimer: My audit will be grueling, too, for different reasons.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Epiphany
He is the light and the life of the world--
a light that is endless,
that can never be darkened,
and also a life that is endless . . .
(Mosiah 16:9)
a light that is endless,
that can never be darkened,
and also a life that is endless . . .
(Mosiah 16:9)
Monday, January 2, 2012
First snowfall
When I went out to walk the dog, I discovered that overnight we had received the first snowfall of the season. A nice way to start the new year.
So now I have to do my annual "snow quotation" from Angels in America: "Soon, this . . . ruination will be blanketed white. You can smell it—can you smell it? . . . Softness, compliance, forgiveness, grace."
We received just a dusting of forgiveness and grace, but still it's something.
I'm not sure why I find snowfall a spiritual experience. It's like, you look out your window, or you open your front door, and surprise! Manna from heaven! I remember once as a teenager in Utah, trudging to a ward youth gathering through thick falling snow in the dark. I came out of an alley shortcut, and there was this orange streetlight and the snow falling like ashes inside the parabola of illumination. I stood under the streetlight and looked up into the snowfall, which seemed to be radiating out from a point directly in front of me, and just had this quasi-rapturous experience.
Awesome. My love of life and my hope for the world have received a little shot in the arm today.
So now I have to do my annual "snow quotation" from Angels in America: "Soon, this . . . ruination will be blanketed white. You can smell it—can you smell it? . . . Softness, compliance, forgiveness, grace."
We received just a dusting of forgiveness and grace, but still it's something.
I'm not sure why I find snowfall a spiritual experience. It's like, you look out your window, or you open your front door, and surprise! Manna from heaven! I remember once as a teenager in Utah, trudging to a ward youth gathering through thick falling snow in the dark. I came out of an alley shortcut, and there was this orange streetlight and the snow falling like ashes inside the parabola of illumination. I stood under the streetlight and looked up into the snowfall, which seemed to be radiating out from a point directly in front of me, and just had this quasi-rapturous experience.
Awesome. My love of life and my hope for the world have received a little shot in the arm today.
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