A Day in the Life of Cindy Sheehan
It was with deep sadness, but a gnawing understanding, that I read Cindy Sheehan’s letter of resignation as the public face of the anti-war movement.
I was fortunate enough to spend one long day up close with Ms. Sheehan about a year ago in Washington, D.C. I won’t pretend that we’re friends- the couple of times that I have seen her since have brought visual recognition but she has had to be prompted to remember my name. But that day is worth recalling because it serves as a microcosm of what kind of life she has led over the past few years, and what has finally driven her back home to reclaim what is left of her life.
I was in Washington, D.C. attending a national convention of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, an organization designed to refute the idea that God is somehow a conservative Republican. Cindy Sheehan was scheduled to appear at an outdoor interfaith prayer gathering put on by the Network (and its head, Rabbi Michael Lerner) in Lafayette Park, just across the street from the White House. Having Cindy at the gathering was a blessing and a curse for the Network, and Rabbi Lerner lamented as much. Her being there guaranteed that the press would cover the event, giving the organization much-needed publicity, but then, the press would focus solely on her every move at the expense of anything else at the gathering. In the event, this is exactly what happened. Cindy made a beautiful and loving speech, one of two she made that day and evening, but the only thing that made the news was her one unflattering reference to the president while pointing back at the White House. There were many exquisite prayers and speeches given by religious and spiritual people of all stripes, but the press focused on one sentence from Cindy.
This is not to paint Cindy as a saint- she isn’t. She’s a career mom with no prior experience in being a national figure. She said quite a few things, especially at first, coming right from her heart (or shooting from her hip) without thinking about the ramifications of the twelve-second soundbite. But she has had only one overriding concern during the whole of her public life- to spare mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, and children the pain that she went through when a couple of soldiers knocked on her door and informed her that her son was dead.
Her critics, and they are many, especially those on the Right, are quick to point out that Casey Sheehan volunteered for the army and that he was perfectly aware of what he was getting into. This is the lie at the heart of the matter. Shiite militiamen who were guarding their neighborhood turf- enemies of both al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, killed Casey. It is only if you continue to buy into the whole house of lies that the Bush administration has built that you can still maintain the fiction that Casey Sheehan ‘knew what he was getting into’.
After the prayer gathering, about 200 people marched the short distance across the street to deliver a petition signed by 40,000 people urging President Bush not to use military force against Iran. The guard at the gate said the White House could not accept the petition. Think of the sad irony of that. In any event, we committed a clear case of civil disobedience by shoving 7,000 pieces of paper full of signatures through the White House gates and onto the lawn and driveway, where they blew all over the lot. The DC police just stood there and watched us litter the White House lawn. They then allowed about 300 hundred people, far less than was legal, to march right down a major boulevard without a permit on the way to then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s house. It was obvious that this was because the DC police liked Cindy.
I, Zelig-like, found myself at Cindy’s side throughout all of this. We talked of family, churches, soccer, softball, and Northern California, where we’re both from. We laughingly tried to remember old softball chants to use as anti-war slogans. Through the whole march, Cindy was a polarizing figure, a hero to most who recognized her, but a terrible villain to a vocal few. The things those few people shouted at her were amazingly awful. She just smiled at them and kept singing.
The purpose of our visit to Donald Rumsfeld’s house was a symbolic follow-up to an infamous after-speech Q & A in which ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern infiltrated a friendly gathering of administration supporters (these are the only places administration officials dare to speak) and asked Rumsfeld some stunningly indicting questions. The SecDef stammered through a couple of non-answers and McGovern was hustled out of the room.
Ray McGovern was with us on the march that afternoon, armed with a bullhorn, to ask Donald Rumsfeld the same questions again, although Mr. Rumsfeld most certainly wasn’t home, and even if he was, there was no way he was going to lower himself to our presence. The media was there, and that, I suppose, was the point.
Posted on June 4, 2007 12:00 AM
Comments
she is certainly a troubled woman - hurt people HURT others.
Posted by: brian | June 4, 2007 5:48 PM
I really feel bad because I believe this lady became a tool for the left and the anti-war movement. Ms. Sheehan's son gave the ultimate sacrifce for this country and the Iraqi people. The media and left used her as she tried to fill the void in heart with bitterness towards the Bush Administration. Ms. Sheehan needed the love of Christ, but only was encouraged on a worthless movement. Now she goes home to broken relationships, no peace and still the void. Those that encouraged her should take some responsibility.
I recall reading Lisa Beamer's book, "Let's Roll" a couple of years after 9/11/01. Lisa was the pregnant wife of Todd Beamer, who was on Flight 93. Most of the book is NOT about building up Todd as a great hero. She talks more about their real life as a family and the regular issues that we all can relate to. The one thing that held Lisa together was her family, friends and relationship with Christ.
Just like Ms. Sheehan, Lisa lost a loved-one to evil (terrorist), but Lisa's void was replaced with the love of Christ.
Posted by: Chris | June 4, 2007 8:20 PM
Brian,
I have to take strong exception to your comment that "hurt people HURT others." It has been my experience that the hurt people, the broken people, are often capable of the most compassion and courage.
It is those who are incapable of being hurt (the unbreakable), or those who act from a sense of superiority and invincibility, who often do the most damage.
John
Posted by: John Pattison | June 4, 2007 10:16 PM
Chris,
If possible, I disagree with your comments even more than I do Brian's. Regardless of one's political persuasion - regardless even of one's position on the war in Iraq - it is the height of callousness to call the anti-war movement "a worthless movement." There are plenty of evangelicals (and I am one of them) who proudly consider themselves part of that worthless movement.
Furthermore, while it is safe to say that there is a "void" in Miss Sheehan's heart (how can there not be a void, when a mother outlives her son?), and Lisa Beamer's faith in the midst of tragedy notwithstanding - none of us are in a position to judge where Sheehan is in her relationship with God.
I personally believe that whether she knew it or not, Cindy Sheehan was doing the work of Christ. And for that - and for all that she has been through - I wish her rest and some small measure of comfort.
Meanwhile, the war that claimed the life of Casey Sheehan rages on. Whose will be the next "face of the anti-war movement"?
John
Posted by: John Pattison | June 4, 2007 10:37 PM
Chris,
I'm not entering the debate, but I do greatly appreciate your line about that void being replaced by the love of Christ (the largest aspect, I would add, being the capacity to forgive).
On NPR recently, I heard the story of an woman in Congo. Her village was raided. She watched her entire family stabbed to death. The raiders then raped her repeatedly (as in over 30 times), killed her children and made her drag her newborn baby across the ground until it was dead. They then forced her brother to have sex with her, but her brother refused and was killed.
The interviewer asked what she would want done to the the perpetrators, and she said that she would want them returned to their home nation, but that was all. She said she was a Christian, and she forgave them.
THAT is the forgiveness I talk about, something we can hardly summon when we refer to our enemies.
Hopefully, Brent steps in to comment himself. I shared a distrust of Cindy Sheehan for a long time until I spoke with Brent over breakfast in Sacramento last year about her. That's why I wanted to run this article so badly.
jordan
Posted by: Jordan Green | June 5, 2007 12:47 AM
by the way, penny and i have searched for the link to that story to post on the site, but couldn't find it.
Posted by: Jordan Green | June 5, 2007 12:56 AM
Jordan,
I heard the story too. It was on PRI's "The World." The reporter asks the woman: "If these men [the attackers] are ever caught what would you like to happen to them?" The woman replied, "Because I am a Christian woman, I can't meet evil for evil."
Here is the link to the story:
http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/10178
This is a related link from the same show:
http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/10179
John
Posted by: John Pattison | June 5, 2007 5:29 AM
John,
I do not believe that Christ is a conservative Republican and I do not believe Ms. Sheehan was doing the work of Christ. I did not make the claim that Ms. Sheehan was Believer or not. My point was that nobody, publically, showed her the love of Christ. Her bitterness was not the reflection of Christ's love, joy, peace and goodness. If she knows Christ, then her actions did not reflect Him. I was trying to make the point that she was bitter and hurt due to the death of her son. She was embrassed by people that really did not care about her, but used her to push a movement that will not create any positive lasting results.
Posted by: Chris | June 5, 2007 5:40 AM
Chris,
How is it that you only see Cindy as being used by the Left? Every right-wing blowhard, from Limbaugh to O'Reilly, to Michelle Malkin, to Ann Coulter used Cindy Sheehan as their personal punching bag, constantly accusing her of treasonous and traitorous activity for espousing the same position that a vast majority of Americans now hold. Cindy served the Right like a great funnel in which to pour their contempt of anyone who dared criticize the great empire-building project of the neo-cons. Now, even Bill O'Reilly has gone on record to take virtually the same position that he labeled Ms. Sheehan's as treason.
As for being shown the love of Christ, or exhibiting it herself, which part of what I wrote did you not read? 1) Her primary and single-minded goal, which yes, was exploited by BOTH sides, was to prevent others from going through what she went through as a mother. This involved ACTION. Jesus was ACTIVE in his ministry. Cindy would be the last person to compare herself to Jesus, but as far as I could surmise, she most definitely is a Christian. Maybe not the Christian YOU feel comfortable with, but a Christian. Her speeches are constantly peppered with Biblical references, and she talks often of her love of Jesus. Her background is Catholic, which many 'Christians' don't believe is really 'Christian'. 2) The way she fended off direct insults was most Christian-like, certainly better than I could have hoped to do in a similar situation.
By the way, I was very close to the Lisa Beamer situation. I was intimately involved in a musical project called 'Let's Roll', funded by the Todd Beamer Foundation, which was administered by Lisa. Without going into detail here, methinks you should be very careful about pronouncing judgment on anyone based on reading a book. This is too often how we come to hard and fast opinions on people- Lisa Beamer good, Cindy Sheehan bad- based on the agendas of those who either want to build them up, or tear them down. I'm not saying Lisa Beamer isn't a good, upstanding Christian mom, but be careful how you throw those references around- there just might be someone out there who knows something different ;)
Posted by: Brent Bourgeois | June 5, 2007 7:11 AM
Brent,
I'm not communicating very well. I'm not saying Lisa Beamer is good and Ms. Sheehan is bad. I don't know either person except from the filter of the media and their own words. Based on any objective observer, Ms. Sheehan was bitter and without joy. In her final letter, she confesses of loss of relationships because of her time spent on the anti-war movement. I hope she is a believer because Jesus will be the only thing that gives her peace.
Just a couple of things...quoting scripture in speeches does not make you a Christian. I'm a Rush listener along with the other "blow hards". Ms. Sheehan became a political figure because she made political points. Just because she lost a son in the war does not make her immune to a response or criticism from folks that don't agree with her. The left is great at pushing victims to make the public comments and then bashing the right if they respond.
I guarantee the people of the country do not agree with Ms. Sheehan. If so, then Congress would have voted to cut the funds.
Posted by: Chris | June 5, 2007 11:28 AM
Ummm... I might be wrong, but didn't congress do just that? And then didn't Bush veto it immediately...
Just another quick observation,
I and everyone else here agrees that quoting scripture in speeches doesn't make you a Christian, I'm pretty sure my dog thinks that, but aren't you missing the point when you try to surmise whether a speaker is or not?
My point: she wasn't trying to start a church, she was trying to stop a war, I think it wise to simply appreciate her for that.
Just for the record, I never thought you were bitter and without joy Cindy. I prayed for you often and will continue to whenever I think of you.
Posted by: patrick | June 5, 2007 7:42 PM
This conversation makes me sad.
It brings out the deep sighs.
You know what I mean? The kind of sighs where your eyelids droop until you find yourself looking down, unable to formulate a single argument broad enough to illuminate the foundational flaws that are being proposed?
Cindy Sheenan's salvation.....should not/ought not/MUST NOT be the focus.
Good things can and DO come from people who have not signed the Evangelical Dotted Line.
"All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love."
That's from Old Ralph Emerson. Unitarian, no doubt.
That's all I've got for now. I'm too frustrated to write coherently.
Posted by: Sarah | June 8, 2007 7:12 PM