Habits : A Journal - Softcover

Bennett, Wilhelmine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1575028921 ISBN 13: 9781575028927

Publisher: Morris Pub, 1998

Synopsis

So you believe that even though religious prejudice is alive and well in America, actual persecution for choice of religion, like the witch-hunts of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, are mere footnotes in history?

You believe due process, guaranteed to all citizens, is denied, if at all, only to those in remote areas, to discernible minorities, or to people uninformed regarding that right?

And further, should such crimes occur, you believe the perpetrators will be swiftly apprehended and justice rendered?

You have faith the ACLU always acts honorably, their behavior beyond reproach, in defense of civil liberties?

HABITS, A JOURNAL WILL PROVE YOU WRONG ON ALL COUNTS.

P.S. - If you've dismissed the gaining power and influence of the Christian Right as mere nuisance which could never have an impact on your life, read on . . .

This true account of acts of terror inflicted on a woman because of her choice of religion, for not behaving as a woman "should", for such crimes as building her own house, declining to attend the local church, will astonish you. You will find even more inexplicable the increase of rage from this small community, intent on creating a scapegoat, when she performs neighborly acts. The message is clear: having labeled her "witch", she had, by God, better behave like one. She makes numerous appeals to local law officials for protection, and when those fail pleas to the state's Governor and Attorney General for intervention, to the press, the local chapter of the ACLU, who agree to represent her then back out when their president refuses "because he is a minister". All these attempts merely increase the fury of the community. Living in constant fear, trying to protect the trees and land for which she feels responsible, believing the friendly faces the villagers present to her to be sincere, contradictions finally shake her confidence in her own perceptions. When William James steps forth periodically with pithy comments about habits as a foundation for behavior, whether it be a single act or a conspiracy, we take them, at first, to be extraneous interruptions. However, we soon recognize that they are inseparable from the story itself.

Like a gathering storm, forces hidden and known multiply to attack full force and make her realize that all those surrounding are involved in one of three categories: those who actually perform the acts of terror, those who encourage them, and those who carefully look the other way. There are no friends, only enemies.

Finally, a climactic act compels her to make the inevitable decision

About this title

From the Back Cover:

". . . and I'll keep on doing these things until you get down on your knees and pray with me." Fires set, trees felled, pets killed, sprayed with pesticide, threats, assaults, a beating- four years of terror systematically perpetrated on the woman they labeled "witch." Sixteenth Century European witch-hunt? No, quite recently. In America.

Deceit on the part of a governor, determined inaction by law officials, attorneys' refusal to become involved, perfidy by such illustrious agencies as the ACLU, this true story will change the way you view America, and its guarantee of due process for its citizens.

Through the masterful weaving in of William James and Thomas Dewey's theories on learning and the formation of habits an how they shape our lives, the bites of dark humor, depiction of the bludgeoning effect of isolation, Bennett skillfully insures this account will haunt you long after reading.

Wilhelmine Bennett received a Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University, then did post-doctoral work at Columbia University. She studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse, dance with Martha Graham. A Fullbright Scholar, recipient of a National Endowment on the Arts and numerous other fellowships, her chamber and orchestral works have been performed in Europe and the US. Two of her plays have been produced in the US as well. She has taught at the University of California Santa Cruz, and the University of Iowa. In 1983, she established an artist's colony, the setting for this work. Bennett now resides, safely, with contented cats, in the Northeast.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

The rectangular building of painted white shingles has its long axis lying towards the curved street. Relatively free of ornamentation, its simple lines flow uninterrupted along the horizontal, vertically up the steep roof to and over the belfry, and thence to the sky. Four tall narrow windows pierce the long facades at equidistant points. These are framed with Gothic arches which are echoed by the mullions, and contain large squares of glass stained in primary colors. The awkward effect of this crude rendering however, is ameliorated and finally overcome by the graceful proportions of the whole: windows to wall, wall to roof, belfry to roof, the gestalt inducing a pleasant feeling of lightness and delicacy. Two constructions mar this effect. First is an addition to the back of the building whose roof angle neither duplicates nor departs sufficiently from that of the church proper, hence defys integration; unfelicitous too is the shape, size, and placement of the windows in this section. Missing are the graceful relationships worked out (or fortuitously arrived at) for the Gothic windows. The second blemish is the combined concrete steps and ramp leading to the main entrance. These stairs are steep and of niggardly dimension. Both steps and ramp culminate with a platform, also of niggardly size; a single-peaked roof is placed too high to satisfy aesthetics or practicality. Rain and wind asault the person standing there seeking welcome. Both of these additions were during my time there. I watched their construction with dismay. This Sunday in late may is chilly and the women leaving the church wear sweaters or jackets. The men have on workclothes, worn to a nondescript color, a few wear overalls. As they come out the door no conversational groupings form - whatever social exchanges occur will have taken place during the "coffee hour" following the service in the lower section of the addition. These exchanges have been tearfully described to me by my 12-year-old neighbor girl. But now there are only nods or a few words of closure as they make their way down the steps, some leaning heavily on the banisters to favor an arthritic knee or ankle. For these are almost exclusively older people though it is hard to assign a precise age. In this village and its surrounds women are frequently toothless by the age of thirty. They also adopt clothes and hairstyles the same as middle-aged housewives, have become obese to a greater or lesser degree, and have mannerisms, gestures and speech inflections common to both those aged twenty-eight or fifty-five. At this latter age, false teeth are purchased though not routinely worn. These cheaply-made, all one-size, ill-fitting dentures, coupled with the mated close-to-the-head gray or graying hair, have the effect of rendering all the women George Washington look-alikes. The men fare somewhat better. Whether because custom decrees they receive the larger and better portion of food, these men do seem to retain their teeth longer and add replacements before the bone and musculature which defines their physiognomy has eroded. Then too, in this culture men are granted a larger range of expression. Men are the actors; women the acted upon. So even though content and style of action may be limited, men are allowed to retain some idiosyncrasies. For the women, a face of passivity is required though the resentment engendered by the imposition might dwell inwardly. These women walking down the church steps will return to their kitchens to finish preparing dinners stuck in the oven before leaving. The men will sit waiting, either impatiently reading the paper or pacing to and fro from their chair to the kitchen doorway, causing the women to hurry and perhaps burn their hand on a dish picked up too hastily. Now they proceed down the steps to get into their pick-up trucks. Returning from a morning walk, I reckon from a block away that if I continue at the same pace I will be in the midst of these people leaving church. I abruptly turn away. *

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* [William James warned of the intransigence of small actions which, with repetition, form habits and thence character. That vast biological map, the nervous system, whereby stimuli are processed and converted into response must be stable enough to allow for habit - yet plastic enough to permit learning. Habit as a tendency to repeat with greater ease and precision, can aid and abet the learning process, but the dark side of this equation is that if an action is repeated a number of times (psychologists say thirty-eight) it becomes encapsulated, beyond access. If we put our left shoe on first for a month and eight days, this will come to seem not only right and proper but the only way to don our shoes. We will thus instruct our children who, in turn, will so instruct their children. Perhaps Santanyana meant that we should remember to remember lest we merely repeat. Awareness is all. In 1870, at the age of 28, James noticed that he could sustain a chosen thought when he might have other thoughts. This validated for him his freedom of volition, saving him from possible suicide. His first act of free will was to believe in free will.] *

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* "You look . . . appropriate." The Director grinned. "Good. I don't have a lot of experience making calls on ministers. I found this skirt and this frilly blouse. Thought I had a bra from twenty years ago - but couldn't find it. So I'll just kinda hunch my shoulders. Look OK?" "Yeah. In fact, gives you a sort of humble appearance," Nancy replies. "Have you thought of what you'll say?" asks Ray. "Well, a lot depends on who he is, I've never even seen him. Basically I'm just approaching it as one reasonable person to another, suggesting a reasonable solution. Can I rehearse it with you?"

About this edition

• Publisher: Morris Pub
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1575028921
• ISBN 13: 9781575028927
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 127