On being picked as one of the "100 Most Influential People of Orange County" in 2019

I'm very honored to find myself on your list of the 100 Most Influential People of Orange County of 2019 for my time trying to defend the fundamental dignity of those people, men, women and children in our county who find themselves reduced to living on our streets.

If I am on then on this list, let’s see then if we can change then the discourse and more importantly _the power dynamics_ in our county in the coming year so that THE FUNDAMENTAL HUMANITY of EVERYONE could be respected. Rabbi Nico Sokolovsky of Fullerton's Temple Beth Tikvah was absolutely right when he said recently (Nov 5, 2019) a Fullerton City Council Meeting that when people already reduced to living on the streets are being forced off the streets (and to no-where ...) then we have not merely a homeless crisis but a moral one.

So we have to simply end the erasure or fundamental degradation of people around us. And here all kinds of people are honestly threatened:

FOR INSTANCE, (1) what happened to Katie Brazer at the last OC BOS meeting where she was gaveled down TWICE when she simply tried to tell them the story of her father who died homeless on the streets this past year SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. https://youtu.be/R9NVzl5u7Nc / https://youtu.be/O4wOCITgQ9o / https://youtu.be/duRXaFEFAfc

And (2) neither should there be Swastikas painted by synagogues anymore nor used to intimidate Jewish parents and school children, nor above all THEIR REVERED HOLOCAUST SURVIVING grandparents and great grandparents be intimidated by this stupid, thuggish “copycat / wannabe” evil. (The largest number of hate crimes and incidents in Orange County are actually _still_ perpetuated against our Jewish community (2018 OC Human Relations Committee Hate Crimes Report, pg 7). Honestly, HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? Have we learned NOTHING since the Nazi Era of the 1930s-40s?)

Nor (3) should smiling, rosary praying Mexican-Salvadoran-etc born grandmothers be threatened with deportation nor their cute-as-can be grandchildren be worried that their smiling abuelitas or “make the best tamales _in the whole world_" tias (it’s Navidad time…) be “taken away” from them.

And (4) it should be seen as a tragedy that American-born Iranian-American grandchildren can’t see their still in Tehran residing grandmothers here now either.

The last two items of course at least in part "beyond the power" our county but we should see how fundamentally counter-productive it is to keep little kids from seeing / learning from their grandparents, much less watch them being _ripped away from them_. The result can not but be a bad remembrance of this country (that's supposed to be a shining beacon of freedom / hope) in the hearts and minds of those children as they grow up.

At its core, we must bring an end to the politics of status “I’m more important than you” / “I _deserve_ to be more important than you.” And if we don't we certainly will _deserve_ what we sow.

Let’s see if we can make Orange County, yes, a "kinder, gentler place" in the coming year where everyone is given the fundamental respect that is their (and all of our) due.

The Golden Rule "Do onto others as you would want them to do onto you" is the fundamental basis of every religious system that has ever existed. Let's heed that wisdom of our common humanity and past.

Acceptance Speech at the 2019 OCCCO "Color of Justice" Awards

I’d first like to thank OCCCO for considering me for this award.  You’re an organization that must at times find your work challenging, fighting the good fight in a part of the country that doesn’t necessarily want to see problems, particularly the problems that you’d like to underline.  So thank you, very, very much for your efforts.

I am receiving the “Housing with Dignity” award here this truly lovely banquet.

But I’m forced to ask myself, what does it mean to house someone with dignity?  After all, what we offered at St. Philip Benizi Parish during these past several years was simply a place to crash and to sleep, often enough, literally, “under a tree.”

Yet, I suppose Dignity when it comes to people begins with … the Biblical “Shalom” (Peace, peace be with you), or since I am a Servite Priest and we American Servites have been responsible for the Catholic Church’s mission in KwaZulu in South Africa, it begins with even the more basic Zulu greeting: “Sawbona” which literally means “I see you” and the acknowledgement / response “Yebo” which means “Yes Sir, [I exist].”

We exist of course even without such acknowledgement from others.  Yet it is so much easier to exist with such acknowledgement.

Our great contribution at St. Philip Benizi Parish to bringing awareness of the homelessness crisis in our midst was simply that for two years we didn’t throw anybody out who came to our doors, and that even after enormous pressure from both without and even within the Parish, we continued to accompany those who came to us, even as they no longer slept on directly on our grounds.  “If you get arrested / cited, please take a picture of your citation and text it to me,” I told the people even as we were closing our grounds to people who continued to have no real place to go.  “By the Boise decision if a jurisdiction has no place to offer you, it can not punish you for sleeping on a sidewalk.” 

And so it is … dignity… I see you.  I / we know, continue to know, that you exist.

This act of acknowledgement of the Other’s existence as the first step of re-establishing the Dignity of someone who’s by and large lost it, was underlined to me in the aftermath of a memorial service that I was asked to preside over recently. 

It was held at La Palma Park in Anaheim for a woman named Michelle White who died on August 25, 2019 at the not altogether far away Bridges at Kraemer Homeless shelter.  Since Michelle had apparently put as her address that of the shelter, the OC Coroner did not list her as having died “without fixed abode” (even though she had been a resident at a shelter when she had died).  Hence even the Voice of OC, under pressure from outside (previous lists of names of the homeless deceased had been challenged and we could always defend them by saying that the names came directly from the OC Coroner's office), asked that we _not_ include her among the list of the Homeless deceased because her name did not appear on the Coroner’s list of those who died "without fixed abode."

Some of the residents of the Bridges at Kraemer Shelter wanted her remembered in their own way.  And so I was asked to preside over a Memorial Service for her in La Palma Park on Sept. 21st.   

Why would they want her remembered?  Well, the very night after she had died, another person was already sleeping in her bed where she had previously slept.  The shelter’s operators (and one can understand this, there are beds for only 1/3 of Orange County's homeless population), ever strapped for space had simply filled her space, left vacant by her death, with someone else. 

Yet Michelle White had been a person, beloved by a fair number of people who had known her over the months and years, both at Kraemer and on the streets, and they didn’t want her to just disappear like that. 

And so, as many of the 30 or so people who had attended the service at La Palma Park spoke of Michelle, ever so briefly a portal of remembrance opened in the fabric of the space-time continuum and for a very brief moment a fascinating and lively image of her came back to life.  Many of the younger women who knew her at Kraemer considered her to be a mother figure, who had shown interest and concern about them.  Her partner of many years underlined that she had a temper, “We’d be walking on the street, she’d be beating on me, I’d be beating on her.  People would wonder why.  But to us it made sense.”  And as I listened to this, I saw also a face of God far more complex, far more inclusive and even far more romantic that any of us would normally imagine.  How sad it would have been if Michelle had just disappeared.

We have 7000-10000 people homeless in Orange County and 150,000 homeless in California, more than 500,000 in our Country.  Do they matter?  Do we? 

Both the Buddhists and modern psychologists tell us that the hardest thing to defend is our own Egos.  And it is a losing battle.  Eventually all of us will die and disappear.  A hundred years from now, the vast majority of us will be forgotten as if we never were.

Yet then while we are here, why not celebrate the Garden in which we find ourselves in?  And yes, the folks that are homeless, the folks that don’t easily “fit in” are often the ones who give our life spice, variety and beauty.  We beat on our weak at our own peril.  As we drown them out of our existence, we drown ourselves.

Yes, Dignity begins with a hello, an acknowledgement that the Other, and hence we ourselves, Exist.

Fundamenal Disrespect at US - Mexico Border - TIME FOR MEXICO TO INVITE RUSSIA - CHINA IN?

SPEAKING PURPOSEFULLY - DIRECTLY "INTO THE CLOUD"

With a second incident in as many months of U.S. border officials thinking it "okay" to lob tear gas canisters over the border into Mexico:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-fires-tear-gas-across-mexico-border-to-stop-migrants/2019/01/01/67d6a802-0e3c-11e9-8f0c-6f878a26288a_story.html?utm_term=.cfebdb73c582

It PAINS ME to suggest this (my parents were Czechoslovakian, so we obviously know something about Soviet/Russian military bases...), but honestly, if I were incoming Mexican President Obrador I'd _make a show_ of inviting Russia and-or China to establish at minimum naval bases in Mexico.

There's only so much demonization / disrespect that a country ought to put up with. Then there do have to be consequences.

If Russia were to show up with two nuclear subs to make a "port of call" visit to Cancun come "Spring Break season" (or Russia / China make a similar "visit" to Mazatlan / Cabo San Lucas on the Pacific Coast), the message would be certainly be heard. And the message would be IMHO entirely _APPROPRIATE_. ¡Viva respecto fundamental!



ESCRIBIENDO AQUÍ CON OJOS ABIERTOS DIRECTAMENTE "EN LA NUBE"

Después de un segundo incidente en los últimos dos meses a la Frontera en que los uficiales de este país pensando que fuera "okay" echar bombas de gas lacrimógeno a la gente al otro lado en México:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-fires-tear-gas-across-mexico-border-to-stop-migrants/2019/01/01/67d6a802-0e3c-11e9-8f0c-6f878a26288a_story.html?utm_term=.cfebdb73c582

me sinceremente da pena de sugerir esto (porque mis padres eran checoslovacos, conozco algo sobre las bases militares rusas ...), pero honestamente, si sea yo el Presidente mexicano Obrador, haría yo un ESPECTÁCULO en ofrecer a Rusia o China la invitacion a establecer por mínimo bases navales en México.

Solo hay tanta demonización / desprezo que un país debería soportar. Entonces deben ser consecuencias.

Si Rusia se presentara con dos submarinos nucleares para hacer una "visita fraterna" a Cancún, durante la "temporada de vacaciones de primavera" (o Rusia / China hará una "visita" similar a Mazatlán o Cabo San Lucas en la costa del Pacífico), el mensaje sería ciertamente entendido. Y el mensaje sería EMHO completamente JUSTO. ¡Viva respecto fundamental!

Elect non-Fascists in 2018 / You're Probably a Fascist if ...

This picture recently appeared / went viral online.  I'd prefer to say "elect non-Fascists, November 2018."  And using the old saw to explain ...

You're Probably a Fascist if ... 

If you want a military parade for no clear reason ... you're probably a fascist.

If you rip kids from their parents just to "teach them a lesson" ... you're probably a fascist.

If you say "it's complicated" when it comes to condemning the murder and cutting up into pieces of dissident journalists ... you're probably a fascist.

If you call a free (and yes at times an annoying) press (it's THEIR JOB...) "the enemy of the people" ... you're probably a fascist.

If you say, "Don't trust your own eyes / ears, trust ME" ... you're probably a fascist.

If you _encourage_ the police to knock around arrestees ... you're probably a fascist.

If you pine for being "Great Leader for Life" ... you're probably a fascist.

Do we really want to PAY THE COST of killing NATO?

Speaking PURPOSEFULLY and DIRECTLY into the CLOUD ...

Regarding the truly scary Fox News sponsored Tucker Carlson / Donald Trump interview (Tue, July 17, 2018) about letting the U.S. unilaterally walk away from our NATO obligations

https://washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-says-defending-tiny-nato-ally-montenegro-could-lead-to-world-war-iii/2018/07/18/f7a09276-8a80-11e8-8aea-86e88ae760d8_story.html?utm_term=.4733e151cba5

There are SO MANY things wrong here:

(1) Let’s be clear, bowtied Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump are NOT really talking here of Montenegro but rather of the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

(2) Neither Tucker Carlson, nor his son Buckley, nor famously “bone spur” Donald Trump served or serve in the military. So the scenario they propose would involve sending other people’s parents and children to war.

(3) NATO exists precisely to KEEP THE PEACE.

a. Wars start as a result of miscalculations. BOTH the 1950-53 Korean War and the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War BEGAN as a result of, let’s be kind, “unfortunate” / “poorly worded” / “not thought-through” statements by U.S. Government officials of MUCH LOWER RANK than the President, which _suggested_ that the United States did not think South Korea / Kuwait were worth defending. Even Serbia which doesn’t necessarily consider Montenegro to be a “real country” may take a crack now at Montenegro. But more to the point again, the Russians may now think they’ve been given permission to destabilize and take over the Baltic Republics.

b. Even little countries under threat can come up with their own strategies / defenses. Think Israel…

i. If I were Poland today, if I don’t ALREADY have a dozen or so nuclear weapons quietly given to it a few years ago by the outgoing Obama Administration I’d be looking build them or acquire them now.

ii. I’m more or less certain that the Czechs have made similar contingency plans and acquired the necessary materials during the Vaclav Havel administration. The current Czech President Zeman is basically the Czechs’ equivalent of Trump (and almost certainly supported by Putin). Nevertheless even if Zeman is a stooge of Putin it’d be doubtful that the Czechs would easily give up any nuclear material that they’ve husbanded during Havel’s time (and perhaps even previous to Havel’s time) because it would give the Czech leadership more options. And even if the Czechs did not have weapons grade nuclear materials in their possession, with operating nuclear power plants they CERTAINLY have access to all the fissionable material they’d ever need to make a good deal of dirty bombs.

iii. With regard to the Baltic States. Perhaps they already have nuclear materials themselves from “stray” tactical, etc nuclear weapons left on their soil, with the collapse of the Soviet Union to make / maintain a number of true nuclear weapons on their own. Then, as in the case of the Czechs (and the Poles), the Baltic States would _certainly_ have enough fissionable materials to make a whole series of dirty bombs to (1) certainly make the centers of St. Petersburg and Moscow and (2) possibly make the centers of _every single one of the cities_ that just hosted the World Cup uninhabitable IF the Russians chose to try to take them over again.

Think about it. THIS IS WHY NATO EXISTS … to help make the individual countries of Europe secure so that they wouldn’t have to “go their own way.” I’LL say it with absolute certainty, a Russian adventure in the Baltic would bring with it World War III or large scale destruction / poisoning across Russia itself to make it utterly not worth it. But if NATO remains around, such a conflict remains simply unthinkable and I would think that for the sake of the whole world (and even of Russia) THAT WOULD BE A GOOD THING.

So Tucker and Donald… DON’T BE IDIOTS. Chamberlain was an IDIOT. He dressed like you Tucker and had the intelligence / naiveté of you Donald. If you proceed to destroy NATO those of us left to tell about it will HATE YOU and LAUGH YOU TO SCORN. You’ll be remembered as being even stupider than Chamberlain was.

Should POLAND be GIVEN NUCLEAR WEAPONS?

Writing PURPOSEFULLY "into the cloud" :-) --

Question: In light of Donald Trump's recent election as President of the U.S., should the POLES be TRANSFERRED A FEW DOZEN NUCLEAR WEAPONS prior to the departure of the Obama Administration? They've certainly EARNED their right to self-defense and CERTAINLY Obama's grandfather WHO SERVED IN PATTON'S THIRD ARMY during WW II would approve.

For my part, I have no doubt that the Czech Republic, idiot of a President that they have now as well notwithstanding, has both the technical capacity (Temelín, Jáchimov, a technical knowledge base frankly second to none) and perhaps even the materials to make a bomb TOMORROW, or NEXT WEEK or NEXT MONTH or THREE YEARS from now when said idiot's term ends. (My parents were Czech and one of my earliest memories is that of the Soviet Union invading my parents' country on my mother's birthday back in 1968).

My sense is POLAND has this capacity as well though a nuclear program on Poland's part COULD, IN FACT, MAKE THE RUSSIANS "MORE NERVOUS" THAN WITH THE CZECHS ;-). But then WHY NOT JUST GIVE THE POLES 20 BOMBS (or not give them to them, OR JUST MAKE IT A REALLY BIG QUESTION MARK)?

Yes, I suppose it would be(come) somewhat ironic that POLAND COULD BECOME CENTRAL EUROPE'S ISRAEL ;-) ... Does Israel have the bomb? It's never admitted that it does, but EVERYBODY assumes so ... but IT WOULD KEEP THE PEACE. Like Israel, POLAND WOULD NOT THREATEN ANYBODY ... as long as its own independence was not once again threatened.

And IT WOULD NOT EVEN BE NECESSARY THAT POLAND actually _had the bomb_ JUST THAT THE QUESTION MARK BE RAISED. But certainly twenty bombs (or "twenty bombs") on Polish soil or perhaps ANYWHERE ... would probably do it. LET PUTIN _NEVER_ KNOW FOR SURE.

And as I mentioned above Obama's _white granddad_ WOULD CERTAINLY HAVE APPROVED.

Open Letter to the Mayors of Los Angeles, New York and Chicago all State / Local Officials of Good Will, Individual Police Officers and to the Youth of our Nation

To our Nation's Mayors / State and Local Officials: In the name of God and then all that is good in our Country, I ask you to categorically refuse to allow, without any exception whatsoever, the Resources and Personnel under your Jurisdiction, Command or Control to be put into service of any program for the mass round-up / deportation of undocumented aliens in / around your Jurisdiction. 

One of the particular Horrors of the Nazi-era Holocaust was that the Nazis often utilized local police forces to help them in the round-up of Jews.  Notably, the Nazis used occupied Paris' own police force to round-up the city's Jews for them and then used the city's facilities like Stadiums to hold them and process them before "deporting them East" ... in cattle cars ... to Auschwitz ... to die.

Significant numbers of police officers in our major cities are Hispanics.  There are few assignments that would cause more obvious morale problems / divisions in the nation's police forces than compelling local law enforcement officials to help in the round-up / deportations of people who could be (or in any case were just like) their relatives or friends.

To individual police officers / law enforcement officials: The Catholic Church recognizes the right to selective conscientious objection, the principle being that NO ONE should be compelled to do something that is fundamentally against one's conscience.  It should seem self-evident that MANY OF YOU will have FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES OF CONSCIENCE with ripping kindly, Rosary praying grandmothers from their homes, or parents from their children to deport them.  Many of you would sincerely be able to say that you simply _did not_ "enter into the academy" to do that kind of "work."  The Catholic Church recognizes your Right to refuse to do that kind of "work," or even to assist in such operations in _any_ way (like simply "standing around" providing "crowd control" while some "elite squad" does this kind of action "down the block.")

Finally, to our nation's youth: Please do not volunteer and please refuse assignment to any "elite force" tasked with this kind of "work."  There are a limited number of grandmothers or desperate parents that you can rip from their sobbing children before this will _change you_.  Do not become the Gestapo that ALL OF US have learned to hate.

I ask all of this in the name of a God who looks down upon us, loves all of us and does forgive us our sins when we fall.  Let us _not_ go down a path before us that looks ALL TOO MUCH like that of Germany in 1933.

In Christ,


Fr. Dennis Kriz, OSM
pastor honestly by chance of a small / lovely / random parish
St. Philip Benizi, Fullerton, CA
who will have to put myself in front of deportation squads if the nightmares I see come to pass.