Summary. This is the monthly personal update for Gregory Johnson. Life categories listed alphabetically rather than in order of increasing interdependence described on the map page. This month, areas of life remain mostly unchanged.

* * *

Dear Friends,

Here’s my personal update for August. This month’s life categories remain mostly unchanged. Photos and a video from my recent India trip are now available in a special report and also on my photo galleries page.

• Activism. With regard to activism, I believe that the answer is to live the answer. As such, I believe that lifestyle activism and becoming the media are the most powerful methods for impacting the world. For this reason, sharing my photography, producing videos, and writing content for the ResourcesForLife.com website continue to be my primary means of activism and outreach. The site has had over a million visitors in the past few years. There is now a ResourcesForLife.com @ Ning network as well. My book, Put Your Life on a Diet, continues to do well, and I’ve expanded the book’s web page and also added an online community area for discussions about it.
• Career. I’m thankful that my work at the University of Iowa is going well and my consulting business continues to be busy. My current clients continue to be wonderful to work with, and I’m also gaining some new ones. I’m very grateful.
• Effective Living. I’m trying to stick with the Schedule for Life and the Holistic Living System which help provide maximum effectiveness and efficiency. I’ve not updated these systems for over a year, so an update is probably due later this year.
• Finance. I continue to look for ways to decrease my regular expenses and increase my income. I enjoy investing in Kiva, an organization that loans money to the working poor of the world.
• Health. I’ve gained about 30 pounds since moving to downtown Iowa City in August 2009, and I’m now about 60 pounds over my ideal weight. So, I’m now looking for ways to take my weight management system to the next level. I currently track my fitness and meals on my LiveStrong.com holistic wellness tracking page, and I also maintain a nutritional supplements spreadsheet to monitor nutrient intake. For exercise, I’m using an elliptical system at home and I’m making an effort to use bicycling for transportation.
• Lifeways. My faith and religious practice is currently Adonaikido. Since the teachings, beliefs, and principles of Adonaikido are based upon various world religions, I’m expanding upon some of the Lifeways resource pages. Recently updated is the Christian Life Resource Group.
• Relationships. Makur and I are doing well. We’re now living in a 360 square foot apartment in downtown Iowa City. I continue to be grateful for the relationships I have with family, friends, colleagues, and clients.

Many thanks to all of you who are continuing to keep me in your thoughts, prayers, and meditation time. ~ Gregory

About the Personal Update

For about ten years, the first and most important communication I would send out each month would be a personal update covering seven areas of life described on the Map Page of the ResourcesForLive.com website. I reference this monthly practice in my Schedule for Life. Over the years, my personal updates went out each month to about 10 family members and friends who I consider to be my “advisory board” – a group of people with several hundred years of collective wisdom. As well as looking for feedback and guidance, I also saw these updates as a way of making a regular personal life assessment. As of September 2007, I began publishing these monthly updates here in my online Journal. The seven areas of my personal life have solidified in recent years, so there’s not much “news” to report, but as there is, I’ll report it here in these updates.

Summary. This is the monthly personal update for Gregory Johnson. Life categories listed alphabetically rather than in order of increasing interdependence described on the map page. This month, areas of life remain mostly unchanged.

* * *

Dear Friends,

I’m in India right now until mid-August, so I’ll keep this update short. I began my three-day journey to get here on Friday July 23. Depending on Internet access and speed, I may try to upload some photos and perhaps a video. Here’s the update for July.

• Activism. With regard to activism, I believe that the answer is to live the answer. As such, I believe that lifestyle activism and becoming the media are the most powerful methods for impacting the world. For this reason, sharing my photography, producing videos, and writing content for the ResourcesForLife.com website continue to be my primary means of activism and outreach. The site has had over a million visitors in the past few years. There is now a ResourcesForLife.com @ Ning network as well. My book, Put Your Life on a Diet, continues to do well, and I’ve expanded the book’s web page and also added an online community area for discussions about it.
• Career. I’m thankful that my work at the University of Iowa is going well and my consulting business continues to be busy. My current clients continue to be wonderful to work with, and I’m also gaining some new ones. I’m very grateful.
• Effective Living. I’m trying to stick with the Schedule for Life and the Holistic Living System which help provide maximum effectiveness and efficiency. I’ve not updated these systems for over a year, so an update is probably due later this year.
• Finance. I continue to look for ways to decrease my regular expenses and increase my income. I enjoy investing in Kiva, an organization that loans money to the working poor of the world.
• Health. I’ve gained about 30 pounds since moving to downtown Iowa City in August 2009, and I’m now about 60 pounds over my ideal weight. So, I’m now looking for ways to take my weight management system to the next level. I currently track my fitness and meals on my LiveStrong.com holistic wellness tracking page, and I also maintain a nutritional supplements spreadsheet to monitor nutrient intake. For exercise, I’m using an elliptical system at home and I’m making an effort to use bicycling for transportation.
• Lifeways. My faith and religious practice is currently Adonaikido. Since the teachings, beliefs, and principles of Adonaikido are based upon various world religions, I’m expanding upon some of the Lifeways resource pages. Recently updated is the Christian Life Resource Group.
• Relationships. Makur and I are doing well. We’re now living in a 360 square foot apartment in downtown Iowa City. I continue to be grateful for the relationships I have with family, friends, colleagues, and clients.

Many thanks to all of you who are continuing to keep me in your thoughts, prayers, and meditation time. ~ Gregory

About the Personal Update

For about ten years, the first and most important communication I would send out each month would be a personal update covering seven areas of life described on the Map Page of the ResourcesForLive.com website. I reference this monthly practice in my Schedule for Life. Over the years, my personal updates went out each month to about 10 family members and friends who I consider to be my “advisory board” – a group of people with several hundred years of collective wisdom. As well as looking for feedback and guidance, I also saw these updates as a way of making a regular personal life assessment. As of September 2007, I began publishing these monthly updates here in my online Journal. The seven areas of my personal life have solidified in recent years, so there’s not much “news” to report, but as there is, I’ll report it here in these updates.

Summary. This is the monthly personal update for Gregory Johnson. Life categories listed alphabetically rather than in order of increasing interdependence described on the map page. This month, areas of life remain mostly unchanged except Health.

• Activism. With regard to activism, I believe that the answer is to live the answer. As such, I believe that lifestyle activism and becoming the media are the most powerful methods for impacting the world. For this reason, sharing my photography, producing videos, and writing content for the ResourcesForLife.com website continue to be my primary means of activism and outreach. The site has had over a million visitors in the past few years. There is now a ResourcesForLife.com @ Ning network as well. My book, Put Your Life on a Diet, continues to do well, and I’ve expanded the book’s web page and also added an online community area for discussions about it.
• Career. I’m thankful that my work at the University of Iowa is going well and my consulting business continues to be busy. My current clients continue to be wonderful to work with, and I’m also gaining some new ones. I’m very grateful.
• Effective Living. I’m trying to stick with the Schedule for Life and the Holistic Living System which help provide maximum effectiveness and efficiency. I’ve not updated these systems for over a year, so an update is probably due later this year.
• Finance. I continue to look for ways to decrease my regular expenses and increase my income. I enjoy investing in Kiva, an organization that loans money to the working poor of the world.
• Health. I’ve gained about 30 pounds since moving to downtown Iowa City in August 2009, and I’m now about 60 pounds over my ideal weight. So, I’m now looking for ways to take my weight management system to the next level. I currently track my fitness and meals on my LiveStrong.com holistic wellness tracking page, and I also maintain a nutritional supplements spreadsheet to monitor nutrient intake. For exercise, I’m using an elliptical system at home and I’m making an effort to use bicycling for transportation. New: This past month I learned that my thyroid hormone production was slightly below the normal range, so I’m now supplementing with a synthetic thyroid hormone that seems to have restored my metabolism to normal levels making it easier to return to a healthy weight and BMI.
• Lifeways. My faith and religious practice is currently Adonaikido. Since the teachings, beliefs, and principles of Adonaikido are based upon various world religions, I’m expanding upon some of the Lifeways resource pages. Recently updated is the Christian Life Resource Group.
• Relationships. Makur and I are doing well. We’re now living in a 360 square foot apartment in downtown Iowa City. I continue to be grateful for the relationships I have with family, friends, colleagues, and clients.

Many thanks to all of you who are continuing to keep me in your thoughts, prayers, and meditation time. ~ Gregory

About the Personal Update

For about ten years, the first and most important communication I would send out each month would be a personal update covering seven areas of life described on the Map Page of the ResourcesForLive.com website. I reference this monthly practice in my Schedule for Life. Over the years, my personal updates went out each month to about 10 family members and friends who I consider to be my “advisory board” – a group of people with several hundred years of collective wisdom. As well as looking for feedback and guidance, I also saw these updates as a way of making a regular personal life assessment. As of September 2007, I began publishing these monthly updates here in my online Journal. The seven areas of my personal life have solidified in recent years, so there’s not much “news” to report, but as there is, I’ll report it here in these updates.

Strategic Acts of Kindness -
Teachings On Doing Good From
the Bible, the Tanya, and Hinduism
an article by Gregory Johnson

Summary. This document explores teachings on sin and doing good found in the Bible, the Tanya, and Hinduism.

Simple Sin. The concept of “sin” usually relates to doing something that violates cultural taboos or religious teachings. According to this simple understanding, one who does nothing wrong, has not sinned. So, presumably, a person who can slip through life, not violating any religious laws or cultural taboos, has managed to not sin. However, most religious teachings go beyond this simple definition of sin.

Wages of Sin. A broader and more holistically organic definition of sin is provided by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans (Romans 6:23) where he states, “the wages of sin is death.” This statement can be understood to mean that things which cause death (or diminish life) are sin. That is to say, “sin is that which harm us,” or “things that harm us are sin.” This is why some contemporary Christian groups prohibit or discourage practices such as smoking tobacco. Although the Bible does not expressly forbid smoking tobacco, it is understood to be “sin” because it leads to sickness or accelerated death. So, there may be sins (or acts) that are not expressly identified in a religious text, yet should be avoided.

Paul’s use of the word “wages” is interesting, since wages are earnings from work. Most people think of sin as pleasurable, unlike the labor of working. Also, wages are something we earn for our labor, and deserve. So, Paul’s use of this word conveys or suggests that suffering resulting from “sin” is deserved or at least expected as the consequences of natural law (rather than moral teachings).

Almost 2000 years later, Paul’s words live on in the New Oxford American Dictionary (included on all Apple computers). If you look up the word “wages” you’ll find, among other definitions, “the result or effect of doing something considered wrong or unwise… the wages of sin is death.”

Sin as Restrictive. Paul expands on the understanding of sin in an interesting way. Sin is not only something that might lead to sickness or death, it is also understood to be anything that limits a person’s effectiveness. In Hebrews 12:1 Paul refers to sin as something that hinders and entangles us. In a very unexpected proclamation, Paul declares in his letter to the Corinthians (Corinthians 6:12), “‘Everything is permissible for me’—but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’—but I will not be mastered by anything.” He repeats these words again later in the same letter (Corinthians 10:23) when he says, “‘Everything is permissible’—but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible’—but not everything is constructive.” These are unusual words coming from Paul, who was raised as an observant Jew to be mindful of 613 religious laws. Despite the fact that Paul (writing as a Christian) can now seemingly do whatever he wants, he chooses to avoid things that aren’t “beneficial” or “constructive,” and he avoids things that he might be mastered by. So, “sin” is defined as engaging in activities that are not beneficial or constructive, and it is sin to tangle with anything that might have mastery over you.

Sins of Omission. Having a sin-free life is not obtained by simply going through life and not doing anything bad. Sin isn’t just about what a person does, but also what they don’t do. This is expanded upon in the teachings on Omission in various religions. In chapter 1 of the Tanya (verse 17) it is written that a person who “has the opportunity to forewarn another against sinning and fails to do so is termed wicked.” This principle is also found in Ezekiel 3:18 where it is said if we see a person engaged in sin, and we “do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I [G-d] will hold you accountable for his blood.” So, we are accountable for other’s sins.

Not Doing Good is Sin. In chapter one of the Tanya (verse 18), it is written that one who “neglects any positive law which he/she is able to fulfill” has sinned. James proclaims the same instruction with these words (James 4:17), “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” These teachings are summed up in the common saying, “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”

Defining Good. The letter of James begins as a treatise on religion with the statement (James 1:27), “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress….” The point being made that religion isn’t about good talk, but about good deeds. This teaching is expanded upon in Isaiah with these words (Isaiah 58:6-7,10), “‘Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him…spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed….’”

On Doing Good. When we do good, we feel good. Physiologically, doing good brings life and healing to our bodies. According to the Hindu teachings on Karma, not only do we feel good immediately by doing good, but goodness will continue to flow back to us. Take exercise for an example. You burn calories and feel good in the moment. Later in the day, other benefits of exercise are also enjoyed such as a boost of the immune system, increased metabolism, better digestion, enhanced mood, and improved sleep. So, exercise is a good object lesson in the dynamics and rules of Karma – the immediate and long-term residual results of doing good.

Strategic Acts of Kindness. A popular movement developed around the principle of engaging in random acts of kindness. Usually engaging in random acts of kindness will produce good in the world. However, we all know that despite our best intentions, efforts to do good can sometimes go awry. There’s a curious statement made by the prophet Balaam in the Bible (Numbers 24:13), “I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD.” What’s interesting in this statement is Balaam’s suggestion that he can’t even do anything good without feeling a prompting from G-d. Certainly a person shouldn’t do bad, but why not do good even without feeling a prompting from G-d? Acts of goodness are like an array of powerful homeopathic remedies that are best prescribed and administered once we fully and holistically understand a person’s situation. What we perceive as helping someone could be hindering them, or unwittingly assisting that person in doing wrong to others.

So, to summarize, the greatest acts of good are those that are strategically performed based on a holistic understanding of circumstances.

* * *

Regarding Balaam. Below are some additional thoughts about Balaam, who (as was mentioned in the paragraph above) stated, ”I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD.” (Numbers 24:13) The following is from Rabbis Avremel and Chaya Blesofsky of Chabad Iowa City.

You may have heard the story of Balaam before, particularly the part about Balaam hearing his donkey speak to him. To summarize: Balaam is a well-known sorcerer of his time. King Balak of Moab is afraid of the increasing size and influence of the Jews, and calls on Balaam as a kind of spiritual hit-man to “curse” the Jews “that we may smite them.” Balaam, on his journey, is delayed by a seemingly lazy donkey, and beats the donkey with his staff. The animal speaks to him: “Am I not thine donkey, upon which thou hast ridden all thy life long unto this day? Was I ever wont to do so unto thee?” This is followed by an angelic visitation, in which the angel also berates Balaam for his behavior.

Much has been written and conjectured about the miraculous nature of this event, and what it says about the sorcerer. Many have seen Balaam as an icon of evil, a heathen-for-hire who is so beyond redemption that even a dumb animal can perceive the worthlessness of his nature. Yet others recognize another side of Balaam, one which is worth examining. Consider some other quotes from this portion (named for Balak, by the way):
Numbers XXII, 12: “And G-d said unto Balaam ‘…Thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed.’”

XXII, 18: “And Balaam said…’If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the L-rd.’”

XXII, 38: “And Balaam said unto Balak, ‘…the word that G-d putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.’”

And so on. Throughout the portion, Balaam seems to shuttle between his assignment from Balak and his recognition of G-d. He instinctively recognizes the supremacy of the L-rd. He even recites what Torah refers to as parables, the most famous line from which is the Ma Tovu, which we recite at every service: “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel.”

You’ll notice throughout Torah that G-d does not spend His time communicating with just anyone. Or perhaps we should say that not everyone is open to hearing His voice. Yet Balaam is, and frequently. So is this man the embodiment of evil? Or is this a complicated person, someone who is caught between knowing what is right, yet following a strong temptation? Someone who is trying to live both earthly desires and holy missions?

Summary. This is the monthly personal update for Gregory Johnson. Life categories listed alphabetically rather than in order of increasing interdependence described on the map page. The primary area of significant news this month is under Effective Living, Health, and Lifeways. New text is added at the end of these three categories to save on reading time. Other areas remain unchanged.

• Activism. With regard to activism, I believe that the answer is to live the answer. As such, I believe that lifestyle activism and becoming the media are the most powerful methods for impacting the world. For this reason, sharing my photography, producing videos, and writing content for the ResourcesForLife.com website continue to be my primary means of activism. The site has had over a million visitors in the past few years. There is now a ResourcesForLife.com @ Ning network as well. My book, Put Your Life on a Diet, continues to do well, and I’ve expanded the book’s web page and also added an online community area for discussions about it.
• Career. I’m thankful that my work at the University of Iowa is going well and my consulting business continues to be busy. My current clients continue to be wonderful to work with, and I’m also gaining some new ones. I’m very grateful.
• Effective Living. I’m trying to stick with the Schedule for Life and the Holistic Living System which help provide maximum effectiveness and efficiency. I’ve not updated these systems for over a year, so an update is probably due later this year. New: On Thursday, 27 May 2010, my new iPad arrived. Today I wrote an article about how the iPad marks a significant shift in computing.
• Finance. I continue to look for ways to decrease my regular expenses and increase my income. I enjoy investing in Kiva, an organization that loans money to the working poor of the world.
• Health. I’ve gained about 20 pounds since moving to downtown Iowa City in August 2009, and I’m now about 60 pounds over my ideal weight. So, I’m now looking for ways to take my weight management system to the next level. Living downtown has been very convenient. Maybe too convenient. Having everything so close requires a greater commitment to exercise. I’m now using an elliptical system at home for exercise. I’m also making an increased effort to use bicycling for transportation whenever possible. New: Over the past few days, I’ve created a nutritional supplement portfolio and spreadsheet that provides me with a baseline for my daily nutritional needs. As of today, I began tracking my fitness and meals on my LiveStrong.com holistic wellness tracking page.
• Lifeways. Over the past year, I’d developed a humanist-based ethics system called the Holistic Unification Lifeway Practice. The goal of having such a system was to make it universally accessible and relevant to all people, even those who aren’t religious. New: In March 2010, I cracked the G-d code and wrote about it on the Adonaikido web page (see entries about G-d, prayer, and Messiah). Based on this discovery, I have returned to focusing on Adonaikido as the expression of my faith. The significance of cracking the G-d code is about as monumental as my discovering that Jesus is Jewish. Essentially, the G-d code is the formula (a theory actually) that explains how G-d is simultaneously all-powerful yet limited. On May 28, I received a fascinating article via email (from Frangipane.org) that described this phenomenon in Christian terminology.
• Relationships. Makur and I got married on the 14th of November 2009. Our wedding video is now online. I continue to be grateful for the relationships I have with family, friends, colleagues, and clients. We’re now living in a 360 square foot apartment in downtown Iowa City.

Many thanks to all of you who are continuing to keep me in your thoughts, prayers, and meditation time. ~ Gregory

About the Personal Update

For about ten years, the first and most important communication I would send out each month would be a personal update covering seven areas of life described on the Map Page of the ResourcesForLive.com website. I reference this monthly practice in my Schedule for Life. Over the years, my personal updates went out each month to about 10 family members and friends who I consider to be my “advisory board” – a group of people with several hundred years of collective wisdom. As well as looking for feedback and guidance, I also saw these updates as a way of making a regular personal life assessment. As of September 2007, I began publishing these monthly updates here in my online Journal. The seven areas of my personal life have solidified in recent years, so there’s not much “news” to report, but as there is, I’ll report it here in these updates.

Tzedakah and Charity as a Mitzvah
and Symbolic Allegory
by Gregory Johnson

As a practitioner of Adonaikido, and as someone with Unitarian Universalist upbringing, I like to learn from and apply the teachings and practices of various religions. Judaism offers us some extensive teachings on the principle of Charity (referred to as Tzedakah in Hebrew).

Just about every day, I find money on the street or sidewalk. Usually I find coins, but occasionally I find bills. I collect them as a form of Charity or Tzedakah.

The pennies are special to me for symbolic reasons because as I pick them up, I’m reminded of how God can restore a person who has seemingly been discarded, dirty, and viewed to be of little value.

Sometimes I find an old, dirty, scratched penny. Perhaps it takes some labor to free the penny that is stuck to the tar in the street. Sometimes I find a penny hidden in filth and dirt that most people wouldn’t want to touch. Despite what condition they are in, old, new, shiny, dull, clean, filthy, they all have the same value. People are much the same when God finds them. They might be dirty and stuck in a tar pit, but God can get them out of that pit and restore them to usefulness.

On one occasion, I wrote a financial appeal letter for someone. Although the letter cost only a few pennies, it was able to help someone receive over $100,000 needed for a community outreach center. It was then I realized the power of a few pennies when combining their efforts. It reminded me of the person who traded a red paperclip for a house. I became more diligent and determined to find and save more pennies.

I sometimes contribute my own money to the collection as an expression of thanks, concern, or as part of prayer — not to pay for the prayer to be answered, but as a good deed (Mitzvah) that can help release the power (or Karma) necessary to make good things happen. I’ve been quite surprised by the combination of Tzedakah and prayer, or Tzedakah alone. Miraculous events (or at least amazing coincidences) seem to coincide with acts of kindness, charity, and good deeds (Mitzvot).

For several years now I’ve been collecting discarded money and waiting for the right time to donate what I’ve collected. Last evening was Pesach Sheni (the second Passover). It’s a day in the Jewish Calendar considered to be symbolic of second chances, restoration, and returning to the right path. So, I decided that Pesach Sheni would be the perfect annual occasion to gather my collected coins and money for donating to charity.

According to Chasidic teachings:

“Each and every person is to see himself… as half righteous…. By performing one mitzvah, he tips the scales for himself and for the entire world on the side of merit, bringing deliverance and salvation for himself and for all others.” [source]

Learn More. Below are additional sources for learning more about Charity or Tzedakah.

• About.com
• ChabadIowaCity.com
• JewFAQ.org
• Wikipedia

Summary. This is the monthly personal update for Gregory Johnson. Life categories listed alphabetically rather than in order of increasing interdependence described on the map page. The primary area of significant news this month is under Health and Lifeways.

• Activism. With regard to activism, I believe that the answer is to live the answer. As such, I believe that lifestyle activism and becoming the media are the most powerful methods for impacting the world. For this reason, sharing my photography, producing videos, and writing content for the ResourcesForLife.com website continue to be my primary means of activism. The site has had over a million visitors in the past few years. There is now a ResourcesForLife.com @ Ning network as well. My book, Put Your Life on a Diet, continues to do well, and I’ve expanded the book’s web page and also added an online community area for discussions about it.
• Career. I’m thankful that my work at the University of Iowa is going well and my consulting business continues to be busy. My current clients continue to be wonderful to work with, and I’m also gaining some new ones. I’m very grateful.
• Effective Living. I’m trying to stick with the Schedule for Life and the Holistic Living System which help provide maximum effectiveness and efficiency. I’ve not updated these systems for over a year, so an update is probably due later this year.
• Finance. I continue to look for ways to decrease my regular expenses and increase my income. I enjoy investing in Kiva, an organization that loans money to the working poor of the world.
• Health. I’ve gained about 20 pounds since moving to downtown Iowa City in August 2009, and I’m now about 60 pounds over my ideal weight. So, I’m now looking for ways to take my weight management system to the next level. Living downtown has been very convenient. Maybe too convenient. Having everything so close requires a greater commitment to exercise. I’m now using an elliptical system at home for exercise. I’m also making an increased effort to use bicycling for transportation whenever possible.
• Lifeways. In recent month’s I developed a humanist-based ethics system called the Holistic Unification Lifeway Practice. The goal of having such a system was to make it universally accessible and relevant to all people, even those who aren’t religious. I recently cracked the God code and plan to write an article about the discovery. Based on this discovery, I have returned to focusing on Adonaikido as the expression of my faith. The significance of cracking the God code is about as monumental as my discovering that Jesus is Jewish.
• Relationships. Makur and I got married on the 14th of November 2009. Our wedding video is now online. I continue to be grateful for the relationships I have with family, friends, colleagues, and clients. We’re now living in a 360 square foot apartment in downtown Iowa City.

Many thanks to all of you who are continuing to keep me in your thoughts, prayers, and meditation time. ~ Gregory

About the Personal Update

For about ten years, the first and most important communication I would send out each month would be a personal update covering seven areas of life described on the Map Page of the ResourcesForLive.com website. I reference this monthly practice in my Schedule for Life. Over the years, my personal updates went out each month to about 10 family members and friends who I consider to be my “advisory board” – a group of people with several hundred years of collective wisdom. As well as looking for feedback and guidance, I also saw these updates as a way of making a regular personal life assessment. As of September 2007, I began publishing these monthly updates here in my online Journal. The seven areas of my personal life have solidified in recent years, so there’s not much “news” to report, but as there is, I’ll report it here in these updates.

Summary. I want to thank everyone who has read and responded to my article in defense of Sholom Rubashkin; even those with negative comments.

I value constructive feedback, as it helps challenge and shape my own views as well as offers insights into how I can clarify what I’ve written.

Below is a response to the publishers and readers of the Failed Messiah website where an early draft of my article was posted.

I’ll continue to update this page in response to reader comments on that page.

* * *

11 April 2010 | Sunday

Hello Friends,

I discovered that my article has been picked up and posted to a variety of websites, including Failed Messiah, Matzav.com, and Shturem.org. This page offers responses to comments posted on the Failed Messiah website.

For those interested, my original article is here:
http://www.resourcesforlife.com/docs/item2734

Based on all the feedback I’ve received from many people about the article, I’ve tried to make clarifications as needed, so the current article includes some minor corrections, but mostly remains the same as the original.

Some good points are raised in the comments at Failed Messiah, and I’m interested to read more thoughts on this topic. To help the discussion stay grounded in the facts and not get off track with speculation or conspiracy theories, let me just correct and clarify a few things. Please don’t read these as defensive responses, they are just meant to be clarifications.

First, I should clarify for everyone, that I don’t work at Shturem.net (Shturem.org), and my sister isn’t Gloria Johnson-Smith, nor does she work at B&H Photo. I’m not a paid plant/fake/shill for the OU/Heshy/Hershy or anyone else. I appreciate the positive comments from those who accepted what I shared as genuine. I’ve not been paid off by anyone to write the article. Were I paid or compensated in any way, I would have disclosed that. You can read my disclosure statement here:
http://www.resourcesforlife.com/docs/item2581

Now, some responses to the comments so far, in order of appearance above.

1. Shmarya Rosenberg commented, “Even a cursory reading of the vast amount of evidence against Rubashkin refutes much of what Johnson claims.”

• Clarification. I’m not attempting to whitewash the Rubashkin plant or any other. I’m simply sharing my own personal eye witness account. My experiences and observations only when combined with others can convey a broader picture. I’m just adding my observations to the mix. If you read my full article on the plant visit, you’ll know that I don’t believe there’s any entirely “kind” way to kill an animal: http://www.resourcesforlife.com/docs/item46

2. Shmarya Rosenberg commented, ”Johnson’s evaluation is based on a controlled tour given long after public and governmental pressure forced Agriprocessors to improve.”

• Clarification. I agree with you here. Planned tours or inspections are undoubtedly a bit more tame than business as usual. However, I was not with a group of inspectors who might be considered a potential threat, and what I was primarily observing were machines, procedure, and aspects of the plant that can’t be easily changed in a day for a small tour group.

3. Shmarya Rosenberg commented, ”…he projects backward, alleging that PETA lied about Agriprocessors.”

• Clarification. Not to get into a debate about PETA, but I was simply surprised that nothing really seemed to have changed two years later, and that what seemed to be the same procedure, produced different results in reality than what the video depicted. Also, the group I was with were not seen as ‘outsiders’ so, it seemed to me, that less was done to impress us. We weren’t inspectors nor were we considered a threat in any way. So, I would think they would be less likely to be on their guard. My observations and comments about the plant were primarily about the machines, mechanisms, and procedures being used. These are things that can’t easily be changed for a tour group. I was looking at the entire process and sort of ignoring things that a person can clean-up in a day prior to an inspection.

4. Shmarya Rosenberg commented, ”Johnson even claims the ‘procedure’ he saw in 2006 was exactly the same throat-ripping shown on PETA’s 2004 videos.”

• Clarification. What I saw was the same room, the same equipment, and a quick cut to the throat that seemed to produce instantaneous death. There were no cattle hobbling around while bleeding to death, nor were throats being ripped out. Maybe I need to revise the article to make this clearer.

5. Shmarya Rosenberg commented, ”Rubashkin supporters do not have the facts or the truth on their side, so they often resort to lies. Those lies may help energize their base and help raise money, but they will not impress a sitting federal judge or law enforcement.”

• Clarification. I’m not in touch with any Rubashkin supporters, so I can’t speak to this, you may be right there. I can only say that my story is genuine and truthful.

6. Harold and Dave comment about my article being posted on Failed Messiah.

• Clarification/Comment. From their comments, I’m guessing my article presents a position contrary to what is normally found on the site. I applaud that. I try to do the same on my own website, and value that elsewhere on the Internet.

7. State of Disgust commented, “…just how many slaughterhouses has Mr. Johnson been in? How would he know what he is looking at, or what to look for? IS he a trained expert in slaughterhouse cleanliness? Is he familiar with the chemicals used in a meat packing plant?”

• Clarification. In case it wasn’t clear from my article (although I think it would be), I’m not a slaughterhouse inspector. As a vegetarian and animal welfare advocate, most of my exposure to various kinds of factory farming and animal cruelty over the past 30 years has been from animal welfare groups. Perhaps that’s why the Rubashkin plant didn’t seem so bad in reflecting on what I’ve seen. I’ve also developed an opinion about factory farms and meat packing plants from watching videos like John Robbins Diet for a New America:
  http://www.amazon.com/Diet-New-America-John-Robbins/dp/0915811812

8. Justice Seeker states, “I can smell a plant….it might as well be by ‘John Smith.’ Its just more propaganda, and mis-information. Everyone knows there are no vegans in Iowa! Iowa is a state where PETA stands for ‘People Eating Tasty Animals.’”

• Clarification. As I mentioned above, I’m not a plant. Please refer to my statement on disclosure link provided above. There are actually quite a few vegetarians, vegans, and people involved in animal welfare here in Iowa. We have many vegetarian restaurants in our town as well as a very popular restaurant that serves only vegan organic locally-grown foods; see TheRedAvocado.com

9. Yidandahalf commented, “This guy Johnson is a plant, a fake, a shill for the OU/Heshy/Hershey and the lot of them. How much did he get paid? By the writing style of just the first few paragraphs, he gives himself away. Also dude, you’re like four years too late. As the old saying goes, ‘Don’t quit your day job.’”

• Clarification. As I mentioned above, I’m not a paid shill of the Orthodox Union and Hershey. What’s amazing to me, is that now it’s been four years, yet so many people just won’t stop persecuting this Sholom Rubashkin. For me, the story isn’t about what’s current news, but simply a matter of principle and justice.

10. AGRI-vated Angel responds to my claim that ‘the PETA video was gathered covertly over many weeks and meticulously spliced together.’

• Clarification. This information was actually from PETA, not from me. They described that they had infiltrated the plant and captured a lot of video footage over a period of many weeks. So, it’s factual information provided from PETA, not me. I’ve already responded to the point about the tour being scheduled.

11. Concerned for the Postville Area asked also about my claims that the video was collected over many weeks.

• Clarification. I’ve answered this above in #9.

12. AGRI-vated Angel commented, “I find it rather strange that Mr. Johnson was given a tour of the facility . . . However, while a group of nuns (during a visit to Postville) requested a tour of the plant, they were turned away. I wonder what ‘they’ didn’t want the nuns to see?”

• Clarification. I went on the tour with some people who were essentially seen as ‘friends’ of the plant rather than inspectors. So, perhaps that’s why our group was allowed in. I’m not surprised that there might have been some resistance to various outsiders coming in, possibly for the sole purpose of finding something negative to write about.

13. State of Disgust comments, “The real question is why do the Rubashkins and/or Hershey feel it necessary to salvage the reputation of a failed firm at this time? Why try to lay a false trail now? Just speculation but perhaps because they plan to reintroduce the brand again.”

• Clarification. Please don’t read into my article and conclude they are going to reintroduce the brand again. It’s just an article about my experience visiting the place. There’s no grand conspiracy here, at least not one that I’m aware of.

14. Neo-Conservaguy comments, “The writer is clearly ignorant about different approaches to kosher slaughter. The upside down contraption used in Postville is a disaster not only because it’s a terror for the animals, but even more so because it sets up bad slaughter. Concern about damaging the knife on the sides of the pen may explain much of what was seen in the PETA videos – ineffective cuts that clearly didn’t sever all of the veins, perhaps because they were not deep enough. Standing pens are the only reasonable approach for mature animals as large as the cattle involved.”

• Clarification. As I stated above, I can’t imagine any entirely “kind” way to kill an animal. From the research I did, those who justify the hanging the animals upside down method say that the blood rushing to the brain causes the animal to be in a state where the pain of death and length of suffering is decreased. Maybe those sources are wrong. Not having spent my life studying how to kill animals, I can’t really speak too much on the issue.

As needed, I’ll follow-up with another posting below in response to additional comments on the Failed Messiah website.

* * *

12 April 2010

Friends,

There is now a response to my above clarifications posted on the Failed Messiah website that seems to conclude the discussion for now. Thanks to everyone who has participated.

~ Greg

Reflections on the Prosecution of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin and the Government Raid of the Agriprocessors Kosher Meat Packing Plant in Postville, Iowa
by Gregory Johnson

Through an odd series of coincidences, I became familiar with the town of Postville in 2001, and later in 2006 the Rubashkin meat packing plant located there.

One might ask why and how a vegetarian would end up visiting a meat packing plant. This article is the story of how these events came to pass.

As you may know, Sholom Rubashkin, the former plant manager who was convicted of fraud is now having his case reviewed by a U.S. Federal Attorney to determine his fate. There is a support website setup in his defense.

As a non-Jewish, vegetarian, animal welfare advocate, and 30-year resident of Iowa, what I’m about to share about Sholom Rubashkin and the Agriprocessors packing plant is probably unusual.

I first visited Postville, Iowa in March of 2001 with my sister. As a small, quaint, Iowa town with antique shops and cultural diversity, it was a local tourist attraction at the time and a delightful place for my sister and I to visit. I didn’t realize then that Postville would take on a greater personal meaning for me years later.

As a long-time vegetarian and animal welfare advocate, in 2006 I learned of the Postville Agriprocessors/Rubashkin meat packing plant when a friend sent me links to the videos widely-publicized by PETA that depicted animal abuse there. News and repercussions of the incident reached Jerusalem and people around the world. I was very troubled by the videos and written reports I’d received, and wanted to confirm the allegations personally.

For decades I’ve served to defend animal welfare and consumer justice. In light of the accusations of animal abuse, the Postville Rubashkin packing plant touched on both of these passions of mine. I felt that consumers needed to know the truth about the situation at the Postville plant. However, I’m not a copy and paste journalist who reports second-hand news. Nor am I someone who can be swayed by special interest groups or paid-off by corporations. So, as difficult as it would be for me, I realized it would be necessary for me to personally visit the Postville Rubashkin packing plant to see the facilities firsthand. People trust, value, and depend on my research and reporting to be authentic, honest, and fair.

By an amazing coincidence, in March of 2006, I was able to join with a scheduled group tour of the plant. What I discovered at the Rubashkin plant was deeply upsetting to me, but not for the reasons I thought it would be. The plant itself was one of the cleanest, most efficient, and most effectively run operations I’d ever seen. The Rabbinical oversight of the meat packing process was an additional check on quality and safety that most packing plants wouldn’t have. Even as a visitor, I felt safe walking through the plant at the peak of production. I hadn’t expected this to be the case.

Observing the killing floor of the plant during full-production was certainly one of the most disturbing experiences I’ve had to witness in my life. In a moment, I realized that the room I was standing in was the same room shown in the PETA videos, with the same procedure in use. I soon had goosebumps from head to toe, when I realized that something was very, very, different than what I’d seen depicted in the videos. After painfully watching numerous cattle killed, I was shocked by the “unedited” reality of this procedure. The cattle were being killed using a method that, to me, appeared to result in instantaneous death. Over an extended period of time, not once did anything occur that had been depicted in the video.

It was immediately clear to me that the several minutes of video footage I’d seen, gathered covertly over many weeks (according to PETA), had been meticulously spliced together for a very manipulative and emotionally dramatic effect. What I’d seen in the video, represented perhaps 0.1% of the truth. There on the killing floor, despite what I was seeing before me, I was even more upset with the knowledge that I’d been deceived by the video, as were many other people who believe that those few minutes of video represented a regular occurrence at the plant.

It’s not that the procedure had changed. They were using the same machinery, the same equipment, and what appeared to be the same knife, perhaps even the same person conducting the procedure. The only difference was that the unedited results of that procedure looked very different than the edited video.

Imagine being secretly followed your entire life by someone with a hidden camera, and having your actions and character reduced to a few minutes of video, the worst few minutes of your life, and then having the public told that the video represents the entirety of who you really are.

Even now, at the time of writing this, Google search results for Sholom Rubashkin include a paid advertisement by Peta with a link to the outdated video claiming that the video shows how the plant is being operated today. It is clearly false advertising and slanderous. How can someone like Sholom Rubashkin have a fair trial with such ongoing public paid slander campaigns? [Note: Some searches may not produce the ad if the daily AdWords quota has been exceeded. I have a PDF archive of the search results page. More recently it seems that PETA has increased their investment in the ad, as it is now showing up with almost every search for Shalom Rubashkin.]

I hate the idea of animals being raised and killed for food. I hope I can live an example of compassion, kindness, and wellness that will inspire others to consider vegetarianism. I believe such an approach is much more effective than being a radical, law-breaking, privacy invading, and confrontational animal rights activist.

I realize that, as long as there is a demand for meat, animals will be killed, and we should do all we can to ensure it is done in the least painful way possible. After further research, I learned that the methods used for animal slaughter by Kosher/Jewish guidelines were much less cruel than traditional methods used by the majority of meat packing plants.[1, 2, 3] This knowledge made me even more upset. Not only had the animal activists distorted the facts, they may have actually slandered and harmed one of the few meat packing plants where animals suffer the least.

I was really left wondering why the Postville plant would have been singled out by animal activists, among all of the meat packing plants in America. There are so many other plants — that are dirty and poorly run — where animal suffering is greater. Why would an animal rights group based in Virginia seek out a family-run locally owned packing plant in a small Iowa town? Why not go after the many larger corporate-run packing plants? I was very upset to think that the fraudulent and groundless defamation of the plant workers and owners would not be challenged, so I wrote an article about my experience:
http://www.resourcesforlife.com/docs/item46

In May 2008, two years after my visit to the plant, the Rubashkin plant was once again targeted and made an example of through a federal raid that many feel was an excessive misuse of force, and abuse of the justice system.

Once again, I was asking the same question that I’d asked two years prior. Why would the Rubashkin plant, the employees, and plant owners, have been singled out and dealt with so harshly? Why would federal agents aggressively descend on a relatively small family-owned locally-operated packing plant in Iowa? The scope of the raid, the intensity of the raid, and the wide-spread negative impact of the raid, were excessive and harmed many people. The raid was conducted like a military campaign that justifies “acceptable losses” of innocent lives during an attack. The Guantanamo-style of detainment seemed unnecessarily sensational and harmful. It’s clear that a more diplomatic, humane, compassionate, effective, and gradual approach could have been used to reduce and ultimately eliminate the problem of illegal workers at the plant.

It’s not often that a vegetarian would speak out for the rights of those involved in meat packing, but I had to speak out again because this was such a grave injustice. So, I wrote an article about the Rubashkin plant raid:
http://www.resourcesforlife.com/docs/item1839

In summary, I believe the plant employees and operators have been the focus of ongoing injustices and unwarranted harsh treatment for more than four years; first by animal rights activists who where never prosecuted for the laws they broke, and then by officials who were overzealous and unrestrained in their raid on the plant.

As I see it, our justice system serves our society in at least two important ways:

(1) to protect society from dangerous criminals,

(2) to ensure that those who have broken the law are prosecuted, but not persecuted. As a society, we’ve fortunately come a long way from village mobs carrying pitch forks, or people receiving excessively harsh treatment because of their race or religion.

Sholom Rubashkin is not a dangerous criminal. He does not present an imminent threat to our society. Any concerns about his future business dealings can be easily monitored. It would seem that some kind of public service and probation would be a much more effective and less costly sentence than incarceration.

The success of justice, and stability of our society, depend on a strong public trust in the judicial system. Imagine if three people are caught speeding, going 70 MPH in a 65 MPH zone, and one gets a ticket for $500, the other gets a ticket for $50, and the third gets a warning. If there were too many inconsistencies like this, public respect for the legal system would disintegrate and we would have social unrest. The scales of justice must measure out justice equally to all, to be respected by all.

My hope in this case is that justice and equality will prevail and that the decision in this case will help strengthen our society’s respect for the justice system. My hope would be to see a sentence that will be fair, and not place an unwarranted burden on Sholom Rubashkin, his family, or society.

~ Gregory Johnson

“I do not want to be the one in the future to recite, ‘First they came for the Jewish slaughterhouse workers and illegal immigrants, but I did not speak out because I was a non-Jewish vegetarian U.S. Citizen. You know the rest of the story.” ~ Gregory Johnson in a reference to the famous saying attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller [source]

Photo Credit. During a visit to India in 2008, Gregory Johnson shown in the photo at the top of this page giving prasad (blessed food) to one of the local cows that roam freely in neighborhood streets.

Clarifications. Based on some reader feedback and comments, the following clarifications are offered.

• Operations Commentary. My primary area of expertise is in the area of computer support. I’m not an official meat packing plant inspector. I’d not previously been to a meat packing plant, so I wasn’t able to make a specific comparison to something I’d seen before at a slaughterhouse. My observations and comments about the packing plant being one of the “one of the cleanest, most efficient, and most effectively run operations I’d ever seen” was in comparison to other businesses and factories I’ve seen in person either as a visitor, or as a computer consultant, or from watching videos about factory and farming operations. I believe these points come through in my longer writing about the plant visit. I did not conduct any formal interviews with employees while at the plant. I only asked a few questions about the function of some of the machinery I saw.
• Paid Covert Operatives. It’s been asserted by several people that I’m a paid operative of the Orthodox Union, and that I’m working directly with the Rubashkins in an effort to help re-launch their brand. There have also been claims that my sister works with B&H photo in New York, as well as many other odd assertions. I’ve responded to most of these in a lengthy reply. For anyone interested to learn more about the facts of my life, you can find them on my personal web page at http://www.resourcesforlife.com/g
• PETA Video. I’d seen both the short and long PETA videos. My assertion that PETA obtained them secretively over a long period of time was based on PETA literature that claimed they obtained them secretively over a long period of time.
• Scheduled Tours. Some readers of this article have commented that scheduled tour groups, like scheduled inspections of a facility, are often shown the best possible presentation of a facility. While this is generally true, I was not with a group of inspectors, journalists, or outraged citizens. It was a group that would be considered friendly to the plant, so it’s likely they would have been less on their guard with us. The automated assembly-line processes used in many factories today don’t allow much creativity on the part of employees working the line. While floors can be cleaned in a day prior to a visit, infrastructure, machinery, and procedural aspects of the facility are not easily changed. From the informal and candid nature of the tour, I didn’t get the sense that we were being shown a glamorized presentation.

The 2008 Postville Raid:
Looking Back, What Have We Learned?
by Gregory Johnson

As part of America’s diversity, we have an opportunity to celebrate the cultures of the world. Each year, on May 5, millions of people in the United States, Mexico, and around the world observe Cinco de Mayo as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.

In 2008, in the small rural community of Postville, Iowa, the Cinco de Mayo Festivities almost coincided with the Jewish observance of Passover. This is significant in Postville because the town has a large population of Jewish and Latino members in the community in addition to the traditional Iowans found there. So, in 2008, the Jewish and Latino citizens in the city of Postville would have two reasons to reflect on and appreciate their respective heritage and cultures.

Although I am not of Jewish or Latino upbringing, as an American and world citizen I have enough cultural awareness and sensitivity to be familiar with these festivals. So, on 12 May 2008, while the dust of celebrations was settling, I was shocked and embarrassed to learn that our federal government conducted a surprise raid on the people and community of Postville, specifically targeting the primary employment and economic source of the community – a Kosher meat packing plant.

The awkwardness of descending upon a community of Jews and Latinos during a time of celebration is unfortunately reminiscent of world-wide anti-Semetic attacks on Jews during holidays. According to a report by The Israel Project, “Security in Israel will be stepped up over Passover, as is common during Jewish festivals when terrorist organizations often increase their efforts to perpetrate attacks on Israelis.” [source]

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE – a division of the Department of Homeland Security), the Justice Department, along with other agencies, without warning, descended upon Rubashkin Agriprocessors Inc., a Kosher slaughterhouse and meat packing plant. Given the scope of the raid, the number of agencies involved, and the severity of the action taken, one might have assumed the plant was engaged in illegal drug production, arms trade, selling of contaminated food, or some other act that threatened the lives of local citizens. However, none of this was true. The raid was a response to a reported immigration violation. It would ultimately be the raid itself that threatened the lives (or at least livelihood) of those in the local community.

The Postville situation very likely might have been calmly and effectively handled by means of a respectful investigation and routine enforcement operation through cooperatively working with business owners over a period of several months. Certainly this kind of approach could have achieved a more focused and desirable outcome. Such an approach could be compared to when a doctor uses surgery to remove just the cancerous tissue rather than amputate an entire limb; or tries to help heal an infected or injured area rather than cut it out.

However, instead of taking a surgical and gradual approach to correcting the immigration problem in Postville, the tactical strike against the community was so broad and devastating that it had the same outcome economically as if bombs had been randomly and carelessly dropped on the city. Almost 400 people were arrested and then held captive in a nearby fairground where normally cattle would be detained. The attack on the community was so severe that it impacted everyone, including the elderly, children, and other innocent bystanders. Some have suggested that the raid poorly addressed the needs of the families and children involved.

The situation was so disturbing that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) got involved to ensure that the detainees did not have their rights abused. At one point, there were more people detained in Postville, Iowa by our government than those detained in Guantanamo. Yet these people were not terrorists, they were simply employees who were not authorized to work in the U.S.

Even a year later, Postville hadn’t recovered from the raid. Rental properties that were at 100% capacity before the raid are now at 20% occupancy (an 80% decline). Prior to the raid, it was hard to find a home for sale in Postville. Today, 248 homes are for sale at 20% below their assessed value. There are only 750 homes in the entire city of Postville – that means that about 1/3 of the city’s homes are up for sale. More than 9 businesses in the community have shut down, and the local bakery, worth $350,000, is now being advertised to sell at $150,000. Agriprocessors previously employed 950 people. A year after the raid, only 300 work there.

Unfortunately, the raid on Postville has punished and harmed many more people than just a few hundred unauthorized workers. The raid harmed an entire community and an entire region – an area that reflects true American cultural diversity. According to some statistics, the regional pricing of agriculture (for Iowa) was negatively impacted when compared to surrounding states for current and prior year’s data.

It’s clear that communities shouldn’t be attacked by their own government in a way that harms everyone in the community. While we can’t change the past, we can look forward and insist that this kind of tragedy not be permitted to happen again.

We can also do our best to help build up and restore Postville in the same way we would assist a town devastated by a natural disaster.

* * *

About the Author. Gregory Johnson is the Director of the ResourcesForLife.com website. He is a technology support specialist and also works as a consumer advocacy consultant. In March of 2006, as a long-time vegetarian, Gregory visited the meat packing plant in Postville to observe their practices and became one of the few vegetarians to speak out in defense of the meat packing plant. He wrote an article about his experience that became the topic of an interview on National Public Radio. The article is available here: http://www.resourcesforlife.com/docs/item46

Additional Resources. Below are some additional resources about this issue.

• abUSedThePostvilleRaid.com – A website featuring video footage and interviews from the raid.
• Des Moines Register, “Critics recall last year’s raid at Agriprocessors, plan protest,” 11 May 2009
• Forbes Magazine, “Amid vigils, Iowa town pins hopes on sale of plant,” 11 May 2009
• Gazette Online, “Postville decimated by immigration raid one year ago,” 10 May 2009
• Iowa City Press Citizen, “Raid attacked whole community,” 15 May 2009, Page 7A

Comments and Negative Feedback. Below are selected comments that reflect the feedback generated from this story. Gregory Johnson provides a response.

• Bleeding Heart Liberals. “Bleeding heart liberals like Gregory Johnson support slave labor, which is essentially what Agriprocessors was, and human trafficking, which is how the people got their. Bleeding heart liberals like Gregory Johnson support Company Towns, crooked local politicians, and a morally offensive Catholic Church that should be stripped of tax exempt status while the priests and nuns involved should be thrown in the slammer. Bleeding heart liberals like Gregory Johnson want open borders. They don’t mind if companies pay “under the table” or even employ children. Who cares if some honest person has their identity stolen so that some disease ridden foreigner can work and get welfare?” SurrenderDorothy, 15 May 2009, via press-citizen.com
  • Response: As you might imagine, it’s hard to present all my views and positions in about 500 words or less. In case it wasn’t clear from my article, I’m not in favor of slave labor, child labor, human trafficking, company towns, crooked politicians, morally offensive religious institutions, open borders, identity theft, or spreading diseases (as your post suggests). I think we need to have laws to prevent such things — and enforce the law. However, I’m simply suggesting that we look for more effective ways to equitably, equally, and humanely enforce the law. Does that seem reasonable? By the way, I don’t consider myself a “bleeding heart liberal.” I’m an independent who has supported a wide range of political and social leaders including conservatives such as Mike Huckabee.

Got What They Deserved. “The 400 workers were breaking the law and knew it. The management was breaking the law and knew it. The citizens knew they all were probably doing so. (Or are you suggesting otherwise?) If you don’t want to pay the time or the fine, don’t do the crime. True, it seems all meat-packing plants hire illegal workers, and we can’t be fair & bust all of them, but we can keep them all on their toes if we focus on the worst offenders, of which Agriprocessors was one. I have a little more pity for the town in general, but if you base your economy upon illegal activity, don’t be surprised if the rug is pulled out from under you, just be grateful you benefitted for as long as you did. The editorial might be more convincing if it focused upon a poorly-planned INS procedure (e.g. who takes care of the captives’ kids?) or argued that no natives want to do this grisly work at these wages…. If you support yourselves through criminal behavior – whether you are the illegal worker, business owner setting up and catering to law breakers, or the landlords renting to law breakers – be prepared for the fall when it happens. No sympathy here. Everyone of these people knew what was going on. The plant managers, the workers, the townspeople, landlords, shopowners, etc….. My tax dollars have paid enough for having to arrest and deport these people as well as paying for ther anchor babies and for their illegal alien children to go to school. No more of my tax dollars to dig ths town out of the mess it got itself into. They walked a fine line – reaping the benefits of something that was legally, morally and ethically wrong – now let them pay the piper on their own. The immigrationlaws are not immoral. The people who break them are.” – MatthewA, 15 May 2009, via press-citizen.com

• Response: This is definitely a difficult and complex issue. We do need to have laws and enforce them, yet we need to look for more effective ways to equitably, equally, and humanely enforce the law. ~ Gregory

* * *

Document History. This article was originally written by Gregory Johnson and published on 11 May 2009. A shorter version appeared in the Iowa City Press Citizen on 15 May 2009 (page 7A). It is being re-posted and slightly updated for the 2-year anniversary of the federal raid on the Postville, Iowa Agriprocessors Rubashkin meat packing plant.

Photo Credit. During a visit to India in 2008, Gregory Johnson shown in the photo at the top of this page giving prasad (blessed food) to one of the local cows that roam freely in neighborhood streets.