Candlelight Vigil No. 198, 12/9/09

"I am really supportive of what you are doing," said a 35 ish man as he drove up and blocked the right turn lane to speak. "I see you out here every Wednesday and what you are doing is very important."

He was on Pacific Coast Highway at rush hour and although he stopped traffic in that lane, no horns were blasted in protest.

But throughout the vigil, horns of support were blasted, while other drivers waved or flashed their headlights or called out.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad, all Hell broke loose on Tuesday, as a series of car bombs blew up government offices and buildings and homes, leaving 127 people dead and over 500 injured. Others were left homeless.

One of those explosions was next to the heavily guarded U.S. Green Zone, showing the world that no area of Baghdad is safe, something the Iraqis already know. As black smoke rose over Baghdad, U.S. Apache helicopter gun ships flew fruitlessly over the area.

This is the 3rd recent major attack in Baghdad. In August, over 100 people were killed as the buildings of the ministries of finance and foreign affairs were blown-up.

In October, two huge bomb blasts, one outside Baghdad's municipal offices killed more than 150 people, the deadliest attack in two years. After the latest attack, Baghdad is fearful and in mourning yet again.

But thousands of miles away on a Los Angeles area street corner, the vigil was peaceful and it seemed to touch many people. The most dramatic moment came when a 45 ish man walked up with his 7 year old daughter. As the two of them looked at the vigil sign, he gently explained to her what the vigil signifies.

He and I then shook hands and I told his little girl she was fortunate to have so compassionate a father, as she smiled softly.

A little later, a 50 ish couple who often stop by for a minute or two this time stayed longer. I joked with them about their psychedelic green fluorescent jackets and the flashing red lights on their arms but also commended them for being so visible among all this traffic.

We laughed in friendship, a friendship born of this vigil, for it is where we met.

For the last 20 minutes, the vigil was joined by a 52 year old Englishman. He feels the U.S. isn't brutal enough to Middle Eastern Muslims as he would heavily bomb them into surrender or death in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He feels Muslims are the cause of most of the world's ills and he termed them "vermin."

It is ironic that he would call them vermin and blame them for the world's ills, for that's how the Nazis viewed Jews and he and I are Jewish.

But as he finished his rant, he was also willing to listen. As we spoke, it humanized the Muslim people, for even as strong as he felt against them, he would not want to annihilate men, women and children, however fierce his prejudice.

"You won't change me," he said. He is an intelligent, articulate man, blinded by his hatred. But by treating him with courtesy and respect it was possible not to change his opinions but to get him to reflect on them. In this vigil, as long as people come in peace, they are welcome, as are their opinions.

In the face of President Obama escalating one war and continuing another, these vigils and others like them are important as the nameless, faceless, voiceless victims of the U.S. wars need us to raise our voices for them. And those victims include the dead and wounded U.S. soldiers and their families, for they too are all but invisible.

Dick