Thanks to Jack Giles and Paul Schrijnen for the two forwarded articles. Both moved us for two different reasons. It is not in the same league (this is not false modesty; our stream-of-consciousness method of writing fits the Asian penchant for indirection without much sensitivity to consistency and logic, often devoid of depth and focus) but being our penultimate contribution to our ending Saipan Tribune OpEd column (online today), I thought I'd add it to the reflection (admittedly anticlimactic since this group already got the final submission). We did intend it for a particular audience other than this listserv, so, let me take cover on that excuse for its shortcomings. For the last time, ... see you at the bend! Innocence It is Innocents'day in Christendom, to commemorate the massacre of newborn males in Bethlehemallegedly ordered by King Herod when the Three Kings failed to stop at thepalace after they tracked down the eastern star. Nice dramatic Middle Eastern touch save that Matthewlifted it out off the Moses story when young males were ordered killed alsowhile the Hebrew exodus leader was yet to suck his thumb in the cradle. The plight ofinnocents has been a strong undercurrent in liberal causes, ours included, inthe phrase "innocent suffering". MLK Jr. considered unearned suffering as redemptive, giving a non-Baptisttwist to the plight of African-American fight and flight from bonded servitude anddiscrimination into the "oasis of justice" in the Civil Rightsstruggle. In a world growninterrelated and interlaced, incidences of innocence have grown so intertwinedand interconnected to the rest of existence that to claim clean hands onanything jaded has become untenable. Either in acts of omission or commission, each participates in the fateand destiny of one's life. Indeed, noperson is an island. Culture already taintsus from the hour of conception into human practices hardly considered pure andchaste even before birth. The tutorialcenter where I volunteer on the weekends had three middle class parentsapproach our coordinator inquiring if I can tutor their six-year-old"treasured snowflakes" (reference to the 2nd generation "littleemperors" in China's one-child policy) in oral English to qualify them tothe elite Yi Cai bilingual school on the outskirt of the city. They even bought apartments in the area sothat they can qualify for the residency requirement. The three tots spendtheir Sunday afternoons from midday to two-chimes-after-sunset, on theirparents' schedule and comfort, in one hour-and-a-half session each, wading throughbasic Math (not arithmetic, mind you), oral, written, and vocabulary lessons inEnglish. Children who would otherwise befreely at play, or have their imaginations set loose to horizons never treadedbefore, sit quietly before teachers, to be instructed on quantifiable patternsand the intricacies of an organic foreign language. Other than thenatural rebellion when exceeding the attention span of seven minutes, the boredchildren participate in their "suffering" as a matter of obedience toparents, as well as partake at an early age, the gleam of the status symbolattached to attending the school of their intention. They are hardly innocent! Innocence as thelack of guilt, legal or otherwise, is no longer an experienced externalreality. It has moved to the realm ofthe subjunctive. It has become a matterof attitude. Avril Ramona Lavigne,the multi-talented French-Canadian performer, croons her Innocence in our Oral English class: Waking up I see that everything is OK The first time in my life and now it's so great Slowing down I look around and I am so amazed I think about the little things that make life great I wouldn't change a thing about it This is the best feeling. Not that I haveanything against the "I'm OK, you're OK" mindset, but it does soundboring, if not delusionary. This"best feeling" as innocence is my students' familiarity. We refer to this as the illusion of romanticlonging, totally internal and in the realm of a preferred personal perspective,consigned to the universe of moods and sentiments. Asked whatChristmas meant to our first generation China one-child-only denizens who wentabout their celebrative mood this year, and we get the nebulous "I amtogether with my family and we are happy" response. Corollary to thestance of innocence is the claim of victimization. Romney got a trouncing in the polls becausehe had the temerity to dub 47 percent of the American population as sorryvictims of misfortune simply out to leech off the largesse of the morefortunate productive and well-off ones through the distributive justiceprograms of the Federal government. Heexpressed a popular sentiment devoid of lucidity and truth. The Church callsHerod's alleged senseless political executions "holy innocents". The term is often applied to refugees caughtin the crossfire between government goons and their hardly quixoticopponents. We've known enough fleeingrefugees from Vietnam to the Philippines, Chinese beholden to tongs wanting tohead for NYC for $30K, Afghans and Iranis heading for Australia, even Yanbians wishingto cross into Korea, the huge undocumented immigrants in the US, and theoverstaying visitors in Japan. The EU hada more enlightened policy on migrants until reactive forces got too wary andanxious. "Innocents"is not be a word I use to describe the destitute sectors of humanity. But the issue ofrights falls squarely at the core of our times. There are issues on economic justice that precedes political ones. Culture is hardly questioned but it exerts considerableinfluence on everything that we do. Gunculture, anyone? NRA's Wayne La Pierre(Le Prick in French, I was told) boldly asserts that guns are not the problembut the solution to senseless killings. More armed guards are needed in public places. Thanks, but no, thanks. Manipulative andcoercive practices continue to shape our behavior. We might keep the "feeling" but change the practices. Mayhap, it is time to redefine innocence. j'aime la vie Yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today, participate. In all, Celebrate!