While it was important

  to understand the ideologies of the world the matters of "property" were and are critical.  In America the right to defend property was the saving grace.  Europe didn't have the same "gun rights" and was caught in a flurry of decimation to the property issues.

  For a while it was move your feet, lose your seat, mano y mano wit and arm wrestling.  Violence reported could still lead to an arrest.  And because most "petty crime" was connected to "organized crime" people lived in a constant state of being threatened and fear.  That took a toll on neighborly relations.

  "THIS.  IS.  WAR."  Said a woman who'd been hacked in half.  It wasn't until a couple years later that she would say anything besides.  By then she was quick walking on her arms and had had time to shorten her furniture.  Even almost chuckled at having two file cabinets instead of a tall four drawer.  We were still young and hadn't met too many people with such strong determination.  Some of her humor had a lingering bitterness so our Parish priest had the nuns dig deep to find the right Saint to take on for Confirmation.  For Catholics, taking a Confirmation Name is adding more tool to toolbox.  The Saints are for extra prayers and are example of how other humans have gotten through human condition. 

  She'd survived the night "it" happened by climbing a tree.  In our American area at the time violence was as normal for some people as breathing air.  And the ways of violence were fueled by drugs and sex and poverty and a citizenry falling by the wayside.  It was D.C. making the decisions, not us.  It was the most violent winning the battles, not us.  It was a long way from this is war to let's at least stop hurting each other.

  It seemed like many who were in agreement about this.  It went along with the guiding principle that God gave Jesus the job of righteous judgment, not us.  But then as we moved from being a close-knit group to encountering the world at large it became clear that there were many not in agreement about this.  Differing religions and cultures were just as "faithful".

  The woman's head split apart from the woman's body by virtue of an unbending board.  "Exceptional times," a man remarked and then exited the roller derby.  A sleek car's door was opened for him.  And his dark socks and tassled dress shoes could be seen paused on the concrete before being swooshed away from "the perfect crime".  No accountability necessary.

  "He'll get his.  He's the Devil's Man now." A more modern nun in gym clothes remarked in a thick Scottish accent.  It would take months to locate the board with a sword embedded in one side.  It was still stained with the woman's blood.