I Heard You, Malachi! Immolation (self burning) to protest Iraq war

[uppityperson]

Have you heard of Malachi (Mark) Ritscher? Did you know there have been less than 10 cases of self immolation (setting on fire) in the USA's history? His story has been covered up, with focus placed on his mental status rather than his act of immolation to protest the invasion/occupation of Iraq. I just found out he was a friend of a friend, making this even more personal. Please pass this information on. Story, stories, contacts, etc found here:


http://www.iheardyoumalachi.org/story.html

Did you ever burn your hand on a stove? Do you remember the pain of it?

On Friday, November 3, a man doused his body with gasoline and set himself afire to protest the war in Iraq. He died quietly in flames. His name was Malachi Ritscher.

Haven't seen it in the news? Me neither, which is kind of strange if you ask me, considering that it happened right here in downtown Chicago in front of hundreds of commuters during morning rush hour. The only conventional newspaper coverage to date was a tiny paragraph that appeared in the Saturday edition of the Chicago Sun-Times. Since then...nothing.

Should we concerned about the lack of coverage? This is serious, friends. You don't have to be a communication scholar to know that the news media go by the maxim, "When it bleeds, it leads." In a time of intense controversy over war, a man offers up his life and endures prolonged, excruciating pain to make a tangible statement of his belief in peace - are we to believe that this isn't newsworthy?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

1. With All Due Respect, I Think The Focus On His Mental Status Is Quite Appropriate.

Anyone who would do such a thing was whacked out of their minds and that would be the overwhelming reason for the act. Opposing the war is one thing. Committing yourself to ending the war through self-sacrifice is ok too. There are many effective ways to try and get that done, especially when one is willing to go to whatever extremes are necessary.

But sorry, dousing yourself with gasoline is not one of them. Dousing yourself with gasoline and setting yourself ablaze is not something that is going to get people to take your position seriously. It is simply nothing more than a completely insane act by a mentally unhealthy individual that completely wastes a human life and brings tragedy to familiy and friends. This act was just simply insane and stupid, not heroic.

[uppityperson]

2. Were these people completely insane and mentally unhealthy?

For quick reference, wikipedia. A place to start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-immolation

Self-immolation, whilst not tolerated in anything but extraordinary circumstances by Buddhism and Hinduism, was practiced by religious or philosophical monks, especially in India, throughout the ages, for various reasons, including political protest, devotion, renouncement, etc. Certain warrior cultures also practiced it, such as in the case of Rajputs....

(clip a paragraph)
Three Americans immolated themselves in 1965, in protest of the Vietnam War; the first was Alice Herz, an 82-year-old German immigrant who performed the act in downtown Detroit on March 16, 1965, prior to the University of Michigan Teach-in. The second was Norman Morrison, who performed the act after reading an article by a missionary about the destruction of a Vietnamese village by napalm. The third was Roger Allen LaPorte, in front of the United Nations building in New York City on November 9, 1965. At the time, he was a 22-year-old Catholic Worker Movement member. On May 10, 1970, 23-year-old George Winne Jr. immolated himself on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. He left a sign saying "In the Name of God, stop the war".

(bunch more clipping to end)
A study of 22 young people who attempted self-immolation following the initial protest by Rajiv Goaswami in India found that these individuals did not have any identifiable mental disorder. They had experienced thwarted ambition and felt a sense of alienation.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

3. Absolutely.

And for the record, I find it to be an extremely absurd and ludicrous concept to even have to defend in discussion whether or not dousing oneself with gasoline and lighting themselves on fire with an end result of suicide is evidence of that person having some serious mental issues. So no more debate from me. The point cries out more than enough on its own.

Nite now.

[uppityperson]

5. We have different opinions. Goodnight to you too.

Edited to add, this is where things get confusing for many, having to separate out whether or not this was an act of an absolutely sane mind AND whether or not this was an act done by conscious decision to make a strong point and bring focus onto the point being made. Regardless, calling an act like this stupid and insane really disrespects their sacrifices. Goodnight.

[EFerrari]

4. So, who died and made you Freud?

What's the matter -- can you not imagine that kind of sacrifice or are you just bent on disrespecting the dead?

It must take a special kind of entitlement to label such an act "stupid" from behind the grave threat of a KEYBOARD.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

8. No, It Is A Point Of Obviousness To Call Such An Act Insane And Stupid.

I can't even believe this is up for debate. But whatever.

[uppityperson]

10. and who are you to call it insane and stupid, pray tell?

Perhaps not a typical action by those of us whom society calls normal, but insane? And, getting more disrespectful at "stupid"? Perhaps not your cup of tea, but really, you are quite something passing judgment thus.

Thought you were not going to debate anymore.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

11. Yes, Insane. Nite.

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

[uppityperson]

13. sacrificing your life in insane. OK.

Death is not the worst thing to fear, those who do not fear it are not insane. You continue to prove your disrespect, esp by the # of smilies. I feel sorry for you, feeling you must mock in this way.

[EFerrari]

6. That is what they always do with people of great conviction --

they paint them crazy.

Dean is crazy, Kerry is crazy, RFK is unhinged, Pelosi is a nut. Hugo Chavez is crazy, you are crazy.

Or, are you?

I heard you, too, Malachi.

[uppityperson]

7. Anyone who runs for president is crazy for sure.

So why is someone always elected or appointed? Anyone who would want THAT job is nuts, stupid and insane so they should be discounted and locked up for their own safety.

[Withywindle]

9. I knew him.

Not extremely well, but I went to a lot of free jazz/experimental music shows in Chicago and talked with him a fair amount over the years.

I knew there was pain and difficult family situations in his background, but he never struck me as anything other than very smart, very principled, and kind. Extremely knowledgeable about music - believed in it very deeply as a way to bring people together and communicate.

I was very shocked when I heard he'd committed suicide, but I was actually less shocked when I heard the details of how. It made it seem less out of character for him. Is suicide something a happy person does? No. But is mental illness the only reason someone might do it? Also no. Consider the Buddhist monks who did it during the Vietnam war. The idea that preserving one's own life is the most important thing is so central to most Western people this seems like insanity, but there is a tradition in which a drastic act in drastic times might not be incompatible with someone's spiritual beliefs.

This is his Mission Statement/Suicide Note. If you can read it and not cry, you're...well, different in some way from me, that's for sure. http://www.savagesound.com/gallery99.htm

[uppityperson]

12. His writings, mission statement and euology seem to be well thought out.

Eulogy link.
http://www.savagesound.com/gallery100.htm
Seems good writing to me, not mental illness but a lot of thought and consideration.

Thank you for posting what you did. I agree with your thought that life preservation is considered the most important thing in our society, but that is it not necessarily so. For those that truly believe in reincarnation, in heaven etc, or whatever other spiritual belief that this life is NOT the ultimate most important thing, that death is not the worst thing, it can be an act that is done with much respect. A good death, a meaningful death, can be just another part of a meaningful life.

Having this turn into a dramatic spiritual immolation death vs was he insane discussion, as it has many places, does Malachi/Mark the disservice of letting his death be for naught. By disregarding it, by downplaying and disrespecting it, his death did not serve the purpose he meant it to be.

[Withywindle]

14. Yes, it's clear he put so much intense work and thought into this.

It wasn't rash. It wasn't impulsive. I think he did a lot of studying, a lot of soul-searching, and a lot of praying about it. Reading his writings on it, I was really struck by the intensity of his belief in being called to serve in some way. I think he did it as an act of solidarity with the Iraqi who dies randomly in a bombing, with the soldier who is killed in a war s/he never wanted to be in. We might *say* their lives are no less important than ours, but he enacted it in a dramatic way, in a stage of his own setting.

I agree that it's an act of respect to treat his death the way he wanted it taken. And sure, his motives weren't simple and there wasn't just the one thing involved. But that one thing, the act of protest, was obviously extremely important. Why try to deny him that? It seems petty.

And the thing is, I've seen it coming from people who I don't think would be so callous about a "normal" suicide. The political dimension seems to upset people more. I wonder why that is.

[uppityperson]

15. I know what you mean about political vs nonpolitical suicide

Having a meaningful death is important. Denying that his death was meaningful is meaningful to me. Why would someone do this? Say his death was just the end to a mentally ill person's life? Discount the "why" in this way? I do not know, do not understand. Fear? Fear that they might be called upon to sacrifice themselves? Guilt that someone sacrificed himself while they stood by and did not? I don't know.

[Withywindle]

16. I was struck by that too.

The way he felt being able to choose the time and manner of his own death was important to him. Well, why not? Why shouldn't it be?

The people who seem to get most angry are the ones who agree with him about the war. Fear and guilt are possibilities, yeah. Doubts about the efficiency of protest? A believe that sticking around and continuing to fight is more effective? I understand the thinking behind that, but obviously Malachi felt differently for himself. Fear that people will emulate him? That's one thing that's been given as a justification for the media ignoring it. I think it's a weak justification, but still. I'm disturbed by how judgmental some people get over this. Nobody's saying everyone should do it, Malachi certainly wasn't.

[uppityperson]

17. Reading about past immolations and copycat fears, I have 1 thing to say

It hurts. Really really really bad. People will copycat things like bombscares, or school shootings, or tattoos, but copycatting self immolation? Hasn't happened.

And yes, it is the judgementalness that really bothers me. Passing judgement, saying he was insane so his reasons were insane so therefor this was for naught? B.S.