As a lifelong
progressive
committed to nonviolence, I have little sympathy for a man who conspired
in the
most heinous act of domestic rightwing terrorism in U.S. history.
For his role in the
1995 Oklahoma
City Bombing that killed 168 people (including kids at childcare), Terry
Nichols
is serving life-without-parole sentences.
And that's a good thing,
But I don't want him
to "rot in
jail." That's why I support his hunger strike and lawsuit, and hope he
doesn't
rot to death inside the federal Supermax prison in
Colorado.
Indeed, if Nichols
wins and
starts eating again, it may be one of his first useful contributions to
society.
In a suit filed last
year in
federal court, Nichols demanded 100% whole-grain foods, more fresh
vegetables
and fruits, and digestive bacteria - contending that he needs a better
diet for
medical and religious reasons, and that his prison diet of "unhealthy
dead and refined foods" causes him to "sin
against God." (In Bowling for
Columbine, you may recall Michael Moore interviewing Nichols' scary
brother
James at his certified organic tofu farm in
Michigan.)
In a handwritten note
filed in
court Thursday, Terry Nichols told the judge that he had began a hunger
strike
and is prepared to die rather than allow his body to be "defiled by
those
refined. . .[and] dead foods."
I don't want Nichols
to die - and
it's not that I give a damn about this pitiful man.
I want Nichols to win
his lawsuit
in hopes it leads to broad dietary changes inside prisons. Because he's
right
that our overly processed American diet, lacking in fresh fruits and
vegetables,
is a sin to people - whether Christian or atheist, whether prisoner or
not.
As shown in study
after study -
as well as the powerful Oscar-nominated documentary Food, Inc. on the corporatization of our
food supply - the deterioration of our diets contributes to premature
death and
chronic illness, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer.
So why should we care
about
Nichols' diet and that of other inmates? As much for our benefit as
theirs,
because a significant upgrading in the diet of any large group of
Americans may
have a multiplier effect throughout society - in terms of more healthy
foods
being produced and reducing costs.
That's why the efforts
of parents
and educators to transform the standard student lunch (highlighted in Food,
Inc.) could boost healthful food
supplies way beyond schools.
Like students,
prisoners are a
huge group in our country. Indeed, no other country has as many inmates
as we
do, over 2 million. With less than 5 percent of the world's population,
we have
nearly a quarter of the world's prisoners - and, unlike Nichols, most
are not
murderers or serious criminals. Many are nonviolent drug offenders -
often poor
people of color who never had a chance in life.
Terry Nichols is a
self-centered
killer. Yet I hope he survives, wins his lawsuit and accomplishes
something
positive for others . . . in spite
of himself.