By Beth Greenberg, Globe Correspondent, 9/1/2002
Eli Sasaran, 26, is a campus minister and theology instructor at Archbishop Williams High School i n Braintree. He recently participated in Starvin' for Justice 2002, a four-day fast held on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington to oppose the death penalty.
Q. When your students return from the summer vacation, will you discuss your experience with them?
A. First of all, I'll want to ask what their questions are, and respond to them. They'll probably ask the general, ''Why did you do this? Why does fasting matter? Do you think it'll have any effect?''
Q. Why did you do this?
A. I was invested in the cause and in the movement. I did this to mark [Furman v. Georgia, 1972, and Gregg v. Georgia, 1976] and call for a moratorium on the death penalty. And to show the radical possibility of love in the midst of any discomforts, challenges, and sufferings.
Q. And does fasting matter?
I think fasting is a way of prayer. It's prayer in the sense that it invites me to transcend certain needs which might distract me so I can be closer to the deeper desires of my heart.
A. Do you think it will have any effect?
Yes. I think it affects me. It affects the people who were there. The people who came and saw, the people who read the articles. My hope is that it primarily affects our attitudes, and through that, the appropriate policies.
Q. Will you use this experience to inform your curriculum and your teaching?
A. Yes, I definitely will. One of the classes I'm teaching is World Religions & Ethics, and one of the things we'll be talking about is ''life ethics,'' issues such as abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia, and how they all revolve around the question of the dignity of life. We'll look at how patterns of behavior are cultivated when we make choices such as the death penalty. Is this a pattern of hatred, anger, and fear vs. love, hope, and courage? And then broaden that with what kind of consequences those choices have for who we're becoming as individuals, and who our society is becoming.
Q. Do you think your experience will impact your students' perceptions of you?
A. I think it demonstrates a consistency in me as their teacher. Consistency in understandings and actions. An integrated life. That Mr. Sasaran doesn't just talk about this stuff in class; he's really doing this in his life.
