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Thunderings

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On October 12, 2015, a lightning bolt struck the destructive cult known as Word of Life Christian Church in Chadwicks, NY. The information compiled here is in honor of the hero who released his strength in one powerful strike -- my brother, Lucas Benjamin Leonard. The shock waves of this explosion continue to ripple and resonate.   Anger rises with a chokehold clutching my trembling frame, smothering my soul with thick, black smoke. Caustic. Sorrow rushes with murky raging floods, a tsunami consuming me in anguish and confusion. Destructive. Questions churn violently in a cloud of ash overhead: “How?” “Why?” Abrasive. Toxic. Desperate, my eyes search for a glimpse of beauty to rise from these ashes, and once more, I see Lukey’s lightning bolt in the midst of the volcanic storm. I remember my promise to my baby brother, to my hero. “I will be your thunder.” Perhaps most importantly you will find answers from insider perspective to the who, why, an
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ML & LM & RM

Martin Luther (ML) is credited with saying "Each betrayal begins with trust."  Linda Morey (LM) introduced the deadly weapon to the murderous gang on October 11, 2015.  Now, RM is a mysterious character. I've known her since I was about 8 years old, when she was 20 and living in Richfield Springs. I observed the courtship between her and the father of her four children. My dad had a paternal friendship with the couple, such that RM asked my father to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. They had been early adherents of Irwinism, among the earliest members of the Word of Life precursor--City on a Hill, the congregation meeting on porches and then in a basement. RM stayed nearly till the end, raising her children under Irwinism. Her ex had quit attending before she did. Her exit was in January 2014.  Before RM and her younger 3 children left, she and I had developed a close friendship--she even called me her little sister, and I definitely saw her as an older sister. Let
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On Bail Reform, Property Loss, and Fires

The Leonard family home, owned by my dad Bruce and his wife Debi (Deborah), was sold in May 2022 for a grand total of $20,000. Many were surprised at the sale, the condition of the house being so dilapidated. It was sold for taxes. So much was owed that we ended up in the negative on the deal. Our real estate attorney didn't get paid, and the real estate agents representing buyer and seller split the commission of $2,000.  Why did we bother with selling to get nothing out of it? Because my father's integrity is just that solid. He owed the village, the county, and the school district, and the only way he could pay up was to liquidate the only property of value that he had. None of the family had the funds to continue paying the taxes on the home while the owners were incarcerated. Personally, I made the executive decision that the house should not be my father's to return to when he is released. The option shouldn't even exist. He had a difficult time making the decisio
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Justice Restores

Candidly, I put very little stock in what the Bible has to say. I do not begrudge anyone who finds comfort within the pages, but for me it was weaponized, and I will always see it that way. Surely, my sentiments are not for lack of familiarity with its contents. In fact, it could be that familiarity breeds contempt. That being said, I have been pondering again about justice... particularly the INjustice of our criminal justice system - demonstrated for all of us in the obscene Facebook post from Attica's Corrections Officer Gregory C. Foster, happily condoned by several other COs... and how true, worthwhile justice repairs, restores, and heals. To my chagrin, my familiarity with scripture brought to mind Isaiah chapter 58. At first I chided myself for reverting to trauma pathways. Then, I started thinking more about the actual content of the chapter (and how the Irwins interpreted it for their own gain and control.) I began to wonder at the irony of our current political climate. W
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Days of Justice

 NOTE: Originally published 5/6/22 142 days. [09/26/2022] 726 days. [05/02/2024] 1395 days. [03/02/2026] 5419 days. [03/08/2037] Days. What happens in a day? Can the mere passage of time tip the scales closer to justice? What will happen in the next 142 days? At the end of that time, Joseph Irwin will be released from prison. What will he have learned? I have little doubt that he will have learned to be shrewder in his dealings, so next time he won’t have to pay for his crimes. What has his mind concocted during his time behind bars? Has he been introspective, recognizing that he fully embraced all aspects of the privilege into which he was born to dominate, brutalize, and even kill? Or will the evil in him have had a chance to develop more, to mature into an all-consuming cancer ready to absorb more victims? I do not feel safer knowing that Joseph will have spent nearly 7 years incarcerated. I have zero confidence that any transformative justice will come about as a resu
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Collateral Damage of a Prison Sentence

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The judge declares, "I am sentencing you to 10 years in state prison..." OK, but what does that really mean? What does that look like? Is it simply that you are released from one cult only to be imprisoned by another? Well, kinda. Is it like The Blip that is part of the Marvel Avengers storyline? After 10 years of absence, you can return to the life you had before you went in? Definitely not.  10-year sentence. Some say it's nowhere near long enough. Some would have sentenced the convicted like Doc Hudson wanted to do with Lightning McQueen. "All right, I wanna know who's responsible for wrecking my town, Sheriff. I want his hood on a platter! I'm gonna put him in jail 'til he rots. No, check that... I'm gonna put him in jail 'til the jail rots on top of him, then I'm gonna move him to a new jail and let that jail rot." But in Pixar's Cars , what actually plays out is transformative justice--a realization and demonstration that active
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