A vision of peace

Margaret Steiner walked into choral class using her touch as her guide. She grasped her seat, stood for a moment while a few students surrounded her with friendly "hellos," and then committed to the squeaky fold-out chair. Students couldn't ignore the bright yellow letters on the back of her puffy blue coat which read, "Stop this war."\nSteiner, 51, is a prominent peace activist and strong political voice in Monroe County. She marched in Bloomington's town square last year at the beginning of the war with Iraq, and she is part of several pro-active peace organizations, including the Bloomington Peace Action Coalition. \nBut during her fight for peace, Steiner has had to work through her own battles.\nBlind since birth, Steiner asks people to acknowledge her as more than a "poster girl" for blindness. She dodged car bombs in Northern Ireland during a long-term folklore and music study, has delivered academic lectures all over the world and has made guest appearances on four different radio stations. Steiner has set her obstacles aside to influence Bloomington citizens with pro-peace activism for more than 30 years.\nGrowing up in New York, Steiner established political and religious views at a very young age. During her stay at a strict Jewish school, Steiner tuned into New York's radical radio station, WBAI. She said the station's exposure and understanding shaped her protest against the Vietnam War when she was just 12 years old. \nIn a recent taxi ride to Steiner's one-story, ranch-style home, the driver needed no direction to her residence. He knew exactly who Steiner was, saying he remembers the taxi ride he gave her during a war protest last year on Kirkwood. \n"Yeah, I know Margie pretty well," he said, flashing a playful grin through the rearview mirror. "She's got these opinions. I would never disagree with her to her face."\nInside her home, Steiner sat on the low-rise beige sofa in her living room and gripped a cup of coffee, answering questions about life and politics.\nAfter Sept. 11, Steiner said America had a chance to do some "serious self-examination." Steiner said America has created a less safe atmosphere by choosing war,. \n"When it suits us, we get rid of the bad guys," she said.\nSteiner described her family as a "harsh, abrupt influence." Unsure if it was her rebellious nature or her handicap which made her the subject of verbal family abuse, Steiner said she felt like a "disenfranchised outsider" from early on.\nFamily negligence most likely attributed to her challenging personality, Steiner said, adding that patience and forbearance have never been easy for her. But she said she's become less self-absorbed through lots of prayer and self-reflection over the years.\n"It's hard to accept things when the system you're in seems bankrupt," she said. "I was a real pain in the ass 30 years ago."\nSteiner's soul searching brought her to St. David's Episcopal Church in Bean Blossom, Ind. A change from Steiner's Jewish upbringing, Steiner now identifies herself as both Christian and progressive.\n"What people don't seem to think about when verbally bashing (gay bishop Gene Robinson) was that Jesus was a flaming radical," she said. \nJames Mumford, director of the African-American Choral Ensemble, said he can't ignore Steiner's determination. Steiner auditioned for Mumford's choir five years ago and is the oldest member of the ensemble. Mumford said he considers Steiner to be a "marvelous source of information." \n"Marge has such endurance, more than the average person, regardless of her handicap," Mumford said.\nBut Steiner's passion for politics continues to go unrivaled. An opponent to capital punishment, Steiner has been a board member of the Indiana Information Center on the Abolition of Capital Punishment for three years.\nCherry Merrit-Darriau, a friend of Steiner's, said Steiner's views on capital punishment had a large impact on her own beliefs.\n"I didn't initially agree with Marge," Merrit-Darriau said. "Then she actually convinced me against the death penalty. She's here and she's serious." \nRegardless of how many people she has touched, Steiner said she just wants people to see her as a woman who tried to make a difference.\n"I would like to be remembered as someone who made even a corner of the world a little better," she said.