Protests, Dissent, and the Gospel, Part One

I have been thinking a lot about dissent and protest of late, probably much like a lot of people here in our country. Protests abound left and right, and now, it seems that there are more and that they are incredibly intense.  We do not have to wonder why, do we?

We go off on royal tears verbally and emotionally when we see a quarterback for a professional football team protesting by sitting or kneeling during the playing of the National Anthem. We are further outraged when we see other athletes from Pop Warner football to high school to colleges to professionals doing the same. For many of us it is difficult to grasp the notion that someone can love their country and see its filthy rags at the same time and want things to be better. Some put their money where their values are, including that QB with his spending a lot of money to coach kids on justice related matters, and others who donate significant dollars to enhancing relationships between law enforcement and their communities. Some of my family and friends see the world in distinct categories, black/white, right/wrong, and vote and voice accordingly. I am deeply puzzled as to why they vote the way they vote, and, perhaps, they are equally troubled by the way I think and write.  There are, in my opinion, distinctions of gray.  Love something and desire for it to become better. Want to stay in America and see its warts.  No need to send anyone back to anywhere. We live where we live and we value what we value and we see what we see. And we experience what we experience, for better or for worse. As for me, I want to be a patriot, not a nationalist. There are differences.

Against the backdrop of American history, according to Time, there have been ten significant protest movements.  These are the Boston Tea Party, Civil Rights, Women’s Suffrage, Antiwar, Gay Rights, the Labor Movement, Black Power, Antiglobalization, The Tea Party, and Occupy Wall Street. And while those are huge, and have obviously led to immense change in our country, there are more. Check out this link for more details:  http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2096654_2096653_2096692,00.html. Some of us undoubtedly have lived through some, most, or all of them. Some I remember and experience very vividly, some I care more about now than then, and others will come along.

Dr. James Downs, history professor at Connecticut College, author of numerous books and articles, has studied the history of protests in America. In his article found at , http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/11/17/trump_protests_have_reinvigorated_the_american_radical_tradition.html  he asserts that “protests have throughout history given people a voice when they did not have the vote.”  The title is alone compelling, “The Trump Protests Have Reinvigorated the American Radical Tradition.” He should know. This included antebellum women who spoke up in a male dominated world and condemned slavery, speaking against its unspeakable violence to enslaved Africans, and then freed slaves pushed the Republican Party to advocate for their causes of citizenship and voting rights. So, protests in this current day and age should not come as a surprise. Neither are we to be surprised when the right has its agenda and the left has its agenda, and those of us betwixt and between have our agendas. We cannot not have an agenda. To have no agenda is to have an agenda.

Who can forget the abolition movement and the price for freedom for enslaved Africans? Any movement has its price and its glories.

These days as we live in the post-election cycle of things, protests are happening with frequency and intensity. People are dismayed at who we elected in this country, that he did not win the popular vote but won the electoral college vote, and his campaign has been dominated by bigotry, racism, sexism, hate-filled rhetoric, and demeaning attitudes toward gays, blacks, Latinos, Muslims, women, people with disabilities and others. Disparaging attitudes, suddenly discovered audio and video tapes, and revelations of assaults upon children and women abound.

Most of the protests and marches have been civil, some have not been. That’s always unfortunate when protests turn violent or destructive. Who can approve of that?

We forget, however, that the same thing occurred after President Obama was elected. All it takes is a brief google search to see effigies hanging with nooses around their necks burning, insults about Kenya and his place of birth, and numerous other images related to his race.

So, protests are nothing new and they will be around for as long as there are people and as long as we have voices that are unheard and unappreciated.