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Protesters behaving badly
Mar. 27th, 2008 10:42 amNow, I'm all for protesting the war in Iraq. We shouldn't be there, we shoudl have never gone there, and now we've managed to muck things up so much that we can't even leave without destabilizing the whole region.
And I'm all for protesting in public. You need to get people's attention before you can engage them, and generally making a nuisance of yourself in public tends to get people's attention. And goodness knows that with the current administration generally making a mess of things, there are a LOT of things that need protesting about.
I also have issues with the Roman Catholic Church, it's policies, and the way it is run both in America and in Rome.
That said, I am APPALLED by last weekend's protest by "Catholic Schoolgirls Against The War". These people disrupted Easter Sunday services (where Cardinal George was officiating) by screaming and pouring fake blood on themselves and an other people.
This is the holiest day of the year for those who believe, and as far as I'm concerned this puts these so-called "protesters" in the same category with Reverend Phelps and his bunch of loonies who disrupt funerals with their "God Hates Fags" signs.
Not that I'm saying that you can't protest against a religious organization. There are a lot of things done in the name of religion that could use more people protesting against them. But you picket outside, you stop tithing or refuse communion from a particular clergyperson, you wear buttons, or the same color shirt, or hand out flyers, or stand quietly together and walk out to indicate that you are supporting a particular position. There are ways of making your presence known and felt while still being respectful of other's space and genuine faith. There have been protests like these against the anti-gay positions of several congregations in Chicago, and they have been handled in a very dignified and respectful manner.
But to make a public spectacle of yourself, and actively seek to disturb others with attention-seeking behavior, in supposed "protest" against an event that isn't even actively involved with the organization whose event you are blowing up? BAD FORM.
Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but there are some things that are Just Not Done.
And I'm all for protesting in public. You need to get people's attention before you can engage them, and generally making a nuisance of yourself in public tends to get people's attention. And goodness knows that with the current administration generally making a mess of things, there are a LOT of things that need protesting about.
I also have issues with the Roman Catholic Church, it's policies, and the way it is run both in America and in Rome.
That said, I am APPALLED by last weekend's protest by "Catholic Schoolgirls Against The War". These people disrupted Easter Sunday services (where Cardinal George was officiating) by screaming and pouring fake blood on themselves and an other people.
This is the holiest day of the year for those who believe, and as far as I'm concerned this puts these so-called "protesters" in the same category with Reverend Phelps and his bunch of loonies who disrupt funerals with their "God Hates Fags" signs.
Not that I'm saying that you can't protest against a religious organization. There are a lot of things done in the name of religion that could use more people protesting against them. But you picket outside, you stop tithing or refuse communion from a particular clergyperson, you wear buttons, or the same color shirt, or hand out flyers, or stand quietly together and walk out to indicate that you are supporting a particular position. There are ways of making your presence known and felt while still being respectful of other's space and genuine faith. There have been protests like these against the anti-gay positions of several congregations in Chicago, and they have been handled in a very dignified and respectful manner.
But to make a public spectacle of yourself, and actively seek to disturb others with attention-seeking behavior, in supposed "protest" against an event that isn't even actively involved with the organization whose event you are blowing up? BAD FORM.
Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but there are some things that are Just Not Done.
