As we were walking up Queen St one of the chants we were encouraged to join in was:
"This is what democracy looks like! This is what freedom feels like!"
I didn't have anyone I was walking with so had no "escape" from joining in the chant by chatting to a companion. My introverted self felt quite self-conscious yelling out the words of the chant! But that got me thinking. Here I am, perfectly free to walk in a protest march in a public place with no fear of being arrested, shot at or otherwise harmed. My biggest concern was feeling rather foolish! Wow! What respect I have for those who protest peacefully for causes they are passionate about and yet may well be arrested, shot at or killed.I noticed as we walked that the vast majority of people watching from the footpaths as we approached were not Pakeha. Our city is truly multi-racial. I wondered how many of them would be amazed at the truth of what we were shouting out and demonstrating: This truly is what democracy looks like: people free to express their opinion without opposition. In fact a police car was driving slowly ahead of us to clear the road! I imagine that in many of the home countries of those watching this would be a very different story.
Synchronistically, the service in our church that morning was focussed on praying for the horrors occurring in Syria. Among other things we were discussing how easy it is to block out the things that feel "too hard" to think about.
As Elie Wiesel said:"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. ...
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference."
Helen Keller had a similar comment:“Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all -- the apathy of human beings.”
Spending a few hours on a (sunny!) Sunday afternoon is hardly a big contribution - but at least it is not indifference.
