Cindy Sheehan was arrested today, joining the proud ranks of incarcerated non-violent civil protestors like Rosa Parks, M.K. Gandhi and Dr. King. She's in great company. Oh, I just thought of another non-violent civil protestor who was arrested for his beliefs: Jesus of Nazareth.
Reading the comments that have spun out of my Idiot Nation post below, I'm grateful to so many people for taking time to join the dialogue. Not everyone agrees with me, and that's fine. At least we're talking. Hopefully we're all thinking a little more, too. And in the spirit of Christ, I want to encourage people to think about what Jesus would do not only about supporting gay marriage, but about protesting against the Iraq War.
I mean, we're talking about a man who devoted his life to non-violence. The story goes that when Jesus was being picked up for what was certain to end in crucifixtion, Peter took up a sword and sliced one of the centaurians in the ear. Jesus then admonished Peter, had him put down the sword, and encouraged him to always act peacefully. Jesus then walked off to meet his executioners. He truly epitomized non-violence as a way of life. The point of my Idiot Nation post, as well as my The Anti-Christians post from a few weeks back, is that there are a lot of people who need to stop calling themselves Christians. Their lives and choices do not reflect, in any way, the teachings of Christ, things like:
"I give you a new commandment: love one another; just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples."
As to the title of this post: as you know, over 100,000 people demonstrated Saturday against the war. The following day, Sunday, there were "pro-war protests" (What is with this Orwellian-esque phrase? What it is these people think they are "protesting"? The only answer is contained in the new term "counter protestors." They are protesting the right to free speech. Lovely.). But so over 100,000 people on Saturday. How many showed up on Sunday to cheer on the war effort? "Roughly 500."
Be encouraged by these numbers. America wants out of Iraq. Now. It's what Jesus would want, too.