thoughts on resistence, protest and arrest
So way back in the day, November 2005, the first time I went to a major vigil where there was the possibility of civil disobedience, I had to seriously weigh the value of being arrested versus the value of being able to return to the country I was in. At the time I decided I could do more good out of jail, with freedom of movement. And despite a range of new experiences in social action, my opinion hasn't changed.
In some activist circles I feel like there is a two-tiered system, where people who have been arrested, or who are open to being arrested, are a higher-class. In my cynical little way though, I wonder if getting arrested can be just another way of escaping mundane life issues. I am also beginning to think that it is easy to get hung up on getting arrested, and thereby lose sight of the possibility of working towards constructive goals.
Did all of these thoughts come up because I was just at an action vigil with a bunch of Catholics to commemorate the Feast Day of the Holy Innocents? Yes, yes they did. For the record, I love activist Catholics, and it was a solid vigil, it just raised some questions for me, but seriously, these days what doesn't? Isn't it cool that Catholics have a day every year right after Christmas to remember when inncents are slaughtered by the powerful, instead of pretending it doesn't happen, or getting bogged down by December 25th sentimentality?
In some activist circles I feel like there is a two-tiered system, where people who have been arrested, or who are open to being arrested, are a higher-class. In my cynical little way though, I wonder if getting arrested can be just another way of escaping mundane life issues. I am also beginning to think that it is easy to get hung up on getting arrested, and thereby lose sight of the possibility of working towards constructive goals.
Did all of these thoughts come up because I was just at an action vigil with a bunch of Catholics to commemorate the Feast Day of the Holy Innocents? Yes, yes they did. For the record, I love activist Catholics, and it was a solid vigil, it just raised some questions for me, but seriously, these days what doesn't? Isn't it cool that Catholics have a day every year right after Christmas to remember when inncents are slaughtered by the powerful, instead of pretending it doesn't happen, or getting bogged down by December 25th sentimentality?
posted by dm at 12:39 PM
1 Comments:
I didn't know about the Feast Day of the Holy Innocents. Interesting. I'm glad you are being constantly stretched to think about different things. That's good for you. I agree with your assessment about getting arrested. It's good to out in the real world where we can do good work. Getting arrested for the sake of getting arrested is silly. On the other hand, if we find ourselves in a situation where avoiding arrest would require compromising our principles and beliefs - well then we hardly have a choice, do we?
-A
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