Why I Protest
by Philip Gulley, Quaker Paster "Plains Speach"
There are those who doubt the effectiveness of mass protests, who sit at home and mutter about Donald Trump under their breath, while doing nothing about it. I’m of the opposite mind, believing public rallies serve several purposes. Allow me to share the reasons I protest:
1. I protest to remind myself that I am a moral human being. I will not remain silent when vulnerable people are targeted and harmed by powerful and unprincipled elites. Tyranny disgusts me, so when I see it, I will speak up. Silence and indifference are not options for moral human beings.
2. I protest to remind myself that I am not alone. Because I live in a red state, it is easy to think I am alone in my disgust for the Trump regime. Standing in solidarity with my fellow Hoosiers reminds me I am not a lone voice in the wilderness. Tens of thousands of Hoosiers of every age and station stand with me. I may drive to the protest feeling powerless and disheartened, but I drive home feeling empowered and encouraged.
3. I protest so Donald Trump and those who cheer him on will know there is a different America than the one they inhabit. What they do is not American. It is not patriotic. It is not clever, nor is it just. It is cruel, juvenile, and reprehensible, and merits our full-throated rejection.
4. I protest for the same reason I vote and pay taxes, to remind myself that democracy is not a spectator sport. It requires something of us. What it demands of us in this moment is our dedication to the Constitution, which is daily being degraded by Trump and his collaborators. There are no bleachers in a democracy. It requires our full participation to thrive—our time, our attention, our money. Democracy isn’t a cheap bauble; it is a costly jewel.
5. I protest so my children and grandchildren will know I served when my country needed me. I am a pacifist, so will not kill on behalf of my nation. But I am also a patriot, so will resist, with every fiber of my being, any genuine threat to our nation, foreign or domestic. I will not leave it to Donald Trump or Steven Miller to name those threats, given their tendency to “other-ize” those who don’t look like them, believe like them, or talk like them. I have a brain. I know who poses a threat to our nation, and who does not. I will come to my country’s aid against authentic threats, not fictitious ones.
6. I protest because I am a Christian, and know what it means to be a Christian. I will not let Donald Trump and his coterie of Evangelical Christians pollute the faith I have served my entire life. They, not Islam nor atheism, are the true threats to the Christian faith. I know heresy when I see it. I know when religion has been co-opted by nefarious people for personal and political gain. Some may be fooled, but I am not.
7. I protest because I want my life to mean something. I want to spend it in nobility, not villainy. I want to be on the right side of history. If I were hung for treason, I would want to die knowing I did the good and noble thing. My dream is to be publicly disparaged by Donald Trump. I would wear his criticism as a badge of honor. I want no one to wonder where I stand. This is a fence I will not straddle. Nor will I seek an accommodating middle-ground. I know what constitutes right and wrong, and am determined never to confuse the two.