Is Protest A Sign of Love or A Tool For Chaos?
A week ago, I woke up with a heavy heart. I felt hopeless and confused as I read the morning news, and I felt inside me a growing anger that wanted to explode. I looked in the mirror, and I wondered how in this fragile body, a complicated mind, where chaos and cruelty can breed, resides.
I felt awful because I wanted things to be okay. I wanted people to realize that we, as intelligent beings are given a great responsibility to handle a beautiful complex world to flourish and grow… and yet, as it turned out, we cannot even seem to handle ourselves.
We oppress each other. We try to silence each other. And we hurt each other.
The world is indeed, off-balance.
While I write this article inside the comfort of my home, sipping a cup of warm ginger tea, and smelling the fresh air from outside my window, I know somewhere out there, beyond the horizon, something chaotic is happening.
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, in the US, protests have started following the death of George Floyd. Here in the Philippines, people went out of the streets to rally against the anti-terrorism bill of the government, that some think, can be used to suppress free speech. In Hong Kong, protest have once again ignited, as Beijing set out to impose national security legislation. Protests are also happening in Canada, Israel, Brazil, Chile, and perhaps to other countries, all with different reasons.
But you know, even though I mentioned all these protests, I don’t think these are the ones that are chaotic. It’s actually us people, that are being chaotic.
You see, we, humans, are a very loving species. We have this overwhelming conviction to protect and secure all that we have chosen to love, whether it be material or immaterial. Whether it be other people, places, things, values, or principles.
So it is only right and appropriate that we go out and be free in expressing our love. And protesting is a great way to do this. To let the world know that we would not back down and let oppressors abuse and take away what we think is right and just.
What is chaotic though, is when we forgot that in pursuing the things we love, we must also have compassion.
We must view our enemy clearly. And our enemy is not our fellowmen who opposes us, not the police, not even the small businesses that are only trying to survive in these challenging times. Our enemy is cruelty, indifference, insecurity, guilt, greed and fear inside everyone of us.
And our job when we protests, is to wake up other people and see these things inside them so that they, too, can fight with us. We are not protesting to bring them all these things that we hate, and execute judgement on them. We could never right what is wrong by doing the wrong things to others.
As I said earlier, the truth right now is that there are people that are being oppressed. There are people that are being silenced. And people that are being hurt. And it is our responsibility to help fight free these people.
Protest as a Sign of Love
I ask myself, if so, how can I protest the right way? How can I make people see? How can I join these tens of thousands of people who are in the front lines putting their lives in danger to show the world the importance of their cause?
Is it possible to change the world without shedding blood? Without fighting another?
I realize that the best tool to accomplish this is education.
There isn’t a shortcut in changing the world. The reason a lot of us is asleep is because a lot of us are taught, but are not educated.
We must realize here that it is our responsibility to uplift and awaken each other, and to be light unto one another. This, too, is written in the Bible, when Jesus teaches his disciples on the Sermon on the Mount:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven”
Matthew 5 14:16 NIV
Therefore, if we awoke and saw the enemies of this world, let us then fight for the conversion of our fellowmen. And this, cannot be done through weapons, cruel debates, insults, or chaos.
This conversion can only be accomplished through peaceful means, where people would be able to nullify their own cruelty.
We don’t need to make others, feel wrong about what and how they are feeling. Education is meant to uplift another person, so that he/she may feel that his ideas and feelings can contribute to the betterment of the world.
We don’t educate people by telling them they are wrong, or that their feelings are not valid.
Every time we educate, we must bear in mind that our goal is to be able to sip through other’s minds, and give others an opportunity to think and design a better future for everyone.
I don’t think it is necessary to be a great influencer in this case, to have a great voice that people listens to, or to be famous.
We can all start educating, starting from our inner circles. Starting from the ones we love, our families and friends. When we are able to transfer and teach values that truly matter to them, they would be able to pass it on to their friends too.
When this happens, we would be amazed how fast, the light can travel.
Perhaps we are in this times because ever since we dominate this world, we, humans, have been passing the wrong things to each other.
But there will be time, I know, where we would realize, what we truly need in our lives. Joy, equality, belongingness, stewardship, and peace. These are the values that make us human.
We just have to make others feel these things. And we just have to direct our actions to the right perspective and direction.
In time, we’ll be successful.
