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As the crowd flooded off the sidewalks and took over Third avenue, our group started chanting “Dona nobis pacem,” an ancient blessing of peace. Some members of the crowd around us joined in. Someone translated it into Hebrew, and these two ancient languages mixed with chants of “Whose streets? Our streets!” The police seemed to be trying to scatter the protesters, diverting us back and forth along Second Avenue. They had been letting people through around 53rd but right as we were about to go through, they broke into the crowd, pushing people aside with horses. We were shouting, “Let us through!” Then they called in the riot police, and we started to get uneasy. The generally peaceful crowd was starting to get belligerent. I looked at one on the mounted officers and his eyes were darting back and forth in terror. So four of us huddled together and started chanting the St. Francis prayer: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred let me so love...” An elderly man grabbed my arm and said softly, “Thank you.” Then we all linked arms behind our banner reading “Peace is a Faith-Based Initiative” and we started singing “Amazing Grace.” Many in the crowd around us joined in, and I felt the bodies of the Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Christians, Quakers, and Unitarians around me shaking in prayer mixed with a little bit of fear. Later, as we confronted the police again at this same intersection (and the mounted cops started pushing people back along the sidewalk), we started chanting “Courtesy, Professionalism, and Respect,” the motto of the NYPD. The cops backed down and eventually let us through. We managed to stick together the entire day, holding hands where necessary. We were a group of Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Christians. We were Black, we were Asian, and we were White. We were men and we were women. Some of us had never been to a protest before, and others were seasoned activists who wanted a breath of fresh air in a new group with a new mindset. We were united in our desire for peace, and our need to speak out with the full strength of spiritual mindfulness. The reasoning
Secondly, we must show the world that although we come from many different religious traditions, we can stand together in solidarity. And, moreover, we can stand together against the use of violence in the name of God, whether this comes from the U.S. government or Al Qaeda. We can show that Christianity doesn’t support invading Iraq just as Islam doesn’t support flying planes into the Twin Towers. And Christians, Muslims, and other people of faith are willing to work together to show this. I hope Bush saw the
crosses waving in the crowd in New York and the messages of “What
would Jesus Bomb?” Thirdly, we must show that the antiwar movement is not simply a leftist parade. The liberal tradition has been so adamant about separating religion from politics that many people of faith react and revolt against the modern state, hence fundamentalism and the Religious Right. We need to reclaim the public voice of religion in this country and diffuse the frustration that many people of faith feel, the alienation from religion and politics that leads them to the right. We need to show people of faith that it is okay to bring their religion into the public sphere, and that this can be done in many different ways, including progressive ones. And, we need to show the left that if they can compromise and ally themselves with religious groups, a genuine Religious Left might just emerge. And, finally, this war will only be stopped by people raising their voices in dissent. But to make sure that these voices don’t burn out, we need to recharge ourselves spiritually. When it’s 20 degrees out, and we’re hungry and want to go home and then the riot police come in, we need to be able to link our arms and pray. —Matthew Hamilton
B’05 |
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