130 Mennonites arrested in DC for Gaza protest

[Judas Maccabeus]

To me it all seems a little silly. I don't begrudge them their concern over the violence but cosplaying Palestinians whilst singing an African spiritual with the lyrics changed to: "We are singing for a cease-fire now" is all just so perfectly post modern Mennonite. That is to say, it feels like they're trying to be political activists and quaint Mennonites all at once. It doesn't wear well together.

How are they cosplaying Palestinians? If they are, they are doing a lousy job. They don’t look even close.

Now my wife and I, we could really cosplay Palestinians if we were so inclined.

[Judas Maccabeus]

To me it all seems a little silly. I don't begrudge them their concern over the violence but cosplaying Palestinians whilst singing an African spiritual with the lyrics changed to: "We are singing for a cease-fire now" is all just so perfectly post modern Mennonite. That is to say, it feels like they're trying to be political activists and quaint Mennonites all at once. It doesn't wear well together.

I'm very much getting flashbacks to my Goshen College days in the 1980s when it was nuclear freeze protestors and draft registration resisters basically doing the same exact thing. Also singing the same songs. Instead of Biden they were protesting Reagan's bellicose arms buildup.

And those were mostly led by 30-something professors and such who were reminiscing about and wanting to relive the anti-Vietnam days that they were slightly too young for.

Flashbacks to the Vietnam era myself. I went to some demonstrations, but never got arrested.

Those protesters will likely have to pay a token fine for incommoding. One of my friends used to get arrested on a regular basis for that. Note they put them into the DC. System than the federal.

I just hope there were no Canadians there, potentially they could be barred from re entering the US.

[JimFoxvog]

Any reason why they couldn't protest legally?

Any reason Jesus couldn't have protested legally about the temple abuses?

[Ken]

Any reason why they couldn't protest legally?

Any reason Jesus couldn't have protested legally about the temple abuses?

The whole point of including civil disobedience in a protest is to reach a wider audience. No one outside of their own families would have even known about this protest had they held it in Lafayette Park across the street from the White House where there are some sort of protest literally every day of the year.

But then you also have to willingly accept the penalty for the laws that you broke. That is part of the quid pro quo.

Out here on the west coast there was a big Gaza protest that shut down the Bay Bridge a couple weeks ago. It actually blocked some ambulances transporting organs and delayed some transplant surgeries. There were literally people on the operating table awaiting transplant organs that were delayed by protestors shutting down the Bay Bridge. And now there is a campaign by some on the left to drop the trespass charges and exempt them all from prosecution. I'm sorry but no. That isn't how civil disobedience works. You have to be willing to accept the consequence of your actions If you are not, then find another way to protest.

[Josh]

There is a rather large class (and they're well funded) of professional agitators. They tend to take up various causes. It is rather interesting when they take up a cause I happen to agree with.

It has been a while since we had a "true" protest movement that didn't seem so fake and slimy - Occupy Wall Street was probably the best example in recent memory. It got shut down and nothing has really been like it since...

[JimFoxvog]

There is a rather large class (and they're well funded) of professional agitators. They tend to take up various causes

I've heard that allegation before but have never seen any evidence for it.

[Ken]

There is a rather large class (and they're well funded) of professional agitators. They tend to take up various causes. It is rather interesting when they take up a cause I happen to agree with.

It has been a while since we had a "true" protest movement that didn't seem so fake and slimy - Occupy Wall Street was probably the best example in recent memory. It got shut down and nothing has really been like it since...

I don't think they are paid. But yes, there is a cadre of professional protestors who latch onto whatever is the current topic of the day. It is basically just a lifestyle. Many of them make a meagre living doing things like canvassing for Greenpeace or various Nader-founded PIRG, work at various alternative bookstores or cafes, etc. And are basically living like undergrads in a house full of roommates well into their 30s and beyond.

I think it is the same adrenaline rush that causes people to skydive, run rapids, etc. Combined that with a self-righteous sense of moral superiority and you have a pretty heady and toxic mix.

You can draw a straight line from Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter to Gaza. It is a lot of the same people.

And no, Occupy Wall Street didn't get "shut down". They were eventually thrown out of Zuccotti Park after 2 months of illegally camping there like homeless people. But that didn't end the movement. What ended the movement was the bizarre descent into endless performative process that accomplished nothing. All the endless weird chanting and repeating and inability to actually decide anything. Plus the lack of coherent achievable demands.

[Joy]

Any reason why they couldn't protest legally?

Any reason Jesus couldn't have protested legally about the temple abuses?

I can't think of any legal avenues of protest that the temple head honchos would have in place. But what law did He supposedly break?

He is the Creator, and He didn't put up with blatant sin in His house of prayer.

[Judas Maccabeus]

There is a rather large class (and they're well funded) of professional agitators. They tend to take up various causes

I've heard that allegation before but have never seen any evidence for it.

They are called "activists." They live on grants from major foundations. Have you not met one?

[temporal1]

There is a rather large class (and they're well funded) of
professional agitators. They tend to take up various causes

I've heard that allegation before but have never seen any evidence for it.

They are called "activists." They live on grants from major foundations. Have you not met one?

The word, “professional” is largely associated with being paid, reaching a level of performance to be paid, often a salary, rather than hourly wages. When it comes to military work INCLUDING political activism, the word, “mercenary” comes into the mix:

.. Both private military contractors (PMC) and mercenaries work for money.
Mercenaries are individual soldiers who can be hired by whoever pays them while PMCs recruit these people in an organisation.

Mercenaries don’t have any tie to a company or state and title, they only fight for money. ..

There is always a difference in motivation, being paid versus acting out of “the goodness of one’s heart.”

Libs love to gloss over the difference, ‘cause, they’re always looking for a gov job/career/payout,
the Public Treasury is the #1 CASH COW. Presently, this taxpayer funded incentive system has become RAMPANT. Unhealthy.
It has nothing to do with Jesus Christ.