Apathy's The Real Enemy

I spent the weekend in D.C. to participate in an action run by Campaign Nonviolence (click here for their website). They had actions that protested for peace elsewhere, but one of my friends wanted to go to the events in D.C. and asked me to go with.

The planned events had their ups and downs. But what is telling is the number of people who didn't attend-- there were many. And that is the problem for those of us who want change. Most people, as indicated by their actions, do not.

The main event started Saturday morning at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. We gathered there at mid morning to hear some speakers and then go on a silent march through some memorials to the White House. There, a few from our group who were predetermined to get arrested for protesting on park property without a permit. The park police surprised them with noncompliance. Thus, everyone went home on time. But again, there were only a few of us.

And though some of the speakers for Campaign Nonviolence made superficial use of quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr., at least they are quoting him and trying to follow and promote his example and teaching on nonviolence. Thus those in Campaign Nonviolence refrain from both outward violence and verbal violence while demonstrating. And this is breath of fresh air from many of my fellow Leftists who ignore King's teachings in order to feel free to vent against those whom they demonize. If more from the Left would study and incorporate King's teachings, they would find a wider audience. But currently, venting is preferred over protesters exercising reflection and self-criticism.  And perhaps if more from the Left would find their voice by starting with King's messages, our problem with apathy would still be significant, but would be less.

But for those of us who walked with Campaign Nonviolence, we must remember that calling on people to abstain from violence is not enough to promote peace. We must also address the driving motivations for the use of violence: pride and greed--King described greed as being thing-oriented rather than person-oriented. Pride tells us that we promote or defend our supremacy. Greed tells us that self-love is the greatest love. And since we only go around once, we need to get as much for ourselves as we can. And it isn't just those who do not protest with Campaign Nonviolence who are vulnerable to those traits, all of us are. Thus, when we who follow King's teachings protest, we need to protest as fellow sinners of those we protest rather than protesting as judges who are all too eager to pass sentence on an insidious criminal. 

But perhaps, the reason why we are met with a wall of apathy is because we were not appealing to pride and greed.  But if we have to appeal to pride and greed to weaken the grip apathy has on most Americans, it shows that some things never change and we have no hope for the future.