Two little words with only seven little letters. But what powerful emotions those words may evoke. And how different are the responses people have to the words in a public place. Since the months prior to the invasion of Iraq our local peace activist group has stood vigil every Friday night on a downtown street corner. The vigil is a peaceful activity attended by various numbers of people on different nights. Over a year ago the vigil was expanded to include a Saturday morning session near a local shopping center. Some part of our story was told here in a past diary. Pick up your sign, come stand on the corner, and listen while the possum tells the tale of the last two Friday night vigils.
The first of the two Friday nights was much the same as any other until a young man (twenty-something) and a group of his friends arrived to join our protest. This was the first time any of us had seen these particular people but we always welcome participants and so we encouraged them to join the fray. After a few minutes the four of the youngsters moved across the street to occupy a different corner. All went well for about half an hour when the police arrived and stopped in front of the young people. Seems someone had taken exception to the sign carried by the young man leading the group. FUCK WAR was the message on the sign in red and blue letters on a white background. After a short conversation the young man was frisked, read his rights by the police, and had his sign confiscated. The police left without further event.
This past Friday night was marked by a pair of separate events of note. The same young man and several of his friends joined the vigil once again. Early in our stay a young woman crossed right on our corner. As she was crossing she heard the sound of many car horns honking. She turned to see who was honking at her. She wondered aloud to us why so many people seemed to know her downtown that night. Must have been her first time to pass the vigil as honking is a sign of support from passing motorists. We explained gently how things work and she went on about her business. After she departed we got a fine laugh at her mistake.
A few minutes later, as the young man with his repainted FUCK WAR sign stood with his friends on the same block as the remainder of our group, we were once again treated to the police presence. This time the young man had a letter from the ACLU explaining the legality of his protest. In only a few moments we had three police cars with lights flashing and four officers pacing the street in front of our group. As most of us tried to take advantage of all the attention we were drawing, the police seemed confused at the situation.
The letter was read and reread by the policemen. A long discussion took place both among the policemen (all were men, no women in their group) and with someone on the radio. The discussion at times included various members of our local group, some in support of the man and his sign and some opposed. At times the discussion became somewhat heated as one of the policeman repeated the memes we all hear about how Iraq was involved in 9-11 and how Iraq supported Al Quaeda. The same policeman told us Iraq was invaded to take the same freedoms to Iraqis that we had on that Friday night street corner. He was really adamant about his position and would not bend one iota in his beliefs.
The end result was another confiscation of the sign, a taking of the young man's information from his driver's license, and the departure of the police after about a 30 minute stay. All ended in peace even though tempers had flared in some parts of the earlier discusion.
The sponsoring group is now divided as to how to approach the content of that one signs. Many oppose the wording as inflammatory and inappropriate. Some defend the right of freedom of speech no matter any personal reservations. The e-mails and personal discussions are flying even today. The question remains, just how do we as a group balance the need to grow and have others involved in our vigils against the desire to keep out any offensive messages. No matter the end result of this discussion, the vigils will continue until we are no longer needed. The ongoing war is an important problem that must be stopped and we as a group are united in our opposition. We will continue to stand vigil every Friday night until all our troops are home and not one week less.