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Why Protests Work | A historical and biblical examination of the effectiveness of public protests
June 14, 2008 | "For they feared the people" (Luke 22:2). This repeated phrase in Scripture is often casually overlooked by Christians, but it is nevertheless a very important phrase to take note of. Consider Luke 22:2, "And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people" or Acts 5:26, "Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned", or Luke 20:9, "And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people", or Mark 12:12, "And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way", or Mark 11:32, "But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed", or Matthew 21:46, "But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude", or Matthew 14:5, "And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude." Hopefully by now you understand the point that Scripture records numerous times where the governing authorities wanted to take a certain action, but because of the active Jewish people, they were restrained from accomplishing their desire. Think of how many times the governing authorities would have killed Jesus or punished the apostles if it hadn't have been for their fear of what the people would do in response. Scripture and the whole of human history undeniably demonstrate the effectiveness of an active people keeping their government in check through public, direct action. This direct action can present itself through a number of ways: public rallies, protests, marches, and more. However, all of these actions have one thing in common: they are all done in public. This is because no one cares about what is done in private; they care about what is done in public. Public action is what Jesus demanded of His Church; He forbid the hiding of our light and declared that our good works must be publicly shown before men: "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house" (Matthew 5:14-15). He concluded by saying "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify you Father which is in heaven." The result of the lights being turned on outside of the bushel of our church buildings is that darkness flees. Historical Protests are a well-established method of advocating for social change in America. From the abolition of slavery in the 1800's to the African-American Civil Rights movement in the 1960's, public protests have always been essential to the success of each movement. Christian Reverend, Martin Luther King Jr. who led the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's replied to criticism he received from Christians who disagreed with his direct action protests by saying: "You may well ask: 'Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?' You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word 'tension.' I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth... The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue." Reverend King also declared: "I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure." There must be pressure put upon leaders to cause them to do the right thing. Without a healthy "fear of the people", a government is free to make lawless decrees, such as making same-sex marriage "legal" in California – contrary to the will of the people. Why are they able to do so? Because there has not been "determined legal and nonviolent pressure" put upon them by the Christian community. As Jesus said, "If the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men" (Matthew 5:13). Because the Church has failed to be the salt of California, the salt has now become good for nothing and has been cast out and trodden under foot by the Supreme Court of California. The Judges on the Court have no fear of the people, because the Christians have given them nothing to fear about. As Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. said, "So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an arch-defender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as they are." The silence of the Church has directly led to our leaders being free to be as lawless as they please, having no reason at all to "fear the people." Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. said: "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it." This truth is simply a practical application of the command the Church has been given in Ephesians 5:11 to "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness; but rather reprove them." Therefore, we can conclude that the Church is responsible for our government's decisions due to our inaction in holding them accountable by causing them to fear the Church. Our leaders should be crying out as they did with the Apostles in Acts 17:6, "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also!" The Church must return to being a threat to the forces of evil in our government and in our society. A more recent example of protests working in California can be seen in 2006. In 2006, the Slavic and Romanian churches in Sacramento began to publicly protest immoral legislation. They specifically targeted 3 pro-sodomy bills and organized 3 or 4 major protests, drawing hundreds, sometimes thousands, of Christians to publicly show their opposition to immorality in our laws. Governor Schwarzenegger "feared the people" and vetoed (stopped) every single bill that the Christians publicly protested against. As a direct reaction to the people's protest, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed two of the bills less than 24 hours after a protest was held at the Capitol on September 27th, 2006. Yes, protests work. Another example, also in 2006, was when hundreds of Slavic Christians showed up to a Sacramento City Unified School District Board meeting, where the Board was planning to officially endorse (support) the radical pro-sodomy "Day of Silence". Christians protested outside and spoke to the board inside, resulting in media coverage which exposed the evil deeds the SCUSD Board plans. The result was a complete dropping of all plans to endorse the Day of Silence. Also, the Board has never tried to pass an endorsement of the Day of Silence since then, because "they feared the people." A final example can be seen in the final result of Day of Silence protests throughout 2006-2008. In these past years, Christian students in public high schools have protested against the "Day of Silence" by wearing t-shirts with Bible verses. Hundreds of Christian students were suspended for their public opposition to sin, resulting in protests outside of the school, often for weeks after the Day of Silence. But it wasn't until 2008 that Christians finally saw a victory, directly resulting from their public protests the prior years. At Rio Linda High School, where hundreds of protesters lined the streets to oppose the suspension of Christian students for wearing Bible t-shirts in 2007, all Bible t-shirts were allowed this year. Not a single suspension resulted from the dozens of Christian students who wore their t-shirts again this year. When phone calls flood the office, when protesters line the streets, when hundreds of students are suspended, when media cameras expose the persecution of Christian students, the governing leaders learn to "fear the people" and do the right thing. Protests work.
Further Resources:
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" – An excellent letter explaining the rationale for Reverend King's public protests.
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
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