| I've listed a number of reasons why turning our backs on Pastor Warren is the easiest and most effective form of protest.
1. It's easy.
2. Anyone can do it.
3. It's a universal gesture with easily understood meaning.
4. It doesn't imply membership in any particular group or community.
5. It doesn't require the extra step of acquiring or purchasing a prop.
6. It doesn't require knowledge or skills that have to be learned or taught.
7. The act itself doesn't require any coordination from a leader to make it effective or meaningful. People can and will do it spontaneously without being directed to.
8. There are no preconditions to participation other than agreeing with the purpose of the protest and knowing that it is happening. People can even participate from home if they want.
9. The gesture is respectful and dignified and cannot be portrayed by the press as angry, hostile, or intolerant.
10. It's still a meaningful form of protest even if only a few people participate.
11. It's easy to persuade people in the crowd on the day of the inauguration to participate.
12. If a critical mass of people participate, others on the Mall who aren't even aware of the protest are likely to join merely because other people around them are doing it too.
13. If we can get a large enough number of signatories to the petition pledging to participate, we might even be able to persuade elected officials to join our protest.
I cannot think of any other form of protest which has all these wonderful benefits. That's why I'm asking you to sign my petition, and show your support for our campaign to turn our backs on Pastor Warren on Inauguration Day. Turning our backs would be a powerful symbol of our contempt for the politics of hate and would powerfully demonstrate to President-elect Obama that ordinary Americans believed in his vision of national unity and moral progress. To find out more about our protest and to sign the petition, go to www.TurnBackHate.com.
Cross posted at DailyKos. |
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