I was sitting in the bus shelter on Friday waiting for the bus and the sun was shining on the birch trees across the road. It felt warm too as it shone directly on to my face. That really gave me hope that it will soon be warmer every day and that as the wheel of the year turns so does everything else in the world.
Which brings me to protests and the hope they give. So what does the word protest mean. According to one definition given, it is an action expressing disapproval or objection to something. We have seen protests over many hundreds of years and they have not all been successful and some have been violent and left deep emotional scars.
So what does a protest hope to achieve? I expect than in many cases those protesting hope to achieve change in whatever they are protesting about. If we take fracking, then the protesters hope to stop it altogether and hope to get the authorities involved to change their minds.
If we look at the huge protests over this weekend what do they hope to achieve? I expect many of those involved just want their voices to be heard and to send a message to those in power that they are not happy with what is going on. They want to have an input to any change in their lives and they want to know that those in power are doing their best for everyone not just the rich and powerful.
But most of all, I feel that protests give us hope. They allow us to state our own beliefs and to state that we do not like what is going on and maybe give us a chance to offer an alternative. Being able to protest also lets us know that we live in a free country with freedom of speech. To lose that would not be a good thing at all. There is more I could write but I like to just write enough to jog you into your own thinking about these things. So what do you think about protests? Are they good or bad? Would you join in one? Do they give you hope for a better world?
Walking the Druid Path 