An Accidental Protest

I don't have much to report philosophically, but I do have some potentially interesting updates on my trip.

One is to report how awesome Cornmarket Street is. It's a shopping street, so no cars drive on it, and there are many entertainers throughout. I took this video of a living statue there:

Other than that I have mostly been working my way as slowly and deliberately as possible through Fear and Trembling. This is about my third time reading it, so I want to be intentional about not missing things. I do a lot of work in Blackwell's book shop, though I will soon probably move to the Bodleian Library or New College.

The most interesting thing thus far, however, was my trip to London. I went on a walking tour of Westminster and was supposed to go to either a Churchill museum or the Globe Theatre to see All's Well that Ends Well. I got sidetracked, however, by an older gentleman dressed in a nice suit sitting next to several protest signs and tents across the street from Parliament (on the sidewalk of Parliament Square). I have to say that this was a much better way to spend my day in London.

The man, "Bunny," as he's been called since he was a boy, is 81 years old and has been coming to that place for about two days a week for the last six years. He has been a committed communist for much of his life but affirms a sort of heterodox theism. His mission? "Scrap the military" and "scrap capitalism," which he wrote on his last voting ballots.

Naturally, I found a fast friend.

But Bunny didn't start the protest. In fact, yesterday was the ten year anniversary of its creation by a man named Brian Haw. Brian is currently in Germany being treated for cancer, but until he had to leave he lived on the sidewalk spreading a message of peace, love, and justice. Since he left, others (like Bunny) have taken shifts watching the protest, and a woman named Barbara lives there 24/7. I met a lot of interesting characters there. To understand Bunny, think of the sweetest, kindest old man who attends your church. Then have him say that he is a communist and sprinkle in some "weak theology" from John D. Caputo (though he is not in the least concerned with postmodernism). He offered me some of his melted chocolate bar and several cookies. Other characters I met included Eddy Boyce, a man deeply convinced of the workings of the Illuminati and other mysterious and ominous powers of control. He is perhaps the most violent man of peace I have ever met, but I say that in a positive sense. I also met a Muslim Palestinian named Sara, who was very kind and spoke about Islam and took us to Tesco, another older couple whose names currently escape me (they were met at the end), and Barbara.

What was the most fascinating part of this protest? Well, the group of protestors represented a huge managerie of differing theologies, suspicions, and even approaches to peace. But their unifier was ultimately Brian Haw. From what I am told, Haw had always expressed his protest as an outflowing of his understanding of Christianity. Bunny said he often quoted Scripture and encouraged the others to take up their cross when harrassed by the police, bums, or drivers. The one thing that ultimately unified all of these people was their deep care for Haw. In him they saw authenticity and the Gospel. As Bunny said, we must always take up our cross and never forget the resurrection.

The day was wild. This is perhaps the strangest part. Alongside Haw's protest signs are a few other camps that, if viewed from the road, seem indistinguishable. When I asked Bunny why the others weren't at the Haw protest, he told me quite a story. Parliament Square is a large, grassy lawn surrounded by statues of major British figures like Churchill. However, when I went there the area was fenced off with a sign that apologized for the temporary inconvenience. Bunny said up until two years ago the protest was on the lawn. A group claiming to be for democracy and peace showed up one day and soon began stirring up violence and unrest. The result was moving everyone to the sidewalk and blocking off the Square. I asked how the group could have done that if they were committed to peace. He said they are "drunks and bums" hired by the police to badger and harrass the Haw protestors to get away from Parliament.

I must say that I was initially skeptical. Sometimes misunderstandings happen, and two years is a long time to nurse enmity. However, after Eddy came around, a man walked over and started trying to provoke Eddy to react (I must say that from the little I know of Eddy's vicious rhetoric, I am impressed that he managed to contain himself). Bunny asked if he was from the other group, and the man responded quite coldly. I asked him if he was committed to peace. He said yes, but had nothing to say about it and immediately began pushing Eddy around again for no reason whatsoever. Eventually, he dropped a bottle of wine on the sidewalk which caused everyone to jump. He said he was making his point and left.

It was honestly quite frightening. He was a very unpredictable individual, but one thing was clear: peace was not on the agenda. Eddy further explained to me that they will often drink in front of the protesters to make them look like drunks and bums and sometimes go to the bathroom behind the Haw tents. Of course, all of this is done right across the street from Parliament in full view of the police. Brian and Barbara have both been beaten by them.

So that's how I spent my London experience protesting the Iraq War for four hours with a communist, an anarchist (though Eddy doesn't like labels), two muslims, an older couple, and a mom with a mission (Barbara). Though personally I am still a bit unsure of some of their oppositional rhetoric and would prefer Berry's vision in "The Purpose of a Coherent Community" in The Way of Ignorance, I found them all to be incredibly hospitable, inviting, loving, and committed to peace.

This is the website to follow everything that is going on there. Please pray for peace in the world and for Brian's health as he is treated for cancer in Germany. And if you're feeling really ambitious, go there--or donate!

Bunny said he'll be back there Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of next week. I may go visit him again.