IS PROTEST THE ANSWER? Why The Surge in Protests? Many protests are ignited by the following : * DISSATISFACTION WITH SOCIAL SYSTEMS. When people believe that the local government and economy serve their needs, there is little desire to protest-people work within the existing order to address their problems. On the other hand, when people feel that those systems are corrupt and unjust and rigged in favor of a select few, conditions are ripe for social unrest. * A TRIGGER. Often, an event moves people to action, to change from resignation to a belief that they must do something As the Bible long ago acknowledged we live in "a world where some people have power and others have to suffer under them." (Ecclesiastes 8:9). “All this I have seen, and there was an applying of my heart to every work that has been done under the sun, during the time that man has dominated man to his injury." Corruption and injustice are even more widespread today than they were back then. Indeed, people are more aware than ever before of how political and economic systems have failed them. Smartphones, the internet , and 24 hour news broadcasts now allow events even in isolated places to trigger a response over a large area. What have protests accomplished? Proponents of social unrest would claim that protests have accomplished the following: * PROVIDED RELIEF FOR THE POOR. In 1930 during the Great Depression, city officials suspended evictions and arranged for some of the rioters to get work. Similar protests in New York City restored 77,0000 evicted families to their homes. * ADDRESSED INJUSTICE. 1955/1956 boycott of city buses in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.A., led to the overturning of laws for segregated seating in buses. * STOPPED CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS. In December 2011, tens of thousands of people protested the construction of a coal-fired power plant near Hong Kong because of concerns about pollution, so the project was canceled. Of course protesters do not always get what they want. Even when protesters accomplish their aims, the aftermath invariably brings new problems. IS THERE A BETTER WY? The Bible offers a solution to injustice, corruption, and oppression. It describes a government that God has set up in heaven that will replace the failed political and economic systems that lead to protest. A prophecy about the Ruler of this government says: "He will deliver the poor one crying for help, also the afflicted one and whoever has no helper. From, oppression and from violence he will redeem their out." --Psalm 72:12,14.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 21:57:03 +0000
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