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We had counter-demonstrators down at Nichols’ fountain this last Sunday afternoon.
4 or 5 Squeaky clean young adults carrying commercially made signs saying “Hate Terrorism – Not Bush” and “Bush in 2004” and "Freedom has a Price" (although that one wasn’t commercially made). They refused my flyer for Eyes Wide Open, which is at the central KC public library this week, even though I told them it is for the community to honor the dead American soldiers, so I asked them if they were planning on enlisting or volunteering, because I can honor what they say they value in this war if they enlist, if they show commitment. Apparently the answer was no because they started in on Kerry for voting against the $87 million. They said the lives of the soldiers should be so important that nothing should be more important than funding them. I pointed out that Republicans and the president rejected an $87 million funding bill because it came out of the tax cuts, so why doesn’t that principle apply to them also? No answer.
When we got to my personal motives for being there with my signs, I started to say that those who are crushed by the mighty, especially the innocent who are killed and maimed, are Jesus, literally Jesus. This is the model we see in the life of Christ. It's why Jesus suffered, rather than just simply being killed and then rising from the dead. He was trying to show us how we treat the "disempowered". One young Bushie interrupted me, he was wearing a Jesus t-shirt; he said, “How dare you bring Jesus into this . . . . Jesus doesn’t have anything to do with terrorists .. . .” and some other stuff. I was so shocked, I asked him if he owns Jesus.
The rest of the afternoon, I held forth in my loud street voice, reminding these young men to enlist or volunteer now, and also saying that those who are crushed by the mighty, innocents killed in the WTC and in Iraq right now, are Jesus amongst us today. Many people in cars waiting for the light, and walking by on the sidewalk nodded and smiled. Oh BTW, my homemade sign said “Who died and made George “god”? = Blasphemy”.
The Bush supporter in the Jesus t-shirt mocked me when I said these things in my big street voice; he went “Kaw, kaw, kaw” like a bird several times. When he and his friend left they drove by me, mocking again, and I could see that the back of their car was plastered with Kobach (Rep running against our 3rd Dist Dem here in KS) stickers.
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