After days of letting it all sink in, Ive decided to write about the March. As with the Gospel accounts there were serval conflicting viewpoints, and I sure there will be conflicting several viewpoints about the March. So, if I misstated anything or didnt accurately describe an event please let me know. Im also looking forward to reading other peoples report on the March.
Although the threat of rain loomed upon us, I never considered it would dampen our spirits. Granted, not many like to stand out in the rain for hours, but we were prepared for the rain and knew that too much effort went into the March for rain to stop us. It all turned out well - No rain.
Before I headed toward the rendezvous I walked down Cadmen Plaza and saw two tour buses and a group of people standing outside the restaurant we made dinner reservations for. Initially I said "Oh good, we have bus loads of folks for the March." But as I got closer I noticed men wearing ties and suit jackets, and concluded that they must be tourist visiting Bethel. It turned out they were, as their name tags indicated they were Dubs from some where in Europe. As I walked through the crowd I had a lamb visibly tied on my back pak, I turned around to see if the tourist noticed. They did, in fact most of them just stared in amazement. Walking further along, I turned back again and they were still staring. Apparently the word is out about the Silentlambs :) A little lamb is such a powerful icon.
Walking down the Brooklyn promenade, I saw a group of people with banners, and I knew this was the right group. I headed towards the bench and got my highly anticipated Silentlamb T-shirt. The introductions began as soon as I turned around. "Hi my name is...Do you post on Simons board?...What name do you post as...etc." I would name all the people I meet but I forgot a few names and I dont want to leave anybody out, so I thank ALL those present for being so wonderful to me and my family, who later showed up during dinner. And I want to thank all those for supporting the victims.
A program for the March was handed out along with a copy of the cover of the 11/01/02 Watchtower entitled "Why Should I Apologize." The time approached for us to stop mingling and get down to the business at hand. When we headed off the promenade we were greeted by three police scooters and several police officers ready to escort us down Columbia Heights. All it took was one person to start chanting a anti-BORG slogan before the rest followed. It was obvious that these slogan were created on the fly or extemporaneous, but when I heard a booming "1-2-3-4" I knew somebody had protesting expereince :) Some of the slogans were "1-2-3-4 No more pedophiles at our door"; "1234 Silent Lambs are going to roar!"; "1-2-3-4, silentlambs no more!"; and my favorite "J.R. Brown must go down!"
After walking about seven blocks we were in front of the headquarters. But before we turned the corner to reach the front gates, we saw some WT reps running to close and lock the gates, and as we looked up we saw some Dubs looking out the windows. Bill started speaking through the bull horn and started giving out courage awards to some of the victims. They made their heart felt testimonies and everybody gathered around to hear them. All the while the BORG was sending out Reps to the side gate to bring in the media. An opportunity was given to anyone who wanted to make a statement, thats when we heard the shocking news accusing Jaracz of sexually assaulting someone. Equally shocking was the alleged claim that Jaracz is part of a demonic cult, involved in ritual abuse, as well as grooming children for sex. As soon as these brave Silentlambs mentioned Jaracz and the allegations, a silent occurred. Everyone stopped what they were doing to hear more. As was mentioned in other post, the victims are very credible. They were visibly shaken by giving their testimony.
After those testimonies Bill walked to the gate to give the WT Reps a lamb. He was calling them out but they would not come out. He started ringing the intercom and still no response. When someone was coming out of the gate he tried to talk with them and give them a lamb, but they turned their back and went back in the building. All the while we started to leave lambs at the steps of the headquarters but the police officer said we could not do it - it would be littering. Someone quickly said "yeah, but they can leave their unwanted literature at peoples doors." Someone again said "what about those lambs they are already there?" The officer said "I didnt see anyone put them there," then she told us we had to stand a certain distance off the property.
Thats when we went across the street and noticed a few lambs on the fence. Then we just started emptying out our bags and filling the fence with stuffed lambs. A beautiful sight indeed!
Bill announced the March was over and we walked back to our starting point before we went to dinner. The association during dinner was great, as was reported there was about 80 people there. Service was excellent and the American cuisine was good.
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Some random thoughts -
Being at the March you could really feel the pain of the victims. Many people just started crying at different points of the March.
This is the initial confrontation with the BORG regrading this issue - More will come. The important thing about any demonstration is the follow up.
Individual conflicts need not apply - The cause will far outweigh any insecurities we may have. Its all about the victims, and the future people who could be spared from being a victim.
The March turned out BETTER than I imagined. Most movements in its infancy stage takes years to build, but we did pretty good for the first one against child abuse policies of the BORG.
Some visiting protester were surprised at the nice people they meet in NYC. Let me just say - NYC isnt like the NYC you see in the movies or TV.
I went jogging today wearing my Silentlamb T-shirt. It makes for a great witness if we could wear our t-shirts in the public.
For what its worth, I thought about this acronym for silentlambs - S.L.A.M.(b) ~ Silent Lamb Action Movement
I look forward to the next March - where ever it may be.
As I was in the midst of things I couldnt help but to acknowledge the power of the internet. The BORG never figured their downfall would have been via the internet - Otherwise they would have applied the internet with their 100 + years of false prophesies.
Thanks to all supporters of the March - Those who were there and those who were not.
Much Love - Larry