{"id":4565,"date":"2021-03-28T12:52:19","date_gmt":"2021-03-28T12:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2021\/03\/28\/protest-parade-and-state-sponsored-violence\/"},"modified":"2021-03-28T12:52:19","modified_gmt":"2021-03-28T12:52:19","slug":"protest-parade-and-state-sponsored-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2021\/03\/28\/protest-parade-and-state-sponsored-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cProtest Parade and State Sponsored Violence\u201d based on\u00a0 Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 and Mark 11:1-11 for Palm Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Because
\nof the work of Marcus Borg and John Dominic Cross in \u201cThe Last
\nWeek\u201d I have been convinced that the first \u201cPalm Sunday\u201d parade
\nwas an intentional protest in response to increased military presence
\nin Jerusalem of the Roman Empire for Passover. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Those
\nwho have been listening to me preach for years are familiar with this
\nconcept, and this year I’ll be taking it in a new direction, but
\nfirst I want to bring everyone else on board with this idea, as it
\ncan sound quite different from what I learned in Sunday School as a
\nkid.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\nthink the key to understanding the protest is to think about
\nPassover, and what it is. \u00a0Passover is a Jewish holiday celebrating
\nGod’s work to free God’s people from oppression from a foreign
\ngovernment when they felt powerless to help themselves. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So
\nit might not be surprising that the Roman Empire, which had power and
\ncontrol over the Ancient Jewish lands, got a little bit uncomfortable
\nwhen the city was overrun with devout Jews celebrating Passover. \u00a0Nor
\nwould it be particularly surprising that Passover was a time when
\npeople tried to reclaim autonomy, the faith of their ancestors, the
\nsanctity of their Temple, and the right to the fruits of their labor.
\n After all, the Hebrew Bible itself sets a rich vision for a just
\nsociety, and the ways that wealth flowed from the poor to the rich in
\nthe Roman Empire (and every empire before, during, and since) was the
\nOPPOSITE of that vision.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It
\nmight even be good to remember that in 66 CE the was a revolt by the
\nJewish population that lasted for 4 years. \u00a0The final result was the
\ndestruction of Jerusalem along with the Second Temple, and hundreds
\nof thousands of deaths. \u00a0So the Roman Empire’s perception of threat
\nwasn’t actually wrong. \u00a0The city and its many many Passover pilgrims
\nwere primed for revolt.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And
\nthat’s why the Roman governor came to Jerusalem from his normal digs
\non the Mediterranean along with horses, flags, music, and a
\nsignificant number of soldiers prepared to take down riots. It was an
\nintentional show of force, meant to tamp down revolutionary
\nenthusiasm as well as efficiently deal with anyone who dared to start
\nanything. \u00a0All of this is not unlike crucifixion itself which was a
\nparticularly horrid form of capital punishment done in public to
\nthose who lead VIOLENT REVOLTS against the Roman Empire to attempt to
\ndiscourage others from doing so.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The
\nGovernor’s procession came in the West gate, as the Governor’s home
\nwas to the west of the city. \u00a0The big shiny military parade was an
\nannual event, something easy to anticipate. \u00a0So, Jesus and his
\nfollowers staged a counter-parade coming in from the East gate.
\nInstead of flags with the golden eagle of Rome, the people waved Palm
\nbranches \u2013 the symbol of ancient Judea. \u00a0Instead of \u201cHail Caesar,
\nprince of peace\u201d the people shouted \u201cHosanna\u201d which means \u201cGod
\nsave us!\u201d \u00a0And let’s be clear, \u201cGod save us from our oppressors.\u201d
\n(The name Jesus and the word \u201cHosanna\u201d come from the same Hebrew
\nroot. \u00a0Jesus literally means \u201cGod saves.\u201d) \u00a0They went on to say,
\naccording to Mark, \u201cBlessed is the one who comes in the name of the
\nLord! \u00a0 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna
\nin the highest heaven!“ \u00a0 Instead of being passively awed by the
\ndisplay of violent capacity as in the western parade, the people put
\ntheir lives on the line by laying their outer garments (often the
\nonly protection they had from the elements) on the road for Jesus’s
\ncolt to walk on. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So,
\nto cut to the chase, Jesus appears to be staking a claim to the
\nrightful kingship of Israel, which suggests that then the Roman
\nEmpire is not the rightful king. \u00a0Jesus is having a protest against
\nthe Empire. \u00a0BUT, it was a NONVIOLENT one, just so we’re clear.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

According
\nto the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus also engaged in a protest at the
\nTemple complex. \u00a0Both protests appear to have been wildly popular,
\nand the people were following Jesus and claiming him as God’s
\ndeliverer (read: save-r). \u00a0Thus, the authorities got scared. \u00a0Thus,
\nthey started to work to take him down, disperse his movement, and
\nthreaten any who would try to follow in his footsteps as leader.
\nThus the death on the cross even though the protests were NONVIOLENT.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Not
\nto give the ending away, but the presence of Jesus followers
\nremembering and embodying this story 2000 years later is a good
\nindication that the Roman Empire may have had the power to kill
\nJesus, but it didn’t have the power to stop the Body of Christ. \u00a0But,
\nalas, I get a week ahead of myself.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Most
\nyears I like to contrast the ways of God from the ways of Rome, and
\nto clarify that there was nothing particularly wrong with the Roman
\nEmpire \u2013 it is the way that pre-industrial agricultural domination
\nsystems work \u2013 and at the core it is the way ALL domination systems
\nwork, and for reasons I don’t entirely understand, humanity was WAY
\ninto domination systems.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But
\nthis year, the story of Jesus engaging in acts of public protest, and
\nas a result having the authorities of the day send a violent guard to
\ngrab him in the middle of the night, convict him based on false
\ntestimony, and kill him in a way the State itself said was unjust
\n(PEACEFUL revolt) is all just hitting too close to home.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last
\nsummer the Governor put in place an executive order, in response to
\nBlack Lives Matter protests, \u00a0requiring each local government in N.Y.
\nState to adopt a policing reform
\nplan that will maintain public safety while building mutual trust and
\nrespect between police and the communities they serve. I have been
\npaying attention to what has happened in Schenectady and it is NOT
\nGOOD.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here
\nin Schenectady, well after activists had release 13 demands1<\/sup><\/a>
\nthat included an end to knee holds on people’s heads or necks, a
\nvideo was released of a police officer using a knee hold during an
\narrest.2<\/sup><\/a>
\n In response to outcry, the police banned<\/b> knee holds. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What
\nfollowed was a fraught process that added up to the police pushing
\nthrough the police department’s OWN ideas of what police reform
\nshould look like. \u00a0Which a problem. \u00a0No one can claim things are OK
\nhere. \u00a0We are not, after all, a city without a record of our own \u2013
\nAndrew Kearse was a man of color who died in police custody in 2017.
\nWe know we have parts of our city that are profoundly over-policed.
\nWe know that the police end up being called into situations with
\nmental health crises, and are not trained or capable of responding,
\nand things go very badly. That is why there is a desire to move some
\nof the police funding to social workers who can respond with
\ntraining!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This
\npast week, our city council passed the police reform report put
\nforward by the police department. \u00a0Upon careful inspection the ban on
\nknee holds on people’s heads and necks \u2026. as been revoked. \u00a0Knee
\nholds are, apparently, back in. \u00a0Similarly, there is something called
\n\u201cpain control\u201d that I didn’t even want to google, but refers to
\ncontrolling people by hurting them. \u00a0I’m quite confident that this
\nisn’t the way humans treat people that they see as fellow humans,
\nmuch less God’s beloveds.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It
\nall feels to me to be far too familiar to the Jesus story. \u00a0Jesus was
\ninconvenient to people in authority. \u00a0He empowered \u201cnobodies.\u201d
\nHe helped the community work together. \u00a0He questioned authority,
\nincluding questioning economic practice. \u00a0He stood up for God’s
\nvisions, God’s people, God’s dreams of justice. \u00a0And it was so
\nthreatening that they killed him to silence him.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Friends,
\nI have on some of my worse days, had to hold down a person who was in
\nthe midst of a crisis to prevent the person from harming self or
\nothers. \u00a0I hate it. \u00a0It turns my stomach, even years later, to think
\nabout it. \u00a0But we were able to stop him without harming him, or
\nputting pressure on his head or neck. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And
\nmany, many, MANY times in my life I have responded to people in the
\nmidst of crises, people hijacked by their amygdalas, people out of
\ntheir own control. \u00a0And 99.something% of the time, people can regain
\ncontrol with just TALKING. \u00a0There is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED to dehumanize
\nanyone, accused of any crime, by seeking to control their actions
\nwith pain or with a knee on their head or neck. \u00a0EVER. \u00a0We need to
\nkeep talking about this \u2013 to each other, to the police chief, to
\nthe mayor, to city council, AND to the governor’s office. \u00a0The plan
\nsubmitted by our city is NOT sufficient police reform for our
\ncommunity.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Next
\nweek we will be celebrating Easter, God’s incredible powers of life
\nthat overcome even death. \u00a0But this week we need to be unsettled by
\nthe world’s powers of death, and violence, and who they’re used
\nagainst. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jesus
\nwas the victim of state sponsored violence. \u00a0Who else is like him,
\ntoday? \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n

1<\/a>http:\/\/www.allofusuntitledandfree.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/a>https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/07\/09\/us\/schenectady-police-officer-knee-on-man-video\/index.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Because of the work of Marcus Borg and John Dominic Cross in \u201cThe Last Week\u201d I have been convinced that … Continue reading \u201cProtest Parade and State Sponsored Violence\u201d based on\u00a0 Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 and Mark 11:1-11 for Palm Sunday<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[28,33,1827,75,1826,230,1825,1828,56,64,1824],"class_list":["post-4565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-umc","tag-for-whom-do-the-police-work","tag-fumcschenectady","tag-nys-police-reform-mandate","tag-palm-sunday","tag-police-reform","tag-safety-first","tag-schenectady","tag-sorry-about-the-umc-world","tag-state-sponsored-violence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4565\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}