EDITOR’S NOTE: We are always hearing that we don’t provide views from the “other side”, so when I saw April Bailey’s social media post about her first-hand experience at the Pacific City No Kings 3 protest, I reached out and asked to share her perspective. She agreed to let us share this as part of our No Kings coverage. She said, “My hope and plan had been to talk to people at this protest about Christ and invite them to our church’s Easter Sunday service. As it happened my schedule did not allow me as much time to interact with the protesters. It is the love Christ that compelled me to stop anyways, by myself, and talk to them.Maybe not all of them were mere local neighbors, but all of them were my fellow Americans. AND, I do believe there are local issues many of us could come together and work on.”
By April Bailey
“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. “ Romans 12:21
My experience at the “No Kings” Protest in Pacific City, OR:
While I was impressed with the size of the crowd, about 30-40 people, I recognized zero protesters. In fact, many seemed to be on vacation for Spring Break. That said, the older couple I talked to were definitely local. I was able to engage with 3-4 of them, but I could tell most of them had no inclination in having a conversation. To be clear, my purpose was not political, but spiritual.
I took off my Ultra MAGA Hat, not in fear, but out of an attempt to build bridges. When I approached the still gathering group I asked a woman holding a “No more Maggots, End all Wars” sign, “Do you believe your fellow Americans are Maggots?” The response was not from this older woman but her husband. Out of respect for her and him, a Vietnam veteran, I will not repeat all the vile and ugly things he said to me. But he basically affirmed that yes, if you voted for President Trump you were a Maggot. And, several other people standing near by, including his wife, did not appreciate his rude behavior toward me. While this did encourage a younger man with a guitar to sing a folk-like political song directly at me, my conversation with this talented vocalist was encouraging. He did not recoil as I shared the gospel with him, and allowed me to pray for him and his daughter. He later was baffled at my counter statements to his “Jesus was an open border, tax evader” claims, but remained polite and kind. And what of the woman with the “No More Maggots” sign? I invited her to attend our local school budget committee meetings as she was convinced Trump ended ALL funding for Special Education. She educated me about the history of special education in our school district. I thanked her for her past activism on this issue and encouraged her to get back involved. Is America as divided as the media tells us? Maybe, but the protesters I talked to shared my concerns about education, overuse of technology by children and the need to protect children from sexual predators. The difference was they were focused on the perception of one man in our country not what they could actually do to fix the problems locally with people who they were willing to dehumanize rather than work with for solutions.
Friends, don’t let fear or disgust with general behavior and slogans stop you from loving your neighbor or talking to them. You might make a new friend or find a way to make a new coalition to overcome our actual problems in our neighborhoods. And maybe when you meet a bitter, angry person, speak truth in love and pray for them. They need King Jesus, as much as you do.