war against war

There has always been struggle against war. With every war there are protesters and people who do not agree with it, and therefore, don’t support the effort. Even though these people don’t believe in war, does it matter? How do they go about ending the war? Do they even have the power? People have fought to end wars in many ways. I will discuss a few of these attempts in this blog.

Passive protesting: I consider protesting through all forms of writing, such as songs, poetry, books, articles, petitions, etc., passive forms of protesting. Even though somewhat passive, they are still, however, effective and convincing. There is a group called Poets Against War. Their mission is to continue the tradition of socially engaged poetry by creating venues for poetry as a voice against war, tyranny and oppression (Poets Against War). Their website is Poetsagainstthewar.org; I would highly recommend reading some of the poems on the site. One I found interesting is called "Let Freedom Ring."

"it would be nice if it did ring,

but it doesn't

it explodes and makes a mess" (Red Cloud).

The author is critiquing the way we fight for freedom through war in his poetry. All forms of writing can be used as propaganda to end war.

Active protesting: I consider protesting through rallies, public demonstration, civil disobedience demonstrations etc., active forms of protesting. There are many ways to actively protest: marches, sit-ins, picketing, and many more. These forms of protesting are usually done in large groups or a single person in front of a large crowd. There is a website called protest.net that has lists of protest dates so everyone knows where and when to gather and also news articles explaining important issues (Upcoming Protests). Active protests encourage people to participate in the action and are effective to any viewer.

Protesting gone too far: While protesting against the war is usually meant to be peaceful, sometimes the protests become violent. An example of this occurred at the Republican Convention in St. Paul last September. A rally of anti-war protestors tried to break though police barricades to get to the convention center. Police fought back against the protestors using bicycles and eventually deploying pepper spray. (Violence).

Protesting is an effective way to fight against the war if it is done so peacefully. When Anti-war protestors begin fighting with police, or other people, they are no longer taken seriously. How can they argue against the war when they themselves use violence to get what they want? I encourage you to visit both of those websites I have listed and see how these people are going about protesting.

Works Cited

Cloud, Red. "Poets Against War." Nov 2008. Poets Against War. 5 Dec 2008 <http://poetsagainstthewar.org/>.

"Poets Against War." Nov 2008. Poets Against War. 5 Dec 2008 <http://poetsagainstthewar.org/>.

"Upcoming Protests." Protest. 5 Dec 2008. Protest Net. 5 Dec 2008 <http://Protest.Net/>.

"Violence Breaks out in Anti-War Protest in St. Paul." ABC News 01 Sept 2008 5 Dec 2008 <http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/violence-breaks.html>.