There Is A Cost

"Why do you want to get arrested?"

We do not want to get arrested, we want to talk and share our experiences and our humanity. We want to find commonality and strive toward reconciliation. Fifteen minutes ago there was silence, now there are dozens of conversations lining the sidewalk in front of your campus. Ten arrests is a small price to pay.

That was my experience outside of Bethany Lutheran University in Mankato, Minnesota on the 2007 Equality Ride. As you know from my blog, the Equality Ride is in full swing again this year and the cost cannot be underestimated.

It is a core tenet of Soulforce to always hold out the possibility for dialogue and reconciliation even under the gravest circumstances. This is not a pre-arrest peptalk that we pay lip service to, but a lived and experienced truth of non-violence. Early on the 2008 Ride, administrators at Liberty University told organizers that no riders would be allowed on campus, when the bus arrived in Lynchburg, five young adults made it on to campus, donated books to the library and spoke with students. When you put your body on the line, mountains (sometimes disguised as police tape) can move.

Neither is willingness to submit to arrest an inspiring selling point, it is sacrifice. Today at Palm Beach University, six young adults put their body on the line in hopes of dialogue. The night prior, their bus door was smashed in, yet they continued undeterred. They refused to give up on the administrators and offered them a chance to respond with love to the end. Not only were they arrested; Danni, Enzi, Nicholas, Zak, and Lauren will spend tonight in a West Palm Beach jail. Think of them.

More photos and the full press release available.