Today is what initiators have entitled "March for Unity" also known as the Women's March. I'm sure that, after the divisiveness and contention during the recent presidential election, there is good reason to have such an event. I'm also sure that most of the people who have been instrumental in planning it have had the very best of intentions. (And this is where you say- BUT...) However, it seems that incorporated in all of the many differences among the millions of people in the United States as well as all over the world, there is a difference in the definition of "unity" or "tolerance". Large-scale events like this march, which is being held primarily here in Washington, DC but also has large groups meeting in other cities, include people with a wide range of intentions. I have some examples from my personal experiences for illustration:
I was a teenager during the war in VietNam and my brother, along with many young men I knew, were being drafted and sent to fight in a war that most of us couldn't comprehend. I participated in marches and gatherings at SUNY Cortland and Cornell University protesting the war. I don't wish to speak for anyone else there. I just know that, for me, all I wanted was to join a crowd trying to get attention to demand that our friends and family members be returned home from that distant land. I really didn't understand anything about the cause or ramifications of the war or what that country meant to our country. I just didn't want war. I had no hidden agenda or desire to get more creative in causing chaos.
Every Oct. 31, kids in the USA get excited to dress up in costumes, maybe be in parades, and maybe ride in fire trucks but mostly, go trick-or-treating for as much candy as can be carried or collected in the time allotted to travel door to door. Often, the kids start eating their treats before they get home but when they do finally get home, parents often will check the "stash" for anything they don't want their children to have or even sometimes something the parents want for themselves! One Halloween when our family was young and financially struggling, I had made popcorn balls because that was the cheapest treat I could furnish for the many children expected on our street in the village. Late in the evening, a group of 3 teenage boys came to the door with some color smeared on their faces and carrying pillowcases. These were hardly what you could call "costumes". I was nearly out of popcorn balls and was a bit miffed that these guys were more interested in getting free goodies than in actually joining the spirit of the holiday. I told them they were old enough to get jobs and buy their own candy. Afterward, we found eggs splattered and shaving cream smeared on our car. Too often, teenagers have used the holiday for an excuse to perform pranks, sometimes expensive and damaging.
A few years after that, there was a gathering of women in Seneca Falls, NY- home to and celebrating the women's right to vote movement many years prior. This was at the time of social issues such as abortion, Equal Rights Amendment, salary equality for genders, etc. Knowing that many women there would be in favor of all of those things, several of us from our local church attended to listen, learn, and participate in discussion. I really think that was the primary purpose of the gathering but I'm sure there were some there who hoped to persuade others to their point of view. Maybe we all did, but, unfortunately, not all of our points of view were the same despite the fact that we were female. I just hoped to balance out the more militant elements attending.
Several years later, there began to be lots of pressure to re-define the family as basically just a collection of people. This was due in part to the "coming out" of homosexuals but also included children being raised by grandparents because parents were on drugs or in jail as well as people deciding that they didn't have to get married just because there were children being produced and even a rise in divorce and blended families. The newspapers and all the media were widely proclaiming this more open definition which tended to cause the belittling and even scorn for the idea of an original father and mother, married, living with their children in the same house. Rather than the ideal situation, this was becoming undesirable. As a result, several people throughout the wider community called for a gathering to support the traditional family. We met in a public square and simply talked about how beneficial we felt it was to children and the community as a whole to encourage traditional families and mostly avoided talking about the other issues other than trying to mention being understanding and tolerant. Surrounding our "group" were some quite outspoken people- mostly young adults- who wanted to use this as an occasion to accuse us of being homophobic and intolerant. Most of the people in the family group were religious of one tradition or other and were far from being hateful or intolerant. But the outlying group wasn't listening.
Having described these different experiences, I would say that this March for Unity is for a good cause but I'm sure it will be used for and interpreted as many different causes. There will be some here who are really just trying to send a message to our new President Donald Trump because he has publicly expressed some very intolerant opinions. There will be some who are hoping to pick a fight with whoever they disagree with despite the title of the event. There will probably even be some who are paid by someone to promote some agenda or other. There will also be some, hopefully the majority, who simply want to express their desire that our country not be so contentious. Those who don't actually attend but sit on the sidelines observing will probably be everything from supportive to highly critical- again each having their own perspective on the intent of those participating. As spectators, including the media, express opinions they have the opportunity to either help heal our nation or further heat up anger and cause divisions. The change to peace will not come by any form of law. It has to come within people's hearts as they interact, being willing to listen as well as shout.
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