Making change happen

"change happens when those who do not normally speak are heard by those who do not normally listen"

I do not know the providence or origin of that quotation and neither does Google but it says something important. It can apply in many different situations.

As a Christian it is a core part of my faith to speak out on issues of concern, especially peace and justice.

The quotation rings true but the more important question is how can people make their voice heard today? Most people are by nature fair and are instinctively compassionate. How can these feelings be translated into expressing concern about the things that matter and in a way that will be heard by those who can make a difference.

In an age of Internet dominated technology is there still a role for the protest march or meeting? Or have they been relegated to only being relevant to parochial issues such as preserving local landmarks?  I have taken part in huge public demonstrations against going to war in Iraq and to highlight the consequences of climate change. But these happened on Saturdays and achieved little media coverage. It is a day when the Television news doesn't have normal length bulletins and the following days newspapers have more features and magazine articles than news. Unless there is violence the media do not seem to be interested. And if there is some violence of vandalism, the actions of a few can be used as a distraction from the concerns of the majority. The lack of media coverage meant that the heartfelt message of all those thousands who turned out was only seen by the shoppers and drivers who were inconvenienced as we walked down their streets.No matter the rightness of their cause, if it is not picked up by the media then it will remain unheard.

I am sceptical of online petitions and wonder if they do any good. My cynical self suggests that they make aspiring activists feel good by creating the allusion of doing something for a cause. It may be the case that these so called online petition sites are part of a conspiracy to diffuse activists: they let people think they are making a difference whereas an online click may be nothing more than that. How do trust the integrity of any site on which you register an opinion.

Do emails sent directly to the government actually get through? Are they read? Or do they have a program that automatically recognises activist email as spam and sends an automated response. (I have received several.) They may not even measure the number of messages in their inbox.

The only thing that I can guarantee being heard is to get out an envelope and postage stamp and send a real letter to your own Member of Parliament. MPs know how few people bother to write letters these days so when they get a few real letters on a subject they will take notice and do something. They are much less easy to ignore. So if you want your voice to be heard get retro! Buy some postage stamps!