The following report is compiled
from first-hand accounts by World Can’t Wait organizers in Jackson, as well as from the Jackson Clarion-Ledger (“5 abortion
opponents arrested”, 7/17/06).
Unrelenting Drive For Theocracy – And the Need to Bring This to a Halt
July 16: Today said much about the
relentlessness with which Operation Save America and their allies in the White
House, Congress, and judiciary are seeking to impose a theocracy on the whole
country.
The morning began with the
Unitarian Universalist Church hosting a pro-choice forum that brought together
activists and progressive people from Jackson
and others who had come from around the country to defend Mississippi’s last abortion clinic. Operation Save America’s attempt to shut down
the state’s last clinic has also compelled many people to act to defend what
they see as a basic women’s right, without which women cannot be free or equal
members of society. And to one degree or
another, everyone recognizes that this is not just about a small group of
religious fanatics and one clinic, but that the very future of society is at
stake right now.
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The Bush agenda, for which OSA
serves as storm-troops on the ground, is about not only overturning Roe v. Wade
(as horrible as that would be), but banning birth control, imposing a narrow
and hateful brand of Christian fundamentalism as the law of the land, and using
all this as part of its rationale for global empire. So the fact that in the face of this, pockets
of resistance are developing that include everyone from church ministers, outspoken
Black women in Jackson, university professors, long-time pro-choice activists,
and youth awakening to the ugly reality of where this society is headed is a
good thing – and says much about the potential for Thursday, October 5 to be a
day when all across the country, people gather in the streets to bring the Bush
agenda to a halt.
Leaving No Stone Unturned
Nonetheless, a Unitarian
Universalist Church opening its doors to pro-choice people was more than OSA
could tolerate (they do, after all, wear t-shirts that read “Homosexuality
is a sin. Islam is a lie. Abortion is murder.”). OSA members showed up at the church in the
morning with their fake pictures of “fetuses”, shouting over bullhorns, and
even attempting to get inside the church to disrupt not only the pro-choice
forum, but the church service as well. They
even sent in two “undercover” OSA members who made it into the church and went
on to preach their narrow Christian fundamentalist worldview, which, when
challenged, could not stand any test of reality.
All this was a big wake up call
to anyone who thought that theocracy wouldn’t encroach on progressive pockets –
OSA doesn’t intend to leave a stone unturned.
Sunday church services had to be defended by pro-choice activists
putting their bodies between the Unitarian Universalist and the OSA – with one
person even being hit by an OSA member’s car.
(It should be noted that this is in stark contrast to the Democrats
utter lack of opposition to the assaults on the right to choose, letting people
like Alito and Roberts get on the Supreme Court with the sorriest of excuses.)
Stepping back from this
particular experience, we can see how it’s not only with OSA in Jackson that
theocrats are ramming their agenda down everyone’s throats – the highest court
in the liberal state of New York just refused to allow gay couples to get
married, a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage received 49 votes in
the Senate and the full support of the White House, abortion is being banned in
one state after another, and the Supreme Court is being stacked with Justices
set on overturning Roe v. Wade. These
people are relentless, and will not confine their agenda to the “red states”,
but firmly believe that America
(including the “blue states”) must be radically reshaped in conformity with
their worldview.
Threats From Dangerous Religious Fanatics
Not only did OSA attempt to
disrupt the church services, but they went on to threaten the minister, calling
her a “fake minister” and saying their protest was aimed at her. To OSA, the most repulsive thing is the
notion that a church leader would believe in tolerance and equality, and
theocrats like them are on a mission to purge anything progressive from
churches. Later, five OSA members were
arrested outside the St. James Episcopal Church because
nearby business owners complained about their disruption, leading Flip Benham,
their lead, to complain of being victimized by the police.
All this points to what’s ahead
in the next week in Jackson, and in the coming months throughout society – nothing short of an all-out political struggle whose outcome will determine
whether the right to abortion exists, whether or not we live under a theocracy,
whether or not torture, new wars and war crimes become legitimized, and
more. The outcome of this has everything
to do with whether people who want to bring the Bush agenda to a halt step out
of the confines of compromise and common ground being by the Democrats – in Jackson this week, and
even more importantly on October 5th across the county. The potential is there in the widespread
feeling of disgust for this regime, but needs to be galvanized all summer
through uncompromising resistance – which is exactly why we set out on this bus
tour, and exactly what brought us to Jackson
this week.