Ashes on the Games
On Ash Wednesday, February 17, close to 50 activists gathered at Saint Mark's College Chapel on the grounds of UBC. According to organizers, their purpose was to raise awareness of "the negative impacts of the Olympics on the poorest people in Vancouver."
The Student Christian Movement (SCM), a UBC club, was the sponsor of the protest. SCM members Emily Hopkins and Greg Williams sent CC.com a brief written account of the event:
"After joining the congregation at St. Mark's for a service and receiving ashes, we gathered, prayed and headed off to Thunderbird Arena, an Olympic venue -- carrying signs, reading scripture, singing hymns and chanting: 'Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, building homes now is a must!'
"One of the most surprising things was the police presence [outside] the mass itself, as well as the march. Many members of SCM have been involved in other actions critical of the Olympics during the past few days, and were shocked to find the police presence at Ash Wednesday to be higher and more threatening than any previous event.
"There were several police officers, cars, motorcycles, a truck and even a helicopter circling outside the mass, filming and observing even the parishioners who were not taking part in the march. At the final destination, police threatened to arrest several people, though none were.
"At Thunderbird, the participants in the march knelt and said the Lord's Prayer and sang songs praying to God to forgive us for our sins against the poor . . . The march brought together a diverse group of people, many who had never previously engaged in public protest, and empowered them to speak out against injustice."
Participants included members of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, and the Regent College Students' Association. Other Christian groups endorsing the march included Servants Vancouver and Streams of Justice (SOJ).
WEBLINK: streamsofjustice.org
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