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We joined the Bradwell Pilgrimage on Saturday. It was an enjoyable day with people from the Diocese of Chelmsford and the Archbishop of York in attendance. I could bore you with numerous photographs, but this is my favourite:
Above: Man protesting about heretics who stop on the entrance markings at school drop-off and pick-up times. Also the Church of Rome.
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posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 1:35 am. Click here to read all of the latest posts.
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Thats brilliant! I think the trick here is to be in agreement with the person you are walking with, otherwise you run the risk of stopping in a no stopping zone! Very deep!
David, the great thing about your cartoons is that they are an affectionate reflection on your experiences of church. Though I’m not an Anglican and find some of your stuff incomprehensible, I recognise myself in much of what you do and I find it hilarious, if somewhat embarrassing. Laughing at ourselves is good and helps us to get some sense of balance.
However, I’m much less happy with you inviting us to laugh at someone else. Do you know this gentleman? Do you know his name, his family, the life experiences which have brought him to this point?
I don’t think that his protest was particularly subtle, effective or well made. However, I don’t think that this means he should have been photographed by a stranger (unless of course you do know him) and then exhibited on the internet to be laughed at. I really think that Christians of all strips can do better than this.
Yours, frantically tugging at the logs in my eyes.
Eddie,
Thanks for your comment. I’m reflecting on it.
Questions:
- Does holding a protest banner mean that you are fair game for having your picture taken?
- Are people who hold banners generally wanting their message to be seen by others?
- Should I have asked permission? (It wouldn’t have been easy to do so as I was in a moving procession, but I can’t deny that I could have stopped. I just chose not to.)
- ‘Inviting people to laugh’. Is my posting the photograph the issue, or my caption here/on Twitter/Facebook?
Would welcome the opinions of others.
Hi
I suggest that if you are holding a banner you are inviting attention, photographic or other, and also expecting othe people to challenge your views. I laughed at the picture, but not at the gentleman.
I too laughed at the picture (though not the gentleman), especially as being the mum of primary-school age children, I get extremely annoyed at those who DO park on the markings. Because I think they wouldn’t park there with this gentleman protesting!
I think Dave’s point in the caption was just the amusing image of a protestor standing there who appeared to be holding up two protest banners – not the content of the banner itself.
That’s how I took it anyway. I wasn’t laughing at the guy himself.
Incidentally, I was at the pilgrimage on Saturday and I noticed this protestor. I didn’t agree with his poster but I didn’t say anything. I also didn’t notice him standing under the “No stopping” sign so that just shows how observant I am!
There was something comic in the picture, but to my mind it is funny because of the ‘no stopping’ sign. When I saw it this morning I didn’t think I was being invited to laugh at the protester.
(provocatively) And what is wrong with laughing at fools?
[And for anyone who quotes me Matthew 5.22, I will see you, and raise you Matthew 23.17]
I had two thoughts…
1) was it not Wilde who said any publicity is good publicity
2) how Rowanesque the guys beard is!
I missed this part of the Pilgrimage cos I was already at Othona. The response to this picture is amusing in itself and personally I think standing protesting in such a fashion is a public declaration and can therefore be used publicly in any format? Would we have objected if someone had referenced it juxtaposition on a radio programme?…thanks too for the link to the Bradwell Pilgrimage website – another of my jobs!
I laughed at the “theological” sign. I laughed at the perception that the other sign was his aswell.
And, to be honest, I laughed at the guy, too.
But I’m still sufficiently human – God’s not done with me yet.
But also, to be honest, he’s standing there inviting it. Sorry.
I had a wry smile at the guy, I’m not embarrassed or ashamed. I suspect many times people laugh at my appearance. If you stick out, you should expect people to chuckle, shouldn’t you?
I think we’re all disappeared up our own navels a tad if we think we should never laugh at anyone – we’re not laughing at his race or religion or disability – we’re laughing at the strange way he chooses to express himself and a strange juxtaposition of his sign. Is the alternative being morally offended on behalf of our ‘Roman’ brethren and giving the man a piece of our mind? Which is worse?
[...] Protester at the Bradwell Pilgrimage 12 joe, Jimthevic, Alice Smith, Roger, Justin, Richard Hall [...] [...]
I think he was intending to attract attention, so you do him a favour by publishing his photograph.
What I wonder is whether the red article in his pocket is a Bible or a very trendy Moleskine in which to sketch passersby?
Anyone who walks around in public should be aware that the law permits one to take a photograph of the aforementioned person, without permission, and whether or not they are carrying a sign, amusing or otherwise. The person who takes such a photo ‘owns’ that photograph in terms of the right to reproduce it anywhere he or she likes, for purposes humourous or not.
As a photographer, I appreciate the protection offered by these laws. As a Christian and a fellow blogger, I appreciated the humour of Dave’s photograph – it made me chuckle.
Call me weird but my 1st thought was that he should change ‘Rome’ to ‘The Vatican’
And I totally agree with the school stopping sign
Queensland, Australia
