Update on our earlier story on Moral Monday protests being held in North Carolina. Several Episcopal priests and laity have been arrested on trespass charges during the Moral Monday protest.
The Rev. Karla Marie Woggon, and The Rev Mike Cogsdale, the Rev Deb Blackwood, and 60+ others were arrested. Cogsdale and Woggon were Deputies to General Convention 2012 from Western North Carolina.
Caroline who blogs at Enough Foolishness tells of her experience:
Many (including MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry) have aptly pointed out North Carolina’s strong tradition of nonviolent resistance – most notably the Greensboro beginnings of the sit-in movement in 1960. This is part of my heritage as a North Carolinian, and yesterday, I was proud to participate in that tradition by attending Moral Mondays, a rally against the regressive, painful, and unjust agenda of the current state legislature.
So why did I choose the Duke Divinity t-shirt instead of, say, something that would speak to my Carolina Blue roots? Because at rallies like this, the slogan written on your posterboard or printed on your t-shirt points to the heart of why you’re there. It names the issue or the ideology or the institution that propels you to travel a long distance or brave extreme weather – what it is that gives you the courage to break out of your comfortable routine, choosing to lend it your voice.
Of course it really has nothing to do with the shade of blue, but rather with the weight of responsibility I feel when I mark myself as a Christian. The responsibility to advocate for the “least of these,” speaking words of hope to the hopeless and words of truth to those in power.
More photos of the arrests are here.