The Jury is not out

 In a world where large corporations make millions with products that damage the environment, it is difficult to find a way to protest that will make the corporate leaders pay sufficient attention  to change their behaviour. Damaging property is not something that the church supports, but we can understand the frustration that leads concerned people to take unusual actions in order to bring attention to the problem. 

The Guardian reported on the trial of a set of Extinction Rebellion protesters who: "...deliberately sprayed graffiti or smashed windows of the Shell building in Belvedere Road, central London, on 15 April 2019." One of the protesters, "quoted Sir David Attenborough and former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams in his evidence." 

"He said: “I believe if I don’t do whatever I can to protect our Earth, to protect life on this Earth, to stop the death and injury that is and will be happening, I’m committing a crime, a really serious crime, and I’m willing to break a window, to paint a message on a wall, I’m willing to break the glass on that emergency button, even if some say that’s a crime. Because this is a much bigger crime and I’m trying to stop that crime, I’m trying to protect life in the only way I feel I can.” (SOURCE)

The defendants fully expected to be declared guilty in the trial, and were surprised when the jury acquitted them, despite the judge's instructions that: 'They don’t have any defence in law for the charges they face." It is a safety valve in the legal system that a jury can ignore the law. 

What does this acquittal mean in terms of protecting the environment? Probably very little in the short run. Corporations will continue polluting, and governments will continue to make empty statements, but it does show that 12 ordinary British citizens have accepted the fact that this planet faces a serious problem. There is legal precedent for putting people on trial were complicit in actions that cause mass death and destruction, but the guilty parties may face judgment only once they reach a higher celestial court 

In the meantime, even small steps help to preserve God's creation. Please do what you can.

Comments

Unknown said…
Nice case! Its ideal that rationality backed by law would have made the decision much more easier; however, the jury uses their intuition inherent in every human to decide for nature. It's our wish that our conscious towards our actions is aligned to nature's wellbeing.
4/25/21, 4:37 PM
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