Tribute to Tank Man … (06/05/15)
Twenty-six years ago today, a brave Soul in China known now only as “The Tank Man” stared down an entire column of advancing tanks near Tiananmen Square — and won. Granted, since then he has seemingly disappeared without a trace. No one knows his name to this very day, and some claim that he was probably secretly tortured & executed for his bold act of nonviolent resistance to Chinese tyranny — and thus that his mission failed. But what these anti-Chinese & pro-aggression critics do not understand is the very same thing that most governments still fail to understand to this very day …
They fail to understand that “The Tank Man” won.
Indeed, even if he was tortured and murdered that very night — even though the Chinese government soon thereafter did violently roust the Tiananmen protestors and clamp down with martial law (protests, by the way, that were anything but peaceful in the hours immediately prior to the massacre that followed) — even though the Chinese government does persist (alongside Syria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the United States) in being one of the worst human rights violators in the world — “The Tank Man” STILL won.
And this is because true Victory cannot be measured in shifts in political power or transfers of economic benefit, just as true Success cannot be proven by a longer life or greater health or material abundance … No, on June 5th, 1989, “The Tank Man” won the greatest of Victories — for he risked his entire life for Justice; he offered his entire life for others; he gave his entire life for Love. And in so doing he inspired HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of protestors to engage in THOUSANDS of powerful, nonviolent acts of protests all over the world since that day.
Yes, “The Tank Man”‘s great deed might have only lasted for fifteen minutes, and he might very well have died shortly thereafter, AND YET his nonviolent courage still raises the Banner of Freedom all over the world, and his noble sacrifice still sounds the Trumpet of Justice to this very day.
So, my Friends, let us honor “The Tank Man” today — Let us honor his ultimate sacrifice by going forth into our own communities to boldly & peacefully stamp out all the forms of injustice & bigotry & oppression we find …
*Where the poor are being ignored, let us feed the poor.
*Where the animals are being maimed & murdered, let us stand between their innocence and the slaughterhouse.
*Where the homeless are being denigrated, let us shelter the homeless.
*Where those of color are being brutalized, let us make a wall between them and their attackers.
*And where those of faiths other than our own are being provoked & insulted, let us reach out to them with open acts of Compassion & Kindness.
Amen … Let it be so.
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