A day at war with the arms trade

Mark Meatcher writes about his first experience of protesting, alongside Quakers, against the arms trade

I believe the Spirit of God is stirring deep inside me at the moment. On Tuesday 5 September I attended my first ‘proper’ demonstration when I participated in the No Faith in War day at the ExCeL Centre in London where the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair was being held.

I met so many wonderful people, including the police force tasked with keeping law and order, while the demonstration was going on. The experience filled me with hope for the future of humanity, but also challenged me further about my own faith and what it means to me.

Mine was a relatively tame protest. Since I am a minister of the United Reformed Church I turned up in uniform, so to speak, only to discover that simply arriving as a church minister to join with others to say that I thought the arms trade (and the arms fair) was wrong, and not the best way for us to work in peace, brought a response from many people who just said: ‘Thank you so much for coming, thank you for talking the talk and walking the walk.’ This response moved me, challenged me and humbled me.

Some people stood in the road, others chained themselves together and had to be cut apart and were arrested, and others suspended themselves from bridges to prevent the lorries carrying weapons of warfare entering the exhibition centre. What did I do?

I participated in a drama where ‘Britannia’ was married to the ‘Arms Trade’, which we performed three times during the day.

I joined with Quakers in their silent worship for an hour in the late morning. We placed Bibles and grapes in the roadway in the hope that this symbolic act would be noted, and might help those who were planning to bring weapons into the exhibition centre to think about what they were doing. This action led to bemused looks from the police, who weren’t sure what to do about this kind of protest.

We listened to a Jew commentating on the Old Testament scriptures. We celebrated communion in the middle of the road alongside a Methodist and an Anglican and with all those who had gathered there with us. They included Quakers and others from various backgrounds.

We shared in worship with Pax Christi, the international Catholic movement for peace, which proved again a moment for humility and wonder as we united together in praying for peace.

We worshipped, too, with Buddhists, and dined alongside them at lunchtime.

We left the day inspired and challenged, wondering what God wanted us to do next to continue the campaign, to work for peace and to challenge the worldview that we need to have might to control – the worldview which fails to recognise that building and selling weapons of war is contrary to bringing and building peace, and is only threatening and destroying communities.

The children and adults of Syria and Yemen, amongst many others, keep on screaming that message out to us, but sadly many are deaf to their cries.

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