Dear all, The following two letters are published by The Guardian this morning. The first letter expresses my experience of OCCUPY exactly. The first text I quote is from the first five verses of the 5th chapter of St James’s epistle; not the first five verses of the epistle. My slip not The Guardian’s. With my very best wishes for Christmas and 2012; and thanks for everything in 2011. Paul
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St Paul’s and the right to protest • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 20th December 2011
How I wish I could have been called as a witness for the defendants in the St Paul’s protest camp prosecution (Bid to evict St Paul’s protest camp begins at high court, 19 December). I am an 80-year-old lady from a quiet rural area, who visited the protest camp on a recent visit toLondon and was struck by the order, cleanliness and safety of the camp; and the courtesy, kindness and willingness of the protesters to explain to visitors their reasons for being there. As a result of various discussions with marvellously friendly young people, I was won over, with a far better understanding than I had from the media coverage of why they wanted to continue to demonstrate. I noticed several country vicars also there in quiet conversations with the protesters. And I felt safer there that night than in any other street in London. So for me, and others visiting, the impact of the camp has been positive, and not detrimental, and I would think completely in keeping with the guarantees for freedom of expression and association laid down in the Human Rights Act.
Margie Baron Owen Salisbury, Wiltshire
Events at St Paul’s echo events in Sheffield in the 1840s when the Chartists marched on the parish church demanding that the vicar preach on the first five verses of St James’s epistle which begin “Go to now ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries shall come upon you … Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you.” The clergy preferred Proverbs 24: “My son, fear thou the Lord and King, and meddle not with them that are given to change.” There were no seats for the poor of Sheffield because all the pews were rented, so they were thrown out promising to come back the following Sunday; then they were arrested by the police to appear before the magistrates, who were the vicar and church wardens.
Rev Paul Nicolson Chair, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust