While I spent a fair amount of time in prison years ago (a chaplaincy internship in Kingston Pen) I've never been arrested and I hope I never will be. I have taken part in a number of public marches through the years protesting wars and environmental foolishness, as well as participating in Take Back the Night walks. I'm grateful that these were peaceful assemblies and I didn't end up in the hoosegow. I'm not sure that my "model citizen" history is a good thing.
Some people choose to make public statement through sit-ins and assemblies which will almostly certainly lead to arrests, usually in a peaceful manner. Lots of celebrities get arrested for protesting pipelines and what they believe is trespass on Indigenous lands -- Jane Fonda is an example. Far too many Indigenous people are arrested on those same lands, even when their tribal claims are clear. They are often treated with far less respect initially, only to have charges dropped.
This week RBC, Canada's largest bank and a huge investor in fossil fuels, held a shareholders meeting that involved a sit-in. It included a Roman Catholic sister, an Anglican priest, and a Baptist pastor (they didn't go into a bar) and it seems that all of them were arrested. This is catnip for the media and the headline was Nun arrested at Toronto bank protest. It's good that they were able to bring attention to the climate emergency and the unwavering greed of financial institutions in benefitting from it. For them it is a matter of conscience and Christian faith.
I've been reading again about the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and how often Martin Luther King Jr. and others were arrested. At times their lives were at risk, as they were arrested and while they were incarcerated. On several occasions King refused the opportunity to be bailed out in order to make a point about racial injustice.
We can't forget that John the Baptist, Jesus, the apostles Paul and Peter, were all arrested and paid the ultimate price for their convictions. Many Christians have suffered a similar fate.
Here is a news item about the RBC protest:
Nine religious leaders, including a Catholic nun, were arrested by Toronto Police following a “pray-in” at a downtown RBC branch April 9.
The protest was against RBC’s continued funding of fossil fuel projects.
“RBC is fueling a climate disaster,” said Sr. Mary-Ellen Francoeur, who was among the nine charged with trespassing for disrupting operations at the bank branch at Yonge and Gerrard Streets. “We are calling on RBC shareholders to think of future generations and to vote to immediately end funding for new fossil fuel projects and wind down existing funding as soon as possible.”
Those arrested at the pray-in are leaders or members of Catholic, Anglican, Baptist and Unitarian congregations in Toronto.
Among those arrested was Rev. Bob Paterson-Watt, minister of Woodbine Heights Baptist Church.
“As people of faith we believe we have a moral duty to protect God’s creation,” said Paterson-Watt. “That means non-violently resisting the RBC’s business-as-usual investment in fossil fuel projects that fuel climate-linked fires, floods, droughts and heatwaves, even if that means going to jail.”
RBC was the world’s second largest financier of fossil fuel projects in 2022, according to the Banking on Climate Chaos website. It said in 2022 alone RBC made $36 billion investments in fossil fuels, the site said.
The others arrested were Len Desroches, Anglican Rev. Michael Van Dusen, Suzanne Maziarz, Lyn Adamson, Margaret Rao, Kim Bradshaw and Brooke Lydbrooke.
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