We didn't do anything together on Friday, primarily because I had class in the afternoon. They came back in the evening, though, and we ended up talking until 2:30! Of course, there was German beer and Russian vodka involved, so conversation was lively and philosophical. It was interesting to ask them about life in a socialistic society and compare it with America.
As per my usual modus operandi, I didn't take pictures of them. Sigh. I really must remember to take pictures of people.
But on Saturday we agreed to meet at the March for Life. They had something to do in the morning, and I wanted to visit the DDR Museum, so we went our separate ways, agreeing to meet at 1.
The DDR Museum was very interesting and informative. It's definitely a quick must-see for anyone interested in recent German history. It's also a quick museum- you can walk through it in 30 mins to an hour. I got to see and sit in a Trabi (the car of the DDR). It had a 2-cycle engine and was very hard to get- people were on a waiting list for years to buy one. It was also very pollutant- perhaps one of the reasons the whole DDR looked dirty and full of grime.
The Stasi were quite scary. No one knew who was a part of them and who wasn't. Your spouse could be Stasi, and you wouldn't know. They would report people detrimental to socialism, who would then be interrogated and sometimes imprisoned for long amounts of time. That's just a short overview.
The youth gathered in churches to listen to modern music, even though almost no one believed in God in the DDR.
It was interesting to see how much the DDR was focused on military-based activities, whether in sports or in society.
After that, I walked down the "Unter dem Linden Straße." It had a lot of beautiful buildings on either side of it; it led directly from Alexander Platz to the Brandenburg Tor, and onward to the Siegessäule. Here are some pictures of my walk. The first is of Humbolt University. I hope my panorama photo worked out; I couldn't back up much because of construction.
The Saint Hedwig Cathedral- also the place where the March for Life ended.
After I joined up with them, we walked in the March for Life in Berlin. It was about 4km long and took roughly 20 mins. The people I talked to were excited that so many people showed up- 3500! I would definitely agree with them- there didn't seem that many at the opening rally, and I kinda sped up through the whole march so I ended up near the front, but it was exciting to sit down and watch the crowds behind us just pour in. After a brief concluding speech, many people went inside St. Hedwig's Cathedral for a service. The Finns and I went out for Starbucks, since it was chilly outside. That was the positive side of the March for Life.
Now for the negative... I had never before met a Satanist before. I'll be honest: there's not many in the Midwest, and if someone professes to be a Satanist, they're probably just Goth and going through a rebellious stage in their life. At the March for Life, there were about 100 protesters who were making as much noise as possible with chants and whistles. Not only at the rally did they boo and hiss from a distance, but they even wove their way into the March itself and started their chants and whistling. It's probably a good thing I can't understand much German, but one of chants was, "Hey! Hey! Mittelalter, Mittelalter!" (They were calling us Middle Ages people.) Another one, which I had to ask for clarification about the pronunciation of the last word, went like "Kein Gott, Kein Staat, Kein Patriachat!" (No God, No State, No Patriarchy!) The last chant went something like this in English, "If Mary had had an abortion, we wouldn't have to put up with you people!" So...it was pretty vile stuff. Not only that, but what made it really Satanic were the symbols that some of the protesters were carrying. There was a pole with a circle on top, from which were hanging various trinkets, as well as a bull's horn. I can honestly say that this was the first time in my life that I've been personally thankful for the police, especially after the professional way the German police conducted themselves. The protesters were allowed to protest, as free speech allows, but when one of them squabbled with a marcher (both were probably to blame, since he grabbed her whistle with a swift movement after she had been blowing it in his ear for about 10 minutes straight...she proceeded to kick him), the protester was seized by the police and pinned to a wall, to the consternation of the protesters, who then focused their attention on the police, and not us. The police also broke up the protesters at times, forcing them out of our midst and onto the sidewalk, where they needed to stay.
It was great to be in the company of other Christians, though. We sang a few hymns and generally tried to ignore the protesters. I won't say it was a great experience, but I'm very glad I participated in it. May God give courage to all of us to stand up for the rights of the unborn, and to encourage young mothers to bear their children. I hope such Marches for Life can make a difference in even one person's life, because it's honestly a matter of life and death.
This is my only picture from the March for Life, because I was pretty scared about taking out my iPad during most of the March. However, you can see a video of the March for Life here. Unfortunately it's not very good. The picture quality is good, but the video is very jerky- it jumps forward quickly before stalling. If you want to know where I am, I should be near the end of the group with white crosses, since I was one of the last ones to get a cross. However, I might have walked ahead a bit. I don't know where this was filmed. Unfortunately I can't spot myself or the group of Finns I was with- we usually stayed either in the middle or on the right (where the man was filming this). Obviously I'm tall, and my cross would be one of the highest there. So if you find me, let me know! The closest guess I have is at 2:44 in the right hand side. See also the guy's blog, http://thomaslachetta.wordpress.com/. Although I'm probably in this video, check out the next one for a smoother video.
Another one, this time following the March. I'm not in this one, because the videographer is further back than where I was. Nevertheless, it's a clearer and smoother picture.
For those of you who know German, check this one out (it's a bit long):
Hopefully you got a taste of the March for Life in Berlin. It was very different from the one in Fort Wayne, but I hope we made a difference. Apparently it was the largest gathering of people against abortion in Germany.
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Wow, you don't know how jealous I am that you got to sit in a Trabant. Even though they are probably the symbol of how ridiculous socialism can be, I think those cars kind of look spunky :) I like them!
ReplyDeleteAnd, thanks for the report on the March for Life. I think in a way it was good those protestors were there. Doing a march like that in a country like Germany is probably a very different experience than doing one in America.