In college, there was a firebrand preacher that would come speak in the "free speech zone" on my campus. He was truly old school. He wore a suit. He could point to the earth like a disco-dancing John Travolta when he shouted the word "Damnation!". He preached on the evils of short skirts and the neccessity of stoning gays. His crew of offspring and his timid wife watched silently.
The lefties all hated him. The atheists hated him. The Jews and the Muslims hated him. And because he made loving Jesus look like following Hitler, the Christians hated him too. Finally something united the campus!
But secretly, I thought he was great.
People that would usually go home and play Dance Dance Revolution before getting drunk and cramming for an exam were driven to their sacred texts. The Muslims would pop open the Koran. The atheists would turn to Mark Twain. The Christians would dig into their Little Black Book. And fueled with fresh evidence, they would throw fresh facts at the Firebrand Preacher, fueling long, heated debates. The LGBT group would hold hands and wear a rainbow flag. The Christians would pass out candies assuring us that Jesus loves us after all. Five days a week and this guy never failed to draw a crowd. It was beautiful.
But
standing on a soapbox and giving a speech hasn't always been the
sole purview of the religious fanatic. The U.S. labor movement
was built by immigrants standing on a platform and shouting,
"Fellow workers..!" How freeing it must have been to
announce at the top of your lungs: This is what I know to be
true! Join me! We will change the world!
But these are not revolutionary times. These are times when the words "liberal" and "progressive" are used as slurs. And anarchist, communist, socialist? Forget it! You may as well be wearing a straight jacket.
Many people in our country (the U.S.) still support these ideas but are afraid to stand by them. They think they may as well pack their bags for Guantanamo. And still others think, what's the point? They slog on year after year, voting for the Democratic nominee and writing a yearly check to P.E.T.A. But in their hearts there is a stirring, a desparate rage and a yearning for utopian visions.
Thus, we do not want to be a "liberal" soapbox or a "moderately left-leaning" soapbox. Hell no! We chose the name "Subversive" to be shamelessly, unabashadly radical. We believe that the time has come for lefties to step up to the soapbox and raise their voices. This is what we believe and we are not afraid to shout it.
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