ePetition details

If a group within a society takes a dislike to a public good - a church, mosque, park or statue, say - then are they allowed to bypass the law and unilaterally bring about the destruction of that good? To topple it over, or burn it to the ground for instance? Most reasonable people would say no. They would say that the rule of law is absolute, and that if one group are allowed to bypass the law without ramification, then very foundation of our society collapses. They would say this, and they would be right. Yet this is what was allowed to happen on the 7th March 2020 when the statue of Edward Colston was toppled in the city centre.

When this group of protestors are allowed to break the law, and when nothing is done, the quiet honest people of this city are shamed. They are shamed because the views they hold are disrespected and they are told they are not good enough to be protected by the law. They are shamed because the city in which they live and to which they pay their taxes mocks them, mocks them for having unfashionable views, and mocks them for loving their city and caring for it's history.

When the people of this city are treated as such, they will believe that they are expected to break the law too. That the only way to protect their city is to fight fire with fire. And this is how society a society fractures, and then destroys its self. To remind us who we are, and what it is that we stand for, we must rebuild this monument. And when they knock down, we must rebuild it again. We must rebuild it until every penny in this city is spent, and no more remain. This is the only way to show that violence is not the path to success in our city, and that those who commit it get nowhere and gain nothing.

Started by: Stephen O'Sullivan

This ePetition ran from 07/06/2020 to 19/07/2020 and has now finished.

6 people signed this ePetition.