Taxes were not the most interesting thing that happened April
15. Doug Hughes landed a gyrocopter on
the US Capitol lawn.
The Secret Service was befuddled. The media came out in droves. The clip was aired throughout the day. But, in a day or two the novelty became old
news.
Doug started planning this stunt 2 ½ years before. Immediately, an anonymous “friend” reported
him. A Secret Service man came to his
house with a local deputy, at 1 o'clock in the morning, to interrogate the
potential terrorist. Doug was quite
happy to answer all questions. Two days
later, that agent showed up unannounced at the Post Office, where Doug worked,
to ask his co-workers questions.
Then nothing. He was
not arrested. He did not loose his
government job. Why? Everyone believed he was too sane or too timid
to carry out such a crazy stunt. Even he
wondered if he had the guts. It meant
loosing his freedom, his job, and his family.
It was possible that he might loose his life, just to make a point.
Because nothing happened, Doug continued to plan his
mission. He chose the gyrocopter as a
metaphor. They are nonthreatening and you
can see right through them. He wanted
everyone to know he was not a terrorist.
He decked his gyrocopter out with cameras and sound, live fed to a
website. At the beginning of April, he
wrote his local newspaper explaining his mission and emphasizing the nonviolent
aspect of his protest.
Again, nothing. It
was just too crazy.
When he lifted off, a few people in his hometown
watched. They waited to see if he would chicken
out and turn around. The media finally called
the Secret Service, who referred them to a public information officer, who put
them on hold.
Only pedestrians noticed when Doug flew into the “no fly
zone.” No homeland-protection jet
swooped in. No ground-to-air missiles marked
him as a target. He flew over the
tourists and protesters and landed gently in the large grassy lawn.
What was his cause? Nonpartisan
campaign finance reform. He was sick of
the government being run by the highest bidder.
Doug simply wanted to be heard. To
his landing gear, he strapped two boxes filled with stamped letters addressed to
every state representative. These might
actually get to the elected officials instead of sitting in a subordinates filing
cabinet.
Most people agree change is needed. There are several plans available. Yet nothing happens. Why?
Simple. The people responsible to
implement reform are those who benefit from the status quo.
Is he crazy? Let me
pose the question a little differently. Is
doing an extreme stunt, just to be heard, crazy?
For example, look at the biblical prophets. Were their extreme stunts crazy? Isaiah wandered around naked for three years. Jeremiah wore a cattle yoke. Hosea deliberately married a prostitute who
did not want to be his wife. Ezekiel ate
a scroll, cut his hair with a sword, dug a hole through a wall, and staged mock
battles against a clay city as he lay on the ground for over a year. They said God instructed them to act out of
the ordinary. Isn’t that crazy?
Yet, they all had a point, and those points were not crazy. These men desperately tried to get the people’s
attention. They physically demonstrated
the consequences of evil. Even when
civil law does not condemn, we should know when actions are not right, not ethical,
and not good. Without that knowledge,
civilization self-destructs and hostile nations prevail. Like Doug, the prophets had to take a stand. They were willing to forfeit comfort,
freedom, and often their lives to emphasize their point. Yet today, even preachers debate their
sanity.
Before the flight of Doug Hughes disappears from our
collective conscious, will anyone listen?
Will this crazy stunt change our complacency toward sin?