Today, Standing on the Side of Love UK held its first action. Five of us went to Finsbury Park to stand in support of the Finsbury Park Mosque, which had been the victim of a hate crime the prior week, when a bag of raw pork was thrown over their wall. Our SSL-UK group had finally gotten beyond it initial organizing phase and it was time to get out and do something positive. It went very well.

As hundreds of individuals and families flowed down the street and into the mosque, most smiled at us and our banner and some stopped to thank us for coming to support them. A few even took our picture. The head of the mosque came out to greet us and had one of his staff stand with us for a time (that’s him in the photo below) and later sent us some lunch and bottles of water. The local police came by and chatted with Rev. Andy and were very friendly and supportive. It was an overwhelmingly positive experience.

It was a reminder of the power of love and the simple effectiveness of “Standing on the Side of Love” as a social action tool. As people approached the mosque and saw a group there with a sign, you could see them relax and often smile as they read the message. It is a simple one, but it works. It is nice to be one of the “Love People”. When we departed, we left some little biodegradable hearts on the sidewalk as a reminder that we were there.

We are off to a very encouraging start and I am looking forward to seeing where this movement can go. Here is a picture I took of us next to the mosque: