You may not have heard about this unless you are a bit “online.” Dutch farmers continue to protest against proposed EU climate regulations. Using their tractors to picket government buildings, sources reported that they even chipped in for a tank to blockade a distribution center. Police shot at a tractor at one protest but it appears no one was hurt. 

A UK publication, Farmers Weekly, says the proposed regulations would see mandatory reductions in livestock numbers, with farmers asked to invest in new technologies to achieve climate goals. Buying and closing some farms is also being considered by the Dutch government. In a display of solidarity, farmers in Spain, Italy, Germany, and Poland fired up their tractors in protest, fearing they will be subject to similar regulation. 

This dispute and news from Sri Lanka have not received a lot of media analysis, but as one Twitter user suggested, finding an angle that suits your politics is not easy when your favorite elite ideas result in angry and hungry citizens. Many have been pointing out in the conservative blogosphere recently that the side that wants to be left alone will always lose to the side that wants to win. Farming policy and climate policy may not be our particular fight and we should  pray that our God will grant rest to our nation. But if our governments make practising our faith, raising our families and forming communities more difficult, it’s clear that we will need to defend what we believe in, even in our own backyard.