hidden image

Bob’s Banter by Robert Clements ‘No Room!’ Shout Mobs and Lawmakers, but..!

Robert Clements Robert Clements
03 Jan 2022

“No room!’ shout mobs as they rampage churches, burn Bibles!”
“No room,” growl same mobs throwing stones on cross, on pulpit!”
“No room for you here,” they whisper as in the silence of night they set a priest afire.
“No room! No room! No room in this nation!” chant mobs in town and village.
But hush, who is this that runs frantically in front of same mobs, “Don’t!” he shouts, “Don’t say there is ‘no room’!”
The mobs they stop and listen. For in his eyes they see sadness, and in his body, fear, “What is it stranger, that you come running to tell us?” they ask, “That makes you unafraid of mob anger and wrath?
“Save your anger and wrath!” whispers the stranger and as the mob gets closer they look at each other and whisper, “What strange clothes he wears! This is not one from our country where kurta and dhoti are our attire! Who is this?”
“Go back!” says the man in strange attire, “Go back and leave these people who follow the Baby born today alone!”
“How dare you say that?” the mobs roar, “We have no room for them in this country! No room!”
“Ssshh!” says the man in strange attire, and in his eyes they see a pleading, “Sssshh!” he whispers, and the mobs become quiet, “I said the same! They came to me, and I told them, ‘no room in my inn’! Oh I wish I hadn’t, I wish I hadn’t! Now for all eternity I am remembered as the one who said, ‘no room!”
The mob was hushed for in his eyes, they saw a pleading!
“Like you I had no room for them! Like you I thought I’d only room for those like me! And I thought that that man and that pregnant woman, ‘Mary, he called her’ was not my type, and I muttered to myself, ‘Outsiders!”
“Yes!” shout the mob, “Outsiders!”
“Oh the mistake I made!” cries the man in strange clothing. “I threw them out but I couldn’t stop Him from coming in!”
“Who?” asks the mob.
“The very God whose words you burn in the Bibles they read, whose churches you stone, whose priests you attack, He walked into this world, even when I shouted ‘no room!’ He did not need my permission!”
“And you want us to put down these stones, put out our fires, and keep away our choppers? You want us to stop passing laws that will keep Him out?’ roar the mob, “Why have you come out today?”
“Because it’s Christmas!” whispers the man in Bethlehem clothes, “And two thousand years ago when I said the same words, you mobsters and your lawmakers shout, He still strode into the world! He changed it! So don’t waste your time screaming, ’No Room! Don’t make laws saying, ‘No Room! Because…..” And the mob stood still as the innkeeper sang,
‘Oh, God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way you’ll see
He will make a way..!

bobsbanter@gmail.com

Recent Posts

Fifty years after the Emergency, the debate has shifted from suspended Democracy to whether democratic institutions can be hollowed out while elections continue and constitutional forms remain outward
apicture Thomas Menamparampil
06 Jul 2026
Is India moving forward or slipping backwards? Growing concerns over democratic institutions, civil liberties, economic inequality, and constitutional values have kept the national debate over whether
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
06 Jul 2026
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has declared the right to walk on safe, well-maintained footpaths a fundamental right, placing pedestrians at the centre of constitutional protection and challe
apicture Dr. Pauly Mathew Muricken
06 Jul 2026
The passport controversy has raised uncomfortable questions about citizenship, administrative accountability and legal interpretation. Far from settling the issue, official assertions have triggered f
apicture Joseph Maliakan
06 Jul 2026
If Stan Swamy, the Martyr, were alive today, he would be in the midst of the Adivasis. His life would be very simple and frugal. He would eat their food, sing their songs, and dance with them. He woul
apicture Cedric Prakash
06 Jul 2026
Synthetic narcotics, digital trafficking and organised crime are reshaping India's drug landscape. As Goa, Kerala and neighbouring states witness alarming spikes in abuse and fatalities, the country's
apicture Pachu Menon
06 Jul 2026
They did not fall like accidents. They were arranged: Dalit bodies laid out In the neat geometry of hate.
apicture Dr Suryaraju Mattimalla
06 Jul 2026
one day we will wake up to discover that while we faithfully believed it was day, our rulers had quietly turned it into night...
apicture Robert Clements
06 Jul 2026
As new restrictions tighten around churches and civil society organisations, those likely to suffer most are the poor, the marginalised, and the forgotten communities who rely on faith-based instituti
apicture John Dayal
29 Jun 2026
From Chhattisgarh to North Korea, Nigeria to Iraq, the faces of persecution differ, but the outcome remains the same: shrinking freedoms, shattered communities and an international human-rights system
apicture Oliver D'Souza
29 Jun 2026