Democracy is dirty, it is in your face, sweat on your brow and sometimes gas in your lungs. The fight for what we hold dear is not only one of words, it is one of struggle. That struggle is playing out on the streets of Oakland, California. Oakland has a long history of a power struggle of the people against the machine that is in place to control the status quo and restrict progress. While critics maintain the solution is to go home, take a bath and get a job these Americans stand up for that most inconvenient truth that we were endowed with, and many are terrified to practice.
To practice that truth, would be counterproductive to the conservative ideology of today. How can all men be created equal, if the party of the right pushes a nativist Christian based model that not only excludes, but demonize those who don’t accept. As a Christian, I am offended by most of the ideology and rhetoric of a faction that has turned the church into the antithesis of progress. Some of our greatest movements for social justice has come from within the churches and pews in America.
The abolitionist movement of the early to mid 19th century, the civil rights movements of the 1950's and 60's organized to change an injustice in our society, not to push the view of one or two sects. We need leaders like Martin Luther King Jr and William Lloyd Garrison to remind Christians that while we live in a secular society, all Americans are welcome to the table of freedom. The sacrament of freedom cannot be restricted, nor constricted within a small select few.
To return to the question on why Oakland, why occupy, why not go get a job at Walmart for 7.25 a hour, little to no benefits and just accept the fate the market has dealt you we need to turn to one of the greatest catalyst of change in American history; the steadfast resolve and prose of Martin Luther King Jr. When asked why Birmingham, why now, Dr King replied "I am here in Birmingham, because injustice is here".
Democracy is dirty, especially when you don't have a super-PAC funding you. Democracy requires faith. Democracy is not white, black, Latino, or Asian. Democracy cares not if you say Christ be with you, a salaam alaikum , or if you choose not to pray. Democracy transcends classes, sex and preference. Democracy is so powerful that those who push these special interested agendas must fear it. Democracy is not the super-PAC, it’s the American whose sense of freedom is more than just there own.