My apologies if this has already been picked up elsewhere at Kos. I figure some duplication on this is not a bad thing. A hat tip to Steve Benen at Washington Monthly for linking in This Week in God to a commentary by United Methodist pastor Roger Wolsey. It's a thoughtful piece entitled 10 Things Christians Should Know & Do about the “Occupy” Protests.
The Good Lord knows there has been a determined effort by the right wing to paint OWS protestors in the most negative light possible, and minimize their impact. But, there's still enough media buzz that people who haven't been turned off to OWS want to know more. Wolsey puts it into a spiritual context, showing how what OWS is about resonates with Christian teachings. (And other faiths, to be sure.) This is something to share with friends, share with clergy, and share in general. Wolsey's 10 talking points put it all in context.
After weeks with a notable lack of media coverage about it, American Christians are learning about an amazing phenomenon that is taking place on Wall Street in New York that has birthed a movement that’s spreading across the land. Hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens are showing up en mass to parks and city squares to protest corporate fraud and exploitation and to express their outrage. But what should Christians make of all of this? We like “lists of 10” so I’d like to offer the following action items for us to consider:
Read the whole thing. There's some snippets below the fold to pique your interest. It's worth looking at just for some of the graphics.
Here's a few excerpts from Wolsey's commentary.
1. Try to understand what’s going on.
In order to decide if these protests are a bunch of “angry anarchists and hippies who want to burn bras and smoke pot;” a passing, inconsequential fad; or if they are the sincere actions of a growing group of deeply patriotic and highly diverse fellow citizens from across the country who are proving to be a serious force to be reckoned with – depends upon how familiar we are with what is actually taking place and why.
Here are some links that can help you get up to speed on what is motivating these protesters and what’s been taking place over the past few weeks:
This isn’t a Joke! (news story)
Alan Grayson statements
Chris Hedges interview
NY Times Editorial
Chart1
Chart 2
“Economy Held Hostage to Defeat Obama”
“I am not moving!”
Independent U.S. Senator, Bernie Sanders, summarizes things well when he stated, “The financial crisis and the jobs crisis have demonstrated to the American people that we now have a government that is of the 1 percent, by the 1 percent and for the 1 percent, as Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz eloquently articulated. The rest of the 99 percent are, more or less, on their own.
We now have the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major, advanced country on earth. The top one percent earn more income than the bottom 50 percent and the richest 400 Americans own more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans.”
This first part is worth looking at for the links alone - it's a good primer for anyone who doesn't understand why OWS is still out there, or why it's spreading around the world.
3. Place the Occupation into Larger Contexts,
including global, historical, biblical, and within the context of Christian tradition. Our domestic occupations have arisen within months of the “Arab Spring” where massive sectors of the populations of several middle eastern nations rose up seeking increased rights, liberties, and democracy. It is an historical fact that revolts and uprisings tend to be contagious across the globe over the years. It is no accident that the French and American revolutions happened within months of each other. It’s a curious irony that we’re being reminded of our historical commitments to freedom and non-elitist democracy by people living under highly repressive regimes overseas.
We would also do well to ponder associations with the exodus of the ancient Hebrews with Moses telling the oppressive Pharaoh “God says, ‘Let my people go!’ ” as well as the early covenant God made with his people – a covenant that included prohibitions against usury (charging excessively high interest rates); commands to provide for the poor; a regular and intentionally ongoing “Year of Jubilee” designed to release people from their debts (and indentured servitude to their debtors) and to restore properties to their original owners, etc.
At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD’S remission has been proclaimed. — Deuteronomy 15:1-2
Lest anyone think that “Christians shouldn’t get upset, express anger, or protest,” we need to remember the ruckus Jesus made one day in Jerusalem where he knocked over the tables of the money lenders and chased them out of the Temple courtyard with a bullwhip spinning over his head (note: he didn’t actually hit anyone with it).
We should also be prepared for “the Empire to strike back.” Though Jesus showed that the worldly powers-that-be are ultimately impotent, they do tend to sting. Sacrifice should not be a surprise (but pepper spraying harmless girls who are penned up? Really NY cops?).
We should also ponder associations with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and ‘60s. One strategy that comes to mind is to employ what they did in Birmingham, Alabama – flooding the jails. If we can provide an endless sea of protesters, they won’t be able to tend to us in the jails – and we’ll render jailing us with a revolving door – costly, moot, and ridiculous.
We’d also do well to heed the words of wisdom from veterans of those movements such as Jim Wallis – especially his reminder of how essential nonviolence is to effective protest.
And here's one that's short and to the point.
9. Ponder these words from one of our contemporary prophets/court jesters:
“If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don’t want to do it.” ― Stephen Colbert
Read the whole thing - all 10 points are worth your time.