Occupy Wall Street and the Church

This week in Chicago, masses of people gathered for Occupy Wall Street marches, the largest such action that has occurred here so far.  With what has already been happening in New York, and with the movement growing across the country (if not in bodies, at least in minds), it would seem we have a reached a point where the protests can no longer be written of as an inconsequential hippie party.

As I have tried to wrap my head around all of this for the past few weeks, admittedly with equal parts skepticism and hope, I have begun to view these current events from a different perspective.  At the forefront of my turning was Ezra Klein's blog post on wearethe99percent.tumblr.com, which unfortunately has been taken down for some reason.  If you have seen it and find it, let me know.  But more recently, I read an amazing piece by Matt Stoller, entitled, "#OccupyWallStreet is a Church of Dissent, and Not a Protest."

What these people are doing is building, for lack of a better word, a church of dissent. It’s not a march, though marches are spinning off of the campground. It’s not even a protest, really. It is a group of people, gathered together, to create a public space seeking meaning in their culture. They are asserting, together, to each other and to themselves, “we matter”.

You can tell this is a somewhat different animal than other politicized gatherings. No one knows what to expect. There are no explicit demands. It’s not very large. And yet, celebrities are heading to Zuccotti Park. Wall Street traders are sneering and angry. The people there are getting press, but aren’t dominated by it. People are there just to be there, because it feels meaningful. The camp is clean and well-organized, and it feels relevant and topical rather than a therapy space for frustrated radicals. Just a block away is the New York Fed, a large, scary, and imposing building with heavy iron doors, video cameras, and a police presence that scream “go away”.

For as much criticism as I have read (this is nothing but AdBusters' efforts to create meaningless chaos, these young people didn't vote and the Tea Party took the House creating a bigger mess, what the hell is the point of this, etc.), the analogy that Stoller is arguing for makes all of that something of a moot point.  As a Christian, such criticism is the exact kind of stuff that I have lobbed personally at the Church, and somehow it (the Church) still makes sense.  Could we be looking at something of a religious movement?

More on the religious nature of Occupy Wall Street tomorrow.

-Tim

#OccupyChurch

You might have heard some increased chatter pertaining to large groups gathering in cities around the nation protesting... ummm... big banks? disproportionate distribution of wealth? lack of government oversight? Lots of things, really. If you haven't, you can read about it here (NYC), here (Chicago), or here (DC). The protesters have been called "mobs... pitting Americans against Americans" by Majority Leader Cantor, but Minority Leader Pelosi said that has more to do with him than the demonstrators. Anyway, there is a lot of opinion out there about the Occupy movement, much of which I am unqualified to respond to with any sense of authority. My hat is, for better or worse, thrown in the proverbial ring of theological response. And until today, the only thing I could muster was that the greed perpetuated by unbridled capitalism and rewarded by a neglectful system is so obviously unbiblical that stating it seemed patronizing to anyone who might listen. What virtue is more evident in Christian texts than care for the poor, and what vice more deplorable than defrauding the marginalized?

Today, however, in a wonderful sermon by United Methodist pastor Rev. Amy DeLong (you might remember her from the trial this summer addressing homosexuality and the UMC), I was reminded of an idolatry that accompanies greed - the internalization of scarcity. Rev. DeLong spoke of the feeding of the 5000 in Matthew's gospel. The disciples wanted to send the crowd home so they could feed themselves, but Jesus told the disciples to feed them. The disciples protested, pointing out that they did not have enough food to go around. But Jesus told the disciples to feed them. And when they did, there was enough, and even more than enough. Because there is no scarcity in Christ.

And it seems that this is the heart of the Occupy protests. There is enough for everyone to have enough. The government's job is not to provide tax shelters to the rich (I think we can all agree their voice is pretty effectively heard), but to provide protective shelter to the vulnerable in its midst. As Christians, Jesus tells us to feed the crowd, without verifying their citizenship, without testing them for drugs, without questioning their sexuality.

The Occupy demonstrators are defying the theology of scarcity preached by those too cowardly to give freely, because those protestors know there is enough. They know each person, from a terminally unemployed worker to a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, is worthy of a life of integrity and purpose. There is enough life for all of us.

Rev. DeLong said that when you forgo justice in favor of personal or institutional preservation, then "the Gospel is a casualty of fear and damage control." Battling those in power (popularly elected or amassed in wealth) is imperative at this moment when so many have so little. The Church can and must gather strength enough to tell the world to feed the crowd.

Urge President Obama to Oppose the Keystone XL Pipeline

The Keystone XL Pipeline is a proposed tar sands pipeline that would stretch 1700 miles from Alberta Canada to the Gulf Coast in Texas. It's a project proposed by TransCanada, and could ship up to 900,000 barrels of tar sand oil a day. This particular type of oil is difficult to extract and considered much dirtier than crude oil. (see fact sheet)

The pipeline would traverse Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas - passing under significant portions of our countrys agricultural heartland, and leaving our rivers and water aquifers at risk of pollution from pipeline leaks. In 2010 alone the Enbridge pipeline, which runs from Alberta through the great lake states, spilled over one million gallons of tar sands oil. TransCanada's recently completed Keystone pipeline has already had three spills. 

The Keystone XL Pipeline is not worth the devastating environmental impacts it will cause - the potential for water, air, and land pollution is far too great, not to mention the health risks that come with increased emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, and other toxins.

In order for the construction of the pipeline to begin, a presidential permit is required. In other words, President Obama has the power to prevent this pipeline from being built.

Please sign the petition and pass it along to others. Thank you for taking the time to act.