I so wish I could be there. Hope someone is streaming. stand in unity with those suffering economic hardship and inequality in our nation http://occupyfaithdc.org/ This “People’s Prayer Breaskfast” is to the “National Parayer Breakfast” as #occupyfaithDC is to what has been communicated by the “go to church on Sunday ” use of the hashtag #occupychurch. A self-absorbed, blow your trumpet Continue Reading
Just watched this impressive conversation between Lawrence Lessig and Chris Hedges on the situation in the United States re: the “Winner Take All Politics” (to borrow a title from a book whose authors Bill MOyers had on his opening week of his new show recently). I had downloaded a sample chapter of Lessig’s latest book Republic Lost, and now I Continue Reading
It just occurred to me that the SOTU tends to be GNOSTIC in it’s nationalism. It’s the fashion to feature “highlighted” individual stories in the State of the Union. But when it comes to movements, FIRE! BAD! No mention of what the obvious popular movement that has brought the very issues and themes upon which that Obama executed his oratory. Continue Reading
What a dandy swipe at the elite of the elite: If you’re Europe, and your struggling people are called “Greeksâ€, and your rich people are called “Germansâ€, then the World Economic Forum will spend pretty much limitless amounts of time and effort on attempts to understand the dynamics between the two and (doomed) plans to try to prevent it from Continue Reading
A good juxtaposition of two disasters in Ron Suskind’s book on the Obama economic team, Confidence Men. Like so many other disasters in this period, the spill was the result of executives pushing themselves to the very edge of legal limits, and then beyond, in the name of short-term profit. —Suskind, Ron (2011-09-20). Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Continue Reading
If Matt Taibi sees a possibility of some real hope here, then that itself is a reason for hope. Taibbi lays it out, and concludes with this: Obama’s decision to tap Schneiderman publicly, and dump Geithner, and whisper about a millionaire’s tax, signals a shift in its public attitude toward the Wall Street corruption issue. The administration is clearly listening to Continue Reading
Another clueless critique , this time from Chrsi Christie , suggestingthat the Civil Rights movement would have gotten the gains by putting it to a vote. Similarly, there have been people who criticize Occupy saying that there is no need for “the silly protests” because they have the mechanism of voting to speak for them. But that IS why there Continue Reading
Rather disturbing to see this , especially in light of Obama’s SOTU speech claiming to be “setting up financial fraud enforcement unit”. Civil immunity would be granted to the banks for any role in foreclosure fraud, and there would be no investigations. via Obama Is on the Brink of a Settlement With the Big Banks—and Progressives Are Furious | The Nation. Don’t Continue Reading
From Jesse Jackson op-ed for CNN: Dr. King was an occupier, our country occupied by the vicious and divisive legal segregation. His last great campaign was the Poor People’s Campaign, aimed at occupying the Mall in the nation’s Capitol to address abounding poverty, the demands for a job or an income for all, health care for all. When Dr. King Continue Reading
Once again, I want to repeat how glad I am to have the voice of Bill Moyers back on television. A friend of mine has often lamented that Moyers should be on the news shows ALL THE TIME. I agree. He should be persistently pursued for the treasures of knowledge he aggregates in his wonderf ully informative interviews. He brings Continue Reading
One of the things for which the Net has been invaluable in my journey of late is to keep me “in the loop” with what is happening amongst the Occupy movement. I hear various people talking about how they aren’t noticing Occupy much of late. Well one, if you depend on the mainstream media, that will be the impression. But Continue Reading
Salon has two sections on their website related to #Occupy. One is an “Occupy Wall Street” section, and one is an “American Spring” section. I am looking into both of these to see what the differences are. I am putting this in my #OccupyTheology section/post-type, beause I draw a close relation between “theological thought”, and the aspirations of the passionately Continue Reading
This from an article on Bill Moyers’ website expresses for me the anger and the disgust I feel toward the clueless, selfish, out of touch arrogance that is the attitude of the frontrunner candidates. So no, Mitt Romney, when we say that Americans are waking up to the reality that inequality matters, we’re not guilty of “envy†or “class warfare,†as Continue Reading
My favorite writer, Elizabeth O’Connor, who wrote accounts of the journey and history of The Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC, wrote about envisioning a new world in this selection from the Inward Outward blog (this blog posts daily selections from a host of great theological writings). I thought it very relevant to how interested I have been in Continue Reading
A “Progressive Christianity” stance toward OWS as articulated by pastor of Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Carlsbad CA, Rev. Madison Shockley II Occupy Wall Street’s message to the church is, “If you were doing your job we wouldn’t be necessary.†http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/jesus_and_the_99_percent_20111202/?ln The above quote comes close to my sense of this. If the church were actually accustomed to being Continue Reading