This,  from a blog post I started reading yesterday,  and took up again this morning,  is very close to where I come down as a “theological reading”  of the Occupy movement,  and what makes it a “teaching moment” for the church.

#OWS reminds the church of some­thing that it has for­got­ten, namely, that faith­ful and active shoul­der­ing of covenan­tal respon­si­bil­ity in rela­tion­ship with God ineluctably involves love of neigh­bor by tak­ing the side of the poor and oppressed and work­ing in our soci­ety for justice.

http://justiceunbound.org/journal/current-issue/why-i-support-ows-as-a-reformed-theologian/3/

Just how is it that the church has “forgotten” this rather clear mandate of the gospel re: the emphasis on the plight of the poor;  that Jesus laid it out as plainly as “if you did it not to the least of these,  you did it not to me”. Just how has that clarity become so muddled and co-opted out of the prominence it is given in the gospel accounts of Jesus’ teachings,  is a question that OWS should bring back into proper gospel emphasis (Rick Santorum’s “Bible”  notwithstanding.)   If Rick Santorum actually read his Bible,  he would be as confronted as the church now finds herself on this question.  The bold and impassioned protest of Occupy certainly represents a wake-up call for those who call themselves by that name,  the name of Jesus.

The truth buried here is that when it comes to issues like those #OWS brings to our atten­tion, remain­ing neu­tral offers de facto sup­port to the sta­tus quo.

The above quote is similar in tone to the MLK observation: “The world is a dangerous place to live in.  Not becuase of the people who do evil,.  but becuase of the people who sit and let it happen.”