Here’s a post by Bill Meffords of the @UMC ‘s Global Board of Church and Society @GBCS about his noticing the LACK of discussion in church circles of “economic justice”, but even here, no mention of #OWS. http://main.umc-gbcs.org/blog/the-reluctance-to-discuss-economic-justice
post by Tom Beaudoin On Mayday, I was in the parks and streets of Manhattan for #M1GS, the May 1st General Strike, a daylong gathering called by a coalition of dozens of labor organizations. Like many, I was there under many motivations: as a participant in Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Faith NYC, as a member of the labor union and advocacy Continue Reading
from a post by Kathryn Anderson: I wondered how a theology of Occupy Wall Street could clarify our purpose and ideology, while inviting Catholics and other people of faith to engage with the movement with confidence and conviction. This post offers the beginnings of a theology for the Occupy Movement. It aims to identify the theology expressed by the movement Continue Reading
Fr. Thomas Massaro SJ, Professor of Moral Theology at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry: As diffuse and disputed as its agenda may be, the Occupy movement has called unprecedented attention to the great imbalances in power and material outcome experienced by Americans today. One could quibble with the movement’s tactics and demands or even with its math (that Continue Reading
Discovered a fellow Nashvillian through a tweet link from @zoecarnate (Mike Morrell) re: a book by Jim Palmer: Being Jesus in Nashville. Also, Jim has a Facebook page called “Occupy Religion”. I think I need to contact this guy and get an interview. http://www.divinenobodies.com/blog/2011/10/beyond-the-rules-of-religion-occupy-religion/
As I read this story by Bishop Packard, these words stood out as if to signal a common rally point for church folks who long to see the church active and enagaged again the deep sadness of our Church missing something special in history http://occupiedbishop.blogspot.com/2012/05/arrestedagain.html
Indeed: When we look for this, we find the church weak, either nurturing personal spirituality without a prophetic critique (conservative), or focused on prophetic action without nurturing our spirits (liberal). The church is Solomon’s baby, split in two. http://justiceunbound.org/carousel/letter-to-a-seminarian-from-a-christian-occupier/ In the words of my mentor-Church community, The Church of the Saviour (now a “tradition unto itself, having spawned numerous , Continue Reading
Todd Gitlin has written an amazingly articulate expression of the history, aims, and “feel” of the Occupy movement. The following does an amazing job of explaining (at least for me) the appeal, the effects, and the values of Occupy, and is, by virtue of that, an expression that ventures close into theological territory, for it hits around the universals of Continue Reading
Chris Hedges spoke to Episcopal Bishop George Packard, who says in a restaraunt overlooking Zucotti Park: “The spirit is calling us now into the streets, calling us to reject the old institutional orders. ” This is the kind of Pentecost that I see coming. And it reminds me of the warning in Revelation: “Because you are lukewarm, I am about to spit Continue Reading
From “The Lamb’s War” blog of Micah Bales: One unique way that Occupy Church is participating in the American Spring is through the development of a theological basis for this movement. When I read this line in Micah’s post from yesterday, my heart sung. Yes! A theological basis for this movement. It is the hope I intend to help further and enable Continue Reading
All of the interview with Vanderbilt history prof Gary Gerstle from which a clip was used in a VUCast (Vandy’s YOuTube News Channel) is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ph79lbXaF5I#! He says “second gilded age” began under Reagan. But only now has there been much of an outcry that could be identified, until OWS.
This morning I saw this on the OccupyUSA blog. Barbara Ehrenreich at Alternet: “How I discovered the truth about poverty.” http://www.thenation.com/blog/166854/occupyusa-blog-friday-march-16-frequent-updates I thought as I began to read this that we are being dragged backwards in history by the right wing who want to do nothing but scoff at the concerns of people for the dramtic increase in the number Continue Reading
I just read the follwing line in an article about Occupy: “A lot of people who came into the camp with the preconceived notion that ‘these people don’t have a message’ came by our booth and were surprised by the level of discourse there.†http://www.thenation.com/article/166749/revolution-radio As I continued to hear the critiques of Occupy Wall Street that “they don’t have a clear Continue Reading
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 Continue Reading
This morning I ran across this post , “Why I Support #OWS as a Reformed Theologian” , and early on in the post I was reminded of the “meme” to which occupy opposers have taken hold, that of the “unclear message”. I actgually heard two Tennessee legislators actually say they had never heard an articulation of who the 99% and the 1% Continue Reading