On Dr. King’s birthday, Jan. 15th 1968 – which was sadly to be his last – he was organizing with a multi-racial coalition of Native Americans, Chicanos, Appalachian whites and urban black people to start an encampment in Washington D.C. that would be a massive “nonviolent army†which would “cripple the operation of an oppressive society.†By 1968, King’s earlier Continue Reading
“You can’t talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars. You can’t talk about ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken out of slums. You’re really tampering and getting on dangerous ground because you are messing with folk then. You are messing with captains of industry.… Now this means that Continue Reading
A good one from John Nichols of The Naiton re: MLK and OWS: Asked about “Occupy Wall Street,†Congressman West declared this week: “Martin Luther King Jr. would not have backed these types of protesters.†Dr. King’s history, and his own words, say otherwise. http://www.thenation.com/blog/164080/king-versus-tea-party-poor-peoples-campaign-occupy Nichols quotes MLK: “America is at a crossroads of history, and it is critically important Continue Reading
This quotation from an article in CounterPunch brings some well considered rcommendation re: what is needed from OWS based on where “the problem” lies. Watching Bill Moyers talk to the authors of a book called “Winner Take All Politics”, the evidence is pretty overwhelming that the normal “democratic process” has been increasingly rigged over the past 30 years. Martin Luther King, Jr. Continue Reading
Nice to see the evangelical interest: What this movement is doing is immensely important – and consistent with many core Christian values – and thus, worthy of even the pastor’s investment of time. The liberal Christian community is already very involved, as are many who don’t identify themselves as religious. Many people in these groups are either waiting for Evangelicals Continue Reading
Chomsky begins talk at about 3:30 in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pfGRSDZs1M
Noam Chomsky has long been our master of the method of American propaganda. His warnings and insights on how the U.S. powers that be “Manufacture Consent” have made him, in my eyes, a theologian of sorts. His insights help us to understand, first hand, the concept of “the way of the world” vs that of the Kingdom of God (Chomsky Continue Reading
The reflections grow across the country as people are finding the strong communal, “people” prescence that emits a glow and an invitation to join and speak up. Here’s one from Boston: This, for me, is the heart of the Occupy Movement. I may hand out mere bread and flashlight batteries at the tents in Boston, but I pray that I always Continue Reading
When I first hit on the idea to get a domain, occupychurch.org was my first choice. But to my dismay, I found it inhabited by a church group that used the domain as a catchphrase, capitalizing (and “distorting”) the meme into a cheap PR scheme that thumbs its nose at the occupy movement by dissing political protest (and “Occupy” with Continue Reading
Thought I’d include this item, from the Fundamentalist World Net Daily, as an example of the Low rung of the church response I blogged about earlier. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=368841 I especially like this: Wallis reportedly is a spiritual adviser to Obama and has known the president for years. That just seals it doesn’t it? Any association with Obama, and God forbid, a Continue Reading
This quote from a UMC pastor re: Occupy in Christianity Today has me thinking about the scale of church responses to Occupy: At bottom, is outright rejection and demonization (ala Fox and The Tea Party), 2) condescension expressed in comments like ” irrelevant” and “naive” 3) total ignoring 4) Skepticism about it’s ultimate effectiveness 5) Hopefulness about it but dampened Continue Reading
We in the Christian community are also asking how the movement’s message coheres with our theological precepts. Should the church be for or against OWS? Should the church offer spiritual support? Should the church lend physical and material support to movement members? http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/jesus_and_the_99_percent_20111202/?ln When the history of this second decade of the new millennium is written, we don’t want it Continue Reading
Senior Minister at Judson Memorial Church, Donna Schaper explains what she called the “edifice complex” some congregations have, and what Judson Church is offering to those without a space for worship. http://www.judson.org/occupywallst (These guys don’t have a twitter account? Why?)
When the Occupy Wall Street movement began in September, Judson was one of the first churches to openly support and join with protesters. The church works with other denominations in providing multi-faith services on Sunday afternoons. On Oct. 9, Judson joined with other clergy in carrying a golden calf named Greed around Wall Street. The calf was meant to remind people of the Continue Reading
These people at Judson Memorail Church are on top of things re: Occupy: http://www.judson.org/occupywallst