Occupy Wall Street: Christians Debate if
Jesus Would 'Occupy' With Protesters
Ray Downs ("The Christian Post," October 10, 2011)
New York City, USA - As the "Occupy Wall Street" protest
stretches on for a fourth week, members of the faith
community have been stepping out to stand in solidarity with
demonstrators speaking out against greed, capitalism and
economic inequalities, moving some Christians to wonder if
Jesus Himself would also "occupy" Wall Street.
On Sunday, Judson Memorial Church and Union Theological
Seminary organized an interfaith event at Zucotti Park,
where the "Occupy Wall Street" (OWS) protests are being
held. Jewish, Muslim, and Christian leaders addressed the
crowd as supporters held signs with slogans such as "Jesus
is with the 99%" and "You cannot serve God and Wealth –
Matthew 6:24."
The leaders talked about how they were there to show
solidarity with the OWS protesters and that there needs to
be a new focus in America to help the poor and
underprivileged rather than "too big to fail" banks – a
common theme among the OWS protesters.
"We are not here as religious leaders," the Rev. Stephen
Phelps, of Riverside Church in New York City, told the
crowd. "We're here to show support to the movement."
"What is our struggle?" Phelps continued. "Our struggle is
not war. Our struggle is for an American identity. That
means the majority knows how to be the majority and protects
the minority."
As rabbis, imams, and ministers spoke, they all made sure
to stress that their goal is the same as the OWS
protesters': change. "Occupy!" and "We're gonna do it!" were
chanted repeatedly, with the crowd joining in. Phelps also
told the crowd, "Step out of line and do something! Do
something!"
However, religious leaders calling on OWS protesters to "do
something" has caused some conservatives to raise their
eyebrows.
The OWS protest has been depicted by some conservative
media as a socialist battle cry, giving the impression that
Karl Marx would have a greater presence at Zucotti Park than
Jesus Christ. However, that has not necessarily been the
case, and during the past week, the faith community has been
making its presence felt and plans on increasing its
participation in the protest, giving politicaly progressive
Christians a louder voice than they usually have.
Revered Jim Wallis of Sojourners wrote an article on
Huffington Post last week expressing his support for the
protesters. Admitting that he does not know everything about
the protesters and that some of them might not share his
Christian views, he drew on the similarities between what he
knew of the their goals and the goals of Christians who wish
to enact social change through the teachings of Jesus:
When they stand with the poor, they stand with Jesus. When
they stand with the hungry, they stand with Jesus. When they
stand for those without a job or a home, they stand with
Jesus. When they are peaceful, non-violent, and love their
neighbors (even the ones they don't agree with and who don't
agree with them), they are walking as Jesus walked. When
they talk about holding banks and corporations accountable,
they sound like Jesus and the biblical prophets before him
who all spoke about holding the wealthy and powerful
accountable.
Conservative blogs, such as TheBlaze.com, took Wallis to
task for, what they believed, was a misconstruing of the
Bible for a "leftist" agenda. After agreeing that it would
be "biblical" to hold the powerful accountable, Billy
Hallowell of TheBlaze responds to Wallis: "But doesn’t the
Bible also speak about personal responsibility, the power of
negative decisions and the like?"
He adds: "the issue here isn’t simply about the poor; it’s
about the extent to which businesses and government should
be blamed for social and political problems. Nowhere in his
article does Wallis address the other side of this debate -
the one that deals with individuals’ decisions to take out
loans and to engage in other consumer behaviors."
Although taking out loans and engaging in "other consumer
behaviors" is vague, Hallowell's point is that the fault of
today’s current economic situation lies not only with the
big banks and corporations who eliminate jobs while taking
taxpayer money – one of the main grievances of the OWS
protesters – but with the people for taking out a loan they
could not pay back after losing their job. Therefore,
assuming Jesus would automatically side against the big
banks is not accurate, Hallowell believes.
However, the religious leaders in attendance at Zucotti
Park on Sunday strongly disagreed.
"Jesus would have provided the poor with fish and bread –
even if they could not afford to pay back a loan," Meredeith
Kadet, 29, told The Christian Post.
Kadet, a theological student at Union Theological Seminary
in New York City as well as a community minister at Judson
Memorial Church, was present at the OWS protest Sunday to
help counter the perception that Christianity is
ideologically opposed to helping those hurt by the economic
crisis.
At the heart of Kadet's religious reasoning was a
philosophy that believes Jesus sides with the poor.
"I think Jesus considered himself to be part of a long line
of prophets who spoke for the poor and rejected," she said.
"That's why we came here today…He would be here."
"Jesus almost always sided with the poor and persecuted,"
Erica Richmond, a Union student who helped organize the
interfaith event, told CP. "Jesus was an activist in His
time."
Regardless of one's interpretation of the Bible, the OWS
protests combine many ideologies and beliefs, including some
that are highly skeptical of religion and even see religion
as part of the overall problem.
Acknowledging that there might be a spiritual disconnect,
Richmond said that the agreements between Christian and
non-religious protesters outweigh the differences.
"We have the same concerns," she said, pointing out that
Jesus spoke out against the corrupt powers of his time, one
of the main goals of everybody in the OWS protests.
Richmond, who identifies as a Universalist Unitarian, said
that a basic tenet of her belief is to "affirm the inherent
warmth and dignity of every person."
"That warmth and dignity are being denied," she said. “And
that's not okay. That's not Christ's ethics."
Whatever interpretation of Jesus' teachings one has and how
it may apply to the OWS protests, New York's faith community
has vowed to play an important part in the movement.
Addressing the crowd, the Rev. Michael Ellick of Judson
Memorial Church promised that he and others in the faith
community would be in it for the long haul.
"We will not tire. We will not falter. We will stand with
you in every city, every state, every country," he said.
"And whatever [the protesters] need, the faith community of
New York will be there to give it to them."
