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."
