Occupy ...

on December 07, 2011 by Walt Dilg

"Occupy ..."

    There has been a powerful social movement sweeping our country using the banner of "Occupy Wall Street" that is trying to give voice to those who feel left behind in our society.  In light of the policy malfeasance of the last two decades and the economic downturn of the last couple years, such a movement is not unexpected and frankly seems warranted.  People need to earn a living that lets the have a living.  Back in college I was reading books that highlighted the economic chasm that was happening in our country between the haves and the have-nots.  The alarm was being sounded then that the middle class was tracking toward extinction.  It's startling to learn that over the last three decades, the salaries of top management in corporations has gone from 30 times to 300 times the pay received by the workers of those companies.  

    In London, the "Occupy Wall Street" movement (or whatever they call it there) found itself spilling over into the large courtyard of St. Paul's Cathedral, creating a fascinating dilemma for the church leaders "The Christian Century" reported on page 7 in its November 29, 2011 edition.  "St. Paul's leaders weren't sure how to respond to the protesters camping in the courtyard.  Though some were sympathetic to the protesters' concerns, they were also heartbroken at finding graffiti on the church wall and human waste in the courtyard ... a sharp drop in visitors to the cathedral, which meant a loss of up to $24,000 a day."  So they closed the Cathedral, contemplated removing the protesters, and then later re-opened it with an allowance for the protesters to stay through New Years.  Three lead clergy resigned due to the turmoil in the congregation and the streets.

    The church was caught between a rock and a hard place - it's positions on God and Mammon.  "There's something profoundly right about a moral protest taking place in a cathedral courtyard" the editorial continues.  "A cathedral is designed to be a place where humans glimpse an alternate way of seeing the world.  The point of the soaring architecture and the glorious art is to reorient human beings and help them see the world according to God's purposes - and then to carry that vision back into everyday life." 

    It's the church's business to convey a vision of the new creation that Christ invites us to embrace, and how that might appear in our day to day lives, in our society.  God's Kingdom often times has different priorities than the world around us that seems too ready to prize profit over people.  The church, our church, needs to find its voice and say something about it.  The healthier and more whole society will benefit us all, wherever we are on the economic continuum.