Occupying The Temple

The "Occupy Wall Street" protests are inevitable in a nation and, indeed, a world in which the gap between the rich and poor is growing. More inequality and poverty are unsustainable and objectionable to the vast majority of people.

The wealthy in the United States are overwhelmingly made up of white people and yet every day this country is less and less dominated by white men of European stock: That is, people like I am. That's a simple demographic fact.

The church should not let us get away with only caring for our own kind.

Incidentally, it is a fact The United Methodist Church has failed to understand and address. The church should not let us get away with only caring for our own kind.

The memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was dedicated this week. King once said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

Similarly, when the United States stretches too far toward inequality of wealth, warfare, racism and environmental degradation, it snaps like a rubber band and attempts to move back toward its stated ideals. People of faith always play a role in this inevitable correction.

A long, difficult road lies ahead as we attempt to rein in the forces of greed and hatred. They are deeply rooted and extremely powerful and determined. Political leaders of both political parties and the media elite are beholden to them.

Real economic hardship is afoot
in the land.

But real economic hardship is afoot in the land. The working class was nearly wiped out by plant closings in the 1980s. The white collar class was nearly wiped out in the 1990s. When the mortgage scam disaster of the 2000s was piled on, a recipe for unrest and disenchantment resulted. To add insult to injury, anyone who expresses unhappiness is simply blamed for their own predicament.

When people begin to lose hope that things will be better for their children, they are stressed and become open to new ideas. Sometimes, those are bad ideas espoused by demagogues who engage in the politics of exclusion and hatred.

The 10 Commandments were undoubtedly issued in response
to a prolonged orgy
of misbehavior.

Strange reactions can and do result in the midst of turmoil. Everyone desires to be free. Powerful voices suggest any "regulation" is an imposition on freedom. I imagine those same voices were present when Moses came down from the mountaintop with a list of regulations promulgated by God Almighty!

 The Ten Commandments were undoubtedly issued in response to a prolonged orgy of misbehavior. After all, if the Israelites had been caring for one another as a faithful community should, why ban murder, adultery, theft, idolatry, etc.?

We have a problem today, too, when regulations make it illegal to share food with a person who is indigent or to give aid to the sojourner.

The dream of upward mobility based on hard work appears to be slipping away for many. The system is gamed in favor of those with money and connections. When money buys political power and corruption is the norm, young people lose faith in democracy. A whole generation is losing faith.

Occupy Wall Street is an example of the response. Those involved are creating a participatory democracy.

It's old fashioned people power. Like Jesus, they are occupying the temple of the moneychangers. If a nation's leaders won't address an intractable problem, the people will. The idea that a corporation is a person is rejected. A protest sign put it well: "I'll believe corporations are citizens when Texas executes one."

I might feel disheartened if not for our victories. At its best, the church of Jesus Christ is a place where we care for one another. It is a place where we don't give up on the dream of adequate health care for all. It is a place where we have mutual respect and a holy sense of what makes us human. It is a place where those suffering domestic abuse will get help. It is a place where sexual orientation is not a barrier.

The church of Jesus Christ is a place where we, inspired by the example of our savior, pledge our lives to care for one another.