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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Occupiers abuse leftist churches

  Mother Jones has posted a video of the OWS protesters trespassing on Trinity church's property yesterday and claiming to "take" it, as if they think they are some sort of military operation, scaling the fence over which is posted a sign that says "Private property no trespassing."
  From Newser:
About 50 people were arrested, police said. "We're just trying to say that this country has gone in the wrong direction, and we need spaces that we can control and we can decide our future in," said one protester. Occupiers have been trying to gain church consent to use the lot since authorities ousted them from Zuccotti Park.
  Considering what occupiers did to the grand old St. Paul's in London, there's reason to be concerned about property damage and costs. American "Christian" pastor Jim Wallis looked at the desecration of St. Paul's as a gentle mission for Christians:
Could this be the future of this movement, as they are evicted by force by threatened mayors and municipalities; finding sanctuary in the shadow of spiritual spires, warmth in church basements and parish halls, pastoral care in meeting the many needs of such quickly gathered communities, quiet meditation in safe chapels, and, yes, prophetic solidarity in challenging the injustice that has called them into being?
  Asked to remove themselves from church property, the London occupiers Wallis waxes so dramatically about were accused of this:
Desecration, defecation and substance abuse are among the issues St Paul's Cathedral has had to cope with because of the protest camp in its churchyard, according to legal documents filed by the City of London Corporation ahead of its attempt to evict activists from the area.
  Below is the video of the OWS Trinity Church occupiers who claim to be not aggressive, broke the law and then claimed police were abusing them:
After forcing their way into the property, “We were all cheering,” she said, until police came in wielding batons. “I don’t think we provoked anybody.
We have no weapons. We’re not aggressive.”
  Some leftist ministers have been offering solace to occupiers for some time.
  And the takeover of churches has been in the works for a while, according to the despicable Franky Schaeffer, who advocated it in mid-October. Front Page Mag:
Franky Schaeffer is the son of the late, highly influential evangelical thinkerFrancis Schaeffer, who helped shape the modern conservative evangelical movement. The son boasts he was himself a co-founder of the Religious Right. But he since has denounced Christianity as “stupid,” writes bitter tell-all books about his parents, and ferociously attacks conservative religionists as the virtual root cause of all American evils. 
A blogger for The Huffington Post, young Schaeffer is now faulting religious conservatives for facilitating Wall Street greed. He’s imploring the Wall Street Occupiers to “protest the root source of America’s tilt to the far unregulated corporate right.” For Schaeffer, the next logical step is to demonstrate “outside mega churches, Evangelical publishing houses, [and] religious organizations that lead the ‘moral’ crusades against women and gays and all the rest.” 
Will the Wall Street Occupiers heed Schaeffer’s frenzied call and next park their tents, blankets and anti-capitalist placards in the parking lots of suburban mega churches? It seems unlikely. But Schaeffer’s demand fits with the crazy Left’s sometime fixation on demonizing opponents based on class and religion. 
 (Schaeffer's parents were excellent Christians and wonderful people; their son is their shame. It's a good thing they aren't around to see his behavior now, as he disparages all things Christian and conservative and especially his heritage. )
  Churches are perfect targets, with few people to prevent "occupation": and helping the occupiers as Trinity's been helping them out with bathroom use, free wi-fi, etcetera has not made them grateful but more aggressive.
  But, once again, for people like this, free this or that is never enough. They always want more.
  Perfectly willing to bite the hand, the rector of Trinity says this from The Spectator about the occupiers' claims of being owed "sanctuary":
Meanwhile, the rector at historic and very wealthy Trinity Episcopal Church at Wall Street in New York recently observed, somewhat defensively, that his church has "probably done as much or more for the protestors than any other institution in the area." Trinity has given the Occupiers "meeting rooms and offices" for assemblies, private discussion, computer use, cell phone charging, and bathroom visits, he announced. "Hundreds" of these young class warriors have availed themselves of Trinity Church's radical hospitality but apparently are not satisfied.  
"We disagree with those who argue that Trinity should--indeed, must as a matter of conscience--allow Occupy Wall Street to liberate its Duarte Square lot at Avenue of the Americas and Canal Street for an open encampment and large scale assemblies,"protested the Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper. "In all good conscience and faith, we strongly believe to do so would be wrong, unsafe, unhealthy and potentially injurious." 
Rev. Cooper complained of Occupiers who have vandalized church property even while demanding access to it. "Calling this an issue of 'political sanctuary' is manipulative and blind to reality," he reasonably surmised. "Equating the desire to seize this property with uprisings against tyranny is misguided," Cooper fumed, citing "hyperbolic distortion" by grandstanding Occupiers seeking arrest. Apparently political correctness has limits, even in the Episcopal Church.
  Here's the video with of the occupiers who had received so much from Trinity as they climbed the fence yesterday, accompanied first by a priest himself:

UPDATE:
From the New York Times, a protester proves my point, saying:

“We need more; you have more,” one protester, Amin Husain, 36, told a Trinity official on Thursday, during an impromptu sidewalk exchange between clergy members and demonstrators. “We are coming to you for sanctuary.”
Other liberal churches criticize Trinity's expulsion of the occupiers:
Critics argued that Trinity’s resources and influence carried with them an added responsibility. The Rev. Earl Kooperkamp, of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in West Harlem, noted that many churches hung signs from their chapels, welcoming passers-by. 
And the Rev. Michael Ellick, of Judson Memorial Church, a Greenwich Village congregation affiliated with the American Baptist Churches and the United Church of Christ, said Trinity needed to do more. 
“Charity is not enough,” Mr. Ellick said. “Charity keeps things the same.” 

2 comments:

  1. You don’t need to be religious to understand -and embrace- the idea that "Whatsoever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." But the 1%, in their blind greed and schemes, have forgotten and closed their eyes to what the word "society" should really mean. Because of Occupy Wall Street, we are finally talking less about CUTS and more about BLEEDING. Instead of demanding m-o-r-e budget cuts -to be borne by the middle class and poor- we are FINALLY focusing on the shameful bleeding that the poor and middle class has endured for all too long. Instead of talking about even m-o-r-e cuts in the taxes of millionaires....we are now talking about fairness and justice - about an economy and a political system that is increasingly run for the rich, and by the rich. Instead of talking about LESS government, we are talking about a government that WORKS FOR ALL OF US, not just a favored few. Thank you OWS, for reminding us that people -ordinary working people- really DO matter, and for helping open our eyes to what’s really going on in this country. Trinity Church should look deep into its collective soul, and at its ultimate mission. It should do the right thing, and help OWS. For I would bet my life, that if He were physically with us today...as He was 2000 years ago, He himself would be among the FIRST to climb those fences, and occupy Trinity’s Duarte Square. Of this I am certain.

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  2. I believe YOU believe what you write. I simply think it's...hogwash.

    The 1% that you so disparage give a tremendous amount to the government and the poor. The government WASTES much if not most of it. Greed and schemes? Do you have any idea where all those grants come from that help provide stadiums and art programs and computer classes?

    And, no, they haven't changed the conversation for the positive. They've only increased the anxiety over the anomie of society created by people who are completely self absorbed and selfish.

    What do they want? What you've got. When do they want it? Now.

    And, please, don't speak for Christ. He was not materialistic and that's what OWS is all about. Materialism. Taking other people's stuff.

    It's not about love.

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