Chris Hedges: Where Were You When They Crucified My Movement?

[marmar]

from truthdig:



Where Were You When They Crucified My Movement?

Posted on Dec 5, 2011
By Chris Hedges


Chris Hedges gave an abbreviated version of this talk Saturday morning in Liberty Square in New York City as part of an appeal to Trinity Church to turn over to the Occupy Wall Street movement an empty lot, known as Duarte Square, that the church owns at Canal Street and 6th Avenue. Occupy Wall Street protesters, following the call, began a hunger strike at the gates of the church-owned property. Three of the demonstrators were arrested Sunday on charges of trespassing, and three others took their places.


The Occupy movement is the force that will revitalize traditional Christianity in the United States or signal its moral, social and political irrelevance. The mainstream church, battered by declining numbers and a failure to defiantly condemn the crimes and cruelty of the corporate state, as well as a refusal to vigorously attack the charlatans of the Christian right, whose misuse of the Gospel to champion unfettered capitalism, bigotry and imperialism is heretical, has become a marginal force in the life of most Americans, especially the young. Outside the doors of churches, many of which have trouble filling a quarter of the pews on Sundays, struggles a movement, driven largely by young men and women, which has as its unofficial credo the Beatitudes:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons and daughters of God.
Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

It was the church in Latin America, especially in Central American and Augusto Pinochet’s Chile, which provided the physical space, moral support and direction for the opposition to dictatorship. It was the church in East Germany that organized the peaceful opposition marches in Leipzig that would bring down the communist regime in that country. It was the church in Czechoslovakia, and its 90-year-old cardinal, that blessed and defended the Velvet Revolution. It was the church, and especially the African-American church, that made possible the civil rights movements. And it is the church, especially Trinity Church in New York City with its open park space at Canal and 6th, which can make manifest its commitment to the Gospel and nonviolent social change by permitting the Occupy movement to use this empty space, just as churches in other cities that hold unused physical space have a moral imperative to turn them over to Occupy movements. If this nonviolent movement fails, it will eventually be replaced by one that will employ violence. And if it fails it will fail in part because good men and women, especially those in the church, did nothing.

Where is the church now? Where are the clergy? Why do so many church doors remain shut? Why do so many churches refuse to carry out the central mandate of the Christian Gospel and lift up the cross? ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/where_were_you_when_they_crucified_my_movement_20111205/

[Fumesucker]

1. The moderate and liberal churches are for the most part terrified of a theological food fight..

A theological food fight with the fundie crayzee right out in front of God and everybody.

It's revealing that despite the fact secularists are a small minority in the USA it's almost always secularists who stand up against the fundie Christian right.

[Bluenorthwest]

5. Which is a nicer way of saying they don't really care to stand

for their alleged faith, making the 'faith' false, making the terrified the same as the crayzee. They are 'too afraid' to stop the crayzee from defining them. Note that on DU, mention the crayzee and they rush out to blame posters who do not annotate the mention of crayzee with mention that they are 'not all like that'. They themselves cower from the job, yet others are obliged in their minds to clarify that although they look just like the people they stand with and call brother and sister, they are not really like them at all. Except that they stand with them, and call them siblings while calling us 'unsanctified' and unworthy of equal rights.
They hold the coats, as they say in religious circles, for the real stone throwers yet they do not step in and save Stephen. They hold the coats.

[Fumesucker]

7. I think an excellent example was the student in Louisiana who objected to a graduation prayer..

http://www.examiner.com/humanist-in-national/young-atheist-hero-objects-to-graduation-prayer-small-louisiana-town

It was the secular student, the atheist, who took the heat and stood up to see the law enforced as written, the moderate and liberal theists were silent, as usual.

Many believe Damon did the right thing. Yet despite words of admiration pouring in from across the country and around the globe, Fowler is under attack by fellow classmates, town members and even teachers.

One teacher at Bastrop High School, Mitzi Quinn, even went so far as to speak to the press about Fowler, saying:

"This is a student who really hasn’t contributed anything to graduation or to their classmates."

[patrice]

6. Some people coming to our occupy have talked about looking for the original (tiny) church.

[Lindsay]

2. An issue that came up

for the Occupy camp in London, Ontario, was that the church whose grounds they were using was pressured by their insurance company to let the camp be evicted.

Yet another way in which the hidden hand of the corporations is trying to rule the world, and to choke off everything that is good and just.

[dotymed]

13. You would be surprised at how Churches have their hands

tied by corporate rule. When I lived in Indiana, I was the junior warden of Trinity Church for 4 years. Usually a "Trinity Church" is Episcopalian. Our congregation and Priest were majority anti-corporate, people before profit, believers. We had a small aged congregation who were reliant on the Diocese for support. What little amount left over from weekly contributions was spent to help those in need. We had weekly AA meetings in our parish house and were open to community outreach programs. Our insurer restricted us from doing many of the programs we wanted to implement. They threatened to raise our premiums to un-payable levels. It is the only organized Christian religion that I am aware of that sanctioned LGBT Priests (man that was a battle that almost destroyed us.) Also, our clergy were (are) allowed to marry and raise families (even though we are a "break-off" of the Catholic church, the American "church of England"). Anyway, yes corporate pressure does prohibit many churches from implementing the programs intended to benefit the poor in our community, which most of us were.

Since I have moved to TN., I have not been to the Episcopal church, so I don't know the situation here.

[zazen]

3. great way to focus the day on what's important--thx n/t

[KoKo]

4. K&R!

[raouldukelives]

8. K&R

There is nothing the Christian right fears more than the ideals of Christ.

[bengalherder]

9. I've been telling moderate christians for years that they need to

clean their own damn house.

As a pagan, it just isn't my job to take down their own heretics.


And I have been assured that (no matter how liberal the christian espousing the sentiment), I AM damned, they are just nicer at warning me than the others, I guess. :wtf: What a nice religion you got there, guys.

[Uncle Joe]

10. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, marmar.

[pghtytfan]

11. The church is busy

with the alter boys

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. Too late to rec, but not to kick and support.

[madamesilverspurs]

14. Insurance --

an industry based on the manufacture and manipulation of fear succeeds in barring institutions of faith from the free exercise of compassion.

USA! USA! USA!

[Overseas]

15. K&R. Well said.

[bertman]

16. Thank Howard they don't have to pay taxes.

You all realize, of course, that Howard is God's real name. Its says so right in the Lord's Prayer. "Howard be thy name. Thy will be done . . . "

Finally, that explains the H. in Jesus H. Christ.

[Johnny Noshoes]

17. nt.

:rofl:

[chervilant]

19. O, CheeznCrackers!

All this time, I thought it was Harold!

[mwooldri]

20. It's Harold, not Howard, you insensitive clod!

*giggle*

(sorry couldn't resist....)

[chervilant]

18. But, but, but...

It's so INCONVENIENT to live by God's rules!

[Mosaic]

21. Bloomberg failed

OWS is alive and well.