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Protesters have their backs against the wall

09 Oct 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The reading from the Book of Isaiah this Sunday promises that the Lord will provide a rich feast for all peoples. Many Americans are upset that powerful corporate and financial executives seem to be the only ones enjoying a feast during this time of economic want. “Occupy Wall Street” protests that started several weeks ago with a few dozen camped-out protesters have spread nationwide in a growing demonstration of that anger and frustration. Publicity surrounding last week’s arrests of hundreds of demonstrators in New York City near Wall Street and on the Brooklyn Bridge energized the campaign. This week new rallies and in some cases urban encampments are taking place in cities as disparate as Memphis, Tennessee; Hilo, Hawaii; Minneapolis; Baltimore; and McAllen, Texas, according to Occupy Together, an unofficial website hub for the protests that lists dozens of coming demonstrations, including some in Europe and Japan. In the nation’s capital an Occupy D.C. movement began last Saturday, with plans to join forces on Thursday with a similar anticorporate and antiwar group, "October 2011," for an encampment in a park near the White House. Protesters have also camped out in Los Angeles near city hall, assembled before the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago, and marched through downtown Boston to rally against corporate greed, unemployment, and the role of financial institutions in the economic crisis. With little organization and a reliance on social networks for communication, the Occupy Wall Street campaign has clearly tapped into a deep vein of anger, experts in social movements said, bringing long-time crusaders against globalization and professional anarchists together with younger people frustrated by poor job prospects. “Rants based on discontents are the first stage of any movement,” said Michael Kazin, a professor of history at Georgetown University. But he said it was unclear if the current protests would lead to a lasting movement, which would require developing some structure and focused goals. Sources: Articles by Erik Eckholm and Timothy Williams for the New York Timesand Deepti Hajela and Verena Dobnik for the Associated Press

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Protests occupy attention worldwide

23 Oct 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday’s reading from the Book of Exodus, the Lord has some strong words for those with power and influence who abuse the poor, the powerless, and the outsider for economic gain. What started in a park near Wall Street a month ago as a small protest against financial abuse and inequality has now spread to four continents. Protestors in some places have vowed to stay on the streets “for as long as it takes” to right the perceived injustices. Over the weekend protestors camped out from Hong Kong to London, while in Rome a peaceful rally was hijacked by violent extremists. Meanwhile, police in New York and Chicago arrested more than 250 people in all. Sydney, Toronto, and other cities also saw demonstrations in support of the incipient movement, which organizers say represents the "99 percent,” a reference to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz’s study showing that 1 percent of Americans control 40 percent of U.S. wealth. Scores of anti-corporate demonstrators occupied London's historic St. Paul's Cathedral last Sunday, but police who tried to stop them were told to leave by church officials. The protesters were welcomed into the 17th-century cathedral and Sunday services went on uninterrupted. The protesters have been camped out in the shadows of St. Paul's all week. The cathedral is on the edge of the city’s financial district. There has purposefully been no individual face to the Occupy Wall Street protests. By design the grassroots movement is leaderless and it welcomes all comers and all grievances with the powers that be. That has helped the protests grow, but the absence of leaders and a clear course of action may also prove to be the movement’s undoing, some observers predict. But others contend that the inclusive nature of the movement is what gives it strength. “Everyone is here for very separate reasons, and that’s one of the reasons that this movement works,” said Sam Agger, an Occupy Tucson participant. A protester in Washington, D.C. agreed the movement’s strength is based on the fact that its goals aren’t clearly defined: “We are not going to make demands. We are not going to become a political party,” said Sonia Silbert, a longtime political activist who was at the Occupy DC encampment a few blocks from the White House last Sunday. “The second we start making demands we start splintering, and we are no longer the 99 percent.” Sources: Articles by Karen Eeuwens, Esmé E. Deprez, and Frederik Balfour for Bloomberg,Marc Lacey for the New York Times, Brad Tuttle for TIME, and Ecumenical News International

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Protestors find new way to give power to the people

06 Nov 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The wise virgins described in this Sunday’s gospel made sure they had enough oil to keep their lamps lit. With their gas generators labeled a fire hazard and confiscated by authorities, Occupy Wall Street protestors in New York City’s Zuccotti Park have found a creative way to keep the lights on and laptops humming: bicycle pedal power. Keegan Stephan, a bike mechanic and environmentalist at the park site, has been pedaling a stationary bike to provide energy for the protesters' encampment. "People get really excited when they see these bikes," said George Pingeon, a bike tour guide involved with the effort. The bike is attached to a flywheel which in turn connects to a dynamo that creates energy that flows through a motor and a one-way diode to charge a battery. When fully charged--after about 6 hours of pedaling--the battery might provide power for around 100 hours, Stephan estimated. Protesters will drawn on this energy to run laptops, cell phones, and other devices. Stephan said he had made the machine over a year ago and had utilized it to operate the refrigerator in his apartment. He brought it to Zuccotti Park a few weeks ago to offer an example of how people might create their own power. Last Friday New York City police took away the gas-powered generators that the protesters--some of whom have slept in the park for more than a month--had been using. The Fire Department has said that storing large amounts of fuel in the park violates fire codes. Since then several other bikes have been added to the effort. "I'm going to ask the tourists if they want to help pedal," Pingeon said. Source: A blog post by Zachary Roth for The Lookout (Yahoo! News)

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Faith communities open doors to Occupiers

04 Dec 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“The Occupy Movement is a current expression of humanity's long struggle for equality and justice. Every generation awaits ‘new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells,’ to use Saint Peter's words,” comments Patrice Tuohy in “Occupy peace,” a Story Starter in this week’s issue of “Exploring the Word.” As Occupy camps nationwide deal with police crackdowns and the onset of winter temperatures, religious communities of all stripes are stepping in with offers of shelter and solidarity. Soon after police forcibly evicted the original Occupy Wall Street camp in New York’s Zuccotti Park on November 15, many of the protesters began sleeping and gathering at local congregations, including Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village. “The eviction . . . really shifts what happens here, and it really boomed the movement, because immediately there was this network in place that we’d developed of communities throughout New York that were willing to open up their doors and house the movement,” said Rev. Michael Ellick, a pastor at Judson Memorial. Ellick and his colleagues got involved early on, marching to Zuccotti Park with a golden calf fashioned to look like the iconic Wall Street bull statue. Ever since phones have been “ringing off the hook” with churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and monasteries wanting to get involved in some way, he said. A recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute and Religion News Service found that less than a third of Americans say the Occupy movement represents their values, but the police evictions seem to have boosted religious support for the demonstrators. According to Ellick, more than 1,400 faith leaders from around the country have signed a pledge of solidarity with Occupy protesters, many of them jumping in only after police cleared Zuccotti Park. A new interfaith coalition calling itself “Occupy Faith DC” hosted a free Thanksgiving meal at a historic Washington church for about 300 of the protesters, including a small group that had just marched in from New York City. “Churches traditionally do charity pretty well,” Ellick said, “and this is a moment where that charity gets transformed into justice work and they can start to see that there are underlying causes here that we need to address.” Sources: An article by Josef Kuhn for Religion News Serviceand a "Prepare the Word" Story Starter by Patrice J. Tuohy

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Debt forgiveness talk is cheap but money even cheaper

17 Nov 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The call for the Thessalonians to imitate the humble and hardworking ways of the followers of Jesus sounds similar to the strategy the Occupy Wall Street activists are putting into play by their recent purchase of $15 million in Americans' personal debt, which they then cancelled free and clear.Known as the Rolling Jubilee, the Occupy Wall Street group Strike Debt purchased for only $400,000 mostly personal medical debt which amounted to an overwhelming $14,734,569.87 and then informed the debtors that they were essentially off the hook.Professor and member of the group Andrew Ross explained that even the Strike Debt investors were surprised at how little they needed to purchase huge amounts of debt: “We thought that the ratio would be about 20 to 1. In fact, we’ve been able to buy debt a lot more cheaply than that.”The secondary debt market, which the Occupy Movement has called out for its predatory tactics, allows banks to sell off their debt for a fraction of what it’s worth to a third party, who then acts as a collection agency and makes a profit on whatever it can collect.Homily hint: Modeling behavior is the best way to show someone how to act. Saint Paul and his followers did just that for the Thessalonians, the Occupy Wall Street activists did it for bankers, and you can do it for your children or your employees or your neighbors. As you look around and see the need for change; model the behavior you hope to see in others. In other words, practice what you preach. Sources: Articles by Sarah Rasheed for AmericanLiveWire, Adam Gabbatt for The Guardian, and StrikeDebt.org

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