{"id":941,"date":"2011-10-21T06:25:51","date_gmt":"2011-10-21T11:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/fearofwhales\/2011\/10\/occupy-wall-street.html"},"modified":"2012-06-22T07:50:56","modified_gmt":"2012-06-22T12:50:56","slug":"occupy-wall-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fearofwhales\/2011\/10\/occupy-wall-street.html","title":{"rendered":"Occupy Wall Street"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Occupy-Wall-Street-signs15\"<\/a>I might regret this. But I think perhaps it\u2019s time to bring my perspective to bear on the Occupy Wall Street Protests. I don\u2019t know about you, But I\u2019ve certainty been curious about who\u2019s side I would end up on. What with my tendency to controversy and social change, while also championing rationality and Christian values.<\/p>\n

At first blush I thought it wouldn’t amount to anything. When my friend Salim, the Jasmine Revolutionary said he heard protests were happening on wall street and there were accusations of police brutality, I was quick to explain to him that in this country \u201cpolice brutality\u201d usually means a cot accidently knocked a kid down and he skinned his knee. \u201cIt\u2019s not like Bahrain\u201d I said \u201cProtestors will get arrested if they cross picket lines, but they will be written up and sent home, nobody\u2019s going to be locked in a dungeon I assure you\u201d I then added \u201cWait a sec What\u2019s happening on Wall Street again?\u201d<\/p>\n

When I did more research I scoffed. \u201cProtesting cooperate greed\u201d??? how do you do that? Every protest I\u2019ve ever been to has an awareness raising component, \u201cThis is going on, nobody knows about it and it needs to stop, so we\u2019re going to make a big stink until somebody does something about it\u201d So as an abortion protestor I held a sign that depicts what abortion actually consists of. For Invisible children we wrote letters and took a picture of the crowd to show the sheer numbers of people who were concerned about Child Soldiers in Uganda. But how do you raise awareness for corporate greed? Who in the world did not know, prior to the protest that corporations on Wall Street were greedy? Are you going to protest Gambling in Vegas next? Windiness in Chicago? Fundamentalism in Utah? <\/font><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the Best Case Scenario here?<\/font><\/p>\n

\"Occupy-Wall-Street-signs02\"<\/a>\u201cHey Mr. CFO, I made this sign that says you should stop being greedy\u201d
<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201dI should? Well dang, Okay! But what will I do with all this money?\u201d<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s give it to the homeless together\u201d<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cGreat Idea! Last one there\u2019s a sub-prime lending agreement!\u201d<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

One news blog I read suggested that there are legitimate issues here and this is just an organization problem and the cream has yet to rise to the top. When it does,the blogger theorized that the protest would be more about taxation and lobbys than it will about \u201cI hate rich people\u201d<\/p>\n

Another perspective is that this is the first true protest of the information age. No longer tied down by Bumper sticker slogans and androcentric leadership we can finally use free mass communication to allow people to communicate a truly complex and nuanced message in a  truly brilliant way. <\/p>\n

Still others think the protests are a waste of time and they should all just go get a job because they don\u2019t know what they\u2019re even protesting.<\/p>\n

\"blog_karen_brown_rally_to_restore_sanity1\"<\/a>I\u2019d like to offer a fourth perspective. There are legitimate issues here, the protests are a waste of time, and that\u2019s truly brilliant! <\/p>\n

See, It\u2019s a front.<\/p>\n

They say they are hanging out protesting corporate greed, but really they\u2019re just hanging out, and if social change happens all the better.<\/p>\n

The more I read about what\u2019s going on the less I feel like this resembles the work I did with Invisible Children and the more it sounds like the week I spent camping out for Star Wars.<\/p>\n

Sure, In theory I was reserving a seat, but in reality we had all purchased tickets on fandango, I was really just spending the week outside with other nerds under the auspices of wanting a \u201creally good seat\u201d. It was one of the best weeks of my life.<\/p>\n

\"Occupy-Wall-Street-signs25\"<\/a>Invisible Children was awesome too. I stayed up late talking to unique like-minded people and telling jokes while making the world a better place.<\/p>\n

Am I the first one who\u2019s noticed that rent in Lower Manhattan is $72 per square foot per month? People often commute for hours from 3 states to get to the City, these guys are camping there for free! That\u2019s brilliant!<\/p>\n

Meanwhile they have raised the level of public discourse in the country about an issue that nobody in their right mind would protest. You see they can do that, because they\u2019re not in their right mind. they\u2019re transient hippie whackjobs, and they\u2019re changing the world.<\/p>\n

\"pics-from-the-rally-to-restore-sanity-and-or-fear.5571947.87\"<\/a>In Ancient Israel there was a massive temple court where people would mill about and talk to each other and debate the issues of the day. I\u2019ve often lamented that no such place existed in America, but I think these guys are creating it. And how beautiful and ironic is it that they\u2019re creating it at the great temple of America\u2019s favorite God, the Almighty Dollar. I think it\u2019s marvelous.<\/p>\n

I hope the protest continues indefinitely. I hope one starts in every city in America, and the civil leaders adjust to having people camping in their parks discussing whatever is on their mind 24\/7\/365. I hope I can go there and talk to everyone about Jesus and what his sign would say and what they all think of him versus the organized church community.<\/p>\n

I hope we start talking about things as a people from now on. and don\u2019t just limit stuff to what\u2019s easy to talk about, or what fits on a sign or what problems are \u201csolvable\u201d I hope our prophets stop following procedure, and start crying out in the wilderness again because I hunger and thirst for justice and I hold to the audacious hope of satisfaction.<\/p>\n

\u2026also I would really like to hang out with these guys, but I have a job and it\u2019s getting kinda cold out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I might regret this. But I think perhaps it\u2019s time to bring my perspective to bear on the Occupy Wall Street Protests. I don\u2019t know about you, But I\u2019ve certainty been curious about who\u2019s side I would end up on. What with my tendency to controversy and social change, while also championing rationality and Christian…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":391,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOccupy Wall Street - A Fear of Whales<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fearofwhales\/2011\/10\/occupy-wall-street.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Occupy Wall Street - A Fear of Whales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I might regret this. 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