The Occupy Movement And Jesus
The Occupy movement spreads. There are over 900 occupations from New York's Wall Street to Chile, from the City of London's St. Paul's cathedral precints to Madrid. I joined Occupy Edinburgh on Saturday at St. Andrew's Square. Environmental, marxist, spiritual and questioning people dialogued in mutual respect.
The strap-line is that 1% of the world control the levers that shape the lives of the 99%.These levers - the IMF, WTO, global markets, multinational banks, the G8/20, the European Central Bank and most of the UN Security council are unelected.'Our environment is being destroyed by the same corporations that push the internatiional trade in arms, drugs and natural resources that destroy communities. We are losing control of our lives, we are losing the health of our planet.. The citizens of the world must regain control' says one leaflet.
The moral driver of this 1% has recently been shown to be power and money say some. Others argue that right and wrong jostle for dominance in both the 1% and in the 99% and that none of us can evade this challenge. I dialogued with a willing-to-learn anarchist. 'These streets are clean, if you are ill you can go to a hospital, if you are robbed you can go to the police: these blessings require ordered planning' I suggested. 'Oh, yes', he agreed, 'but anarchism can just mean thinking outside the box'.
As I left my friends I had a thought. If Jesus was starting his campaign in these parts, he would recruit his twelve disciples from these men and women.He might call them to something like our Community's Way of Life: Live simply that others may simply live; cherish creation, live in solidarity with all, stand with the poor, live life to the full.
Those who have not yet resigned down at St. Paul's Cathedral, are you listening?
