Wall Street protesters gone wild

Just what are the ones dubbed Wall Street protesters protesting? Until recently, the popular response to Wall Street's excesses has been muted, except for conservative critics of the distasteful but ultimately profitable "bailouts" that averted a depression. Now, from the liberal side, comes a ragtag assortment of college kids, labor unionists, conspiracy theorists and others who've taken to the streets in protests dubbed "Occupy Wall Street."

Republicans, especially Tea Partyists, are beginning to come out and protest the protesters, thinking (I believe) that capitalists who succeed in business should be able to keep their excesses.

But what about the deeper meaning, if there is one, of the protests, of the "occupation?"

A recent study by Baylor University found one in five Americans see God at work in the free market. But what about God at work in the parks and streets outside? Is Jesus really at work in everything we do? That question made some think of the powerful speech by the priest-of-the-piers, Father Barry addressing the downtrodden dock workers in the movie On the Waterfront. The character, played by Karl Malden, says: ...You want to know what's wrong with our waterfront? It's the love of a lousy buck. It's making the love of the lousy buck -- the cushy job -- more important than the love of man! It's forgettin' that every fellow down here is your brother in Christ! But remember, Christ is always with you -- Christ is in the shape-up. He's in the hatch. He's in the union hall. ... And He's saying with all of you, if you do it to the least of mine, you do it to me! ..."

Christ in the every day. What a thought. We at Fitzgerald UMC are currently planning a Sunday get-away in which we're coming to a shortened "service" where we read a passage of scripture, sing Amazing Grace and I preach for 10 minutes tops. Then we're leaving to do work. As a power-point slide says, "Worship is now over, let the service begin." But as the date moves closer, the negative in me starts to notice that no one (NOT ONE) has asked me about the plan, has asked me about what they can do, has called to see if they're plugged in to a particular role. NOT ONE. No one has said no to being placed in a role, but no one is going out of their way to be placed either.

There are plenty of reasons to be angry at Wall Street. There is no question that we have a legitimate economic distress going on nationally and globally. There, too, is no question the difference between the office leaders' and the workers' salaries is too much, the difference between the bonuses for those office heads and the workers is far too much, and the difference in pensions between those two pools of "workers" is too much, as well. On the other hand, there is no doubt that some of the unemployed in this nation do not want to be employed and are a drag on the economy because of their choices.

But surely we all get it that this nation's "poor" need help. The question, it seems to me, becomes how will they get it. There are many, including myself, who believe that help shouldn't come from the federal government.

Being angry might lead to a Wall Street spring, as it were. But I doubt it because changing the excesses of Wall Street won't change the excesses of this country. That's the capitalistic society we've bought into for more than 200 years.

But let's remember that Christ is in those details, as well. In our desperate race to separate church and state, we've gotten a mistaken idea that Christ only cares about Sunday morning for an hour or two. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Christ is watching over all our lives. And his directive to help the poor doesn't come just on Sundays. He wants our hearts and minds directed toward helping 100 percent of the time. He wants someone, maybe us, to help those in need of help. But does that mean government must take care of the poor? I think not. It does mean we, us, all of us, should.

Jake Goodman, an activist, Jewish educator and actor, sees these protesters as contemporary philanthropists who ... "choose to limit the amount of money and creature comforts they could have so that they can fully commit to engaging in work that transforms some part of their ethical ideal into tangible reality. ..."

Goodman charges, "all people who share a love of humanity should actually make the effort to disrupt the routine of their own lives and take the time to put their feet on the street. It's a shanda (scandal) -- a shanda! -- that, so often, the people who can actually afford to show up choose not to... He calls for "people with economic privilege " to send support -- food, clothes, sleeping bags -- to the Occupy folks who are "actually philanthropizing with their feet." In other words, people of this country who think the poor should be supported by taking away things from the elite, the wealthy, should stand up right now."

Here's the deal: Jesus said we are to do that very thing. He's spoken to that. In fact, the BIBLE as a whole speaks to that.

In Exodus, we read, "The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner, denying them justice." Not talking about Wall Street, but could be.

In Matthew, we read, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Finally, after Jesus' death, the church continued to be concerned about a certain part of humanity. Paul wrote, " James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along. "

I could pick a hundred other passages. Helping the poor, even the poor in spirit, was a constant aim and goal of scripture, of God himself. But does anyone notice that though he had ample opportunity, Jesus never said Rome should help the poor?

I guess the Temple protesters didn't get that any more than do the Wall Street ones.