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A PASTORAL
LAMENT FOR MY COUNTRY
America, America,
my country ‘tis of thee,
Sweet land
of liberty
Of thee I
sing
America, oh
America
America the
Beautiful has fallen.
You could feel
the tension and raw energy crinkling throughout the air as the marchers
once
again began their journey into downtown Seattle. The
Occupy Movement is the prophetic voice
of God calling out to the nation to “repent” and turn from its ways of
corruption. Those who camp are a
rag-tag, motley crew made up of mostly young adults, mostly unemployed,
almost
all of whom are alienated and cast out of America’s promise of liberty
and
justice for all. They are our canaries,
the first fruits being devoured by the Beast of Empire.
The police
were once conceived to be a citizen force created to serve and protect
the
public. Today however, the police have
been militarized and view the populace as enemy combatants, as threats
to their
well being. The police, like our Armed
Forces, are well trained, disciplined and exceptionally talented. They follow a chain of command and are
increasingly apprenticed into a culture of institutional conformity. Because America has always affirmed the right
of dissent, the role of the police is to keep the peace.
They are trained to enter the protesting
arena as unfeeling protectors of property and people. What
has changed in our time is that the
police are entering the arena of protest as agents of provocation. They push and shove at will, they ride their
bicycles up the backs of protesters, they engage in verbal abuse. Their commanders allow this breach of
discipline. Their comrades silently
condone the bullying. The police become the agitators encouraging
violence. It is as if they are spoiling
for a fight --- a fight mind you against the citizenry, against the
youth, the
unemployed, and those who are trying to return America back to its
promise, and
dare I say it, return America to its covenant with God, “we hold these
truths to
be self evident …”
On Tuesday
night a small group of the rag-tag campers of Seattle’s Occupy Movement
left
their camp to protest the destruction inflicted upon the Wall Street
Occupy
site. Throughout the march I, as a
Pastor in full clergy alb, stole and cross, acted as a peacekeeper
placing
myself between the police line and the Occupy Movement.
On four occasions I stepped between verbal
battles between the police and the protesters.
The point being that it was evident to all who I was and
what my role
was in this non-violent march of the few escorted by the many.
The incident
was minor in nature. A girl, dressed in
Anarchist black waving the Anarchist black flag was plastered side by
side with
an officer on the bike. They were
jawboning each other. At one point her
flag was thrust in his direction --- a provocation yes –
threatening?—no. The officer grabbed the flag
and in the
pulling, pulled down the girl. Her
friends reacted jumping in to pull her away from the officer. It was at this point that the first wave of
pepper spray went off.
Point ---
one might think the officer acted within reason, that the officer was
suddenly
threatened. But with what? By whom? The friends of the offender were grabbing for
the girl, they were not grabbing at the police.
Basically the officer, and his comrades, were trigger
happy as if they
couldn’t wait for just this moment. And
so the spray went forth.
I leapt to
the front and tried to place myself between the parties --- with spray
in the
air the protesters were also fleeing.
Separation between the police line and the protesters was
clearly
visible … there was certainly no threat of the “mob” suddenly rampaging
into
the well armed police. The separation
had occurred (as can be clearly seen on the video captured by King 5
News). But the spray continued.
I walked between the lines, I was alone, I
was in full clergy dress, everyone knew who I was and what I was ---
with the
protesters fleeing and the police line holding --- with my back to the
police
and my hands waving the protesters to get back --- alone in full alb,
stole and
cross --- six officers turned their spray on me thoroughly soaking my
alb and
then one officer hit me full throttle in the face.
I praise the
courage and compassion, the discipline and the decency of the Occupy
Movement. Out of the rag-tag mob came
help, grabbing my hands, leading me (I was blind by then) to the wall
and
administering care and concern for my well being. The
protesters were assembled around all the
wounded, and maintained the discipline of nonviolence (granted the
nonviolence
was in behavior but not language). And
they were not afraid. The spraying had
been a baptism sealing them into the security of knowing that their
prophecy of
repentance was indeed the Spirit-Word through them --- it is as if they
did not
prophecy their very bones would melt within them. Against
the wall in increasing pain and
burning I realized I was in the midst of church.
The police,
on the other hand, were afraid. Their
quick use of chemical warfare reveals how cowardly they are. The unwillingness of their commanders to
maintain discipline reveals how incompetent they are becoming --- the
only tool
in their bag is brutality and like a drunken raging father beating wife
and
kids, the police have increasingly disgraced themselves.
Step by step they are being shaped into the
front face of fascism, the emerging police state that protects the
property
interests of the Marie Antionette’s who have seized control of our
government,
commerce, media, military and increasingly the Church itself.
My question
to my clergy colleagues is this: Where
are you? How much longer can you preach
without practice? How dare you remain
protected in your sanctuary while your people (the rag-tag mob of the
least,
last and lost whom Jesus loved) are slaughtered doing that which God
has
commissioned you to do (prophecy!).
Where are you? Who have you
become in this age of baptism by pepper spray?
Do you not know how much power you have to stop our
national descent
into chaos? Don’t you realize that the
world is your parish and right before your eyes the Spirit of God is
doing a
new thing? Can’t you hear that God’s
judgment is upon the land? God is
against the thieves that bankrupted our nation. God
is against the armies of the Beast who
pillage other lands in our name, and turn and destroy our people on our
own
soil. Are you blind? --- Perhaps you
need a baptism of pepper spray in your eyes to restore your vision.
And to the
police I say this --- there are always the brutal ones in our midst. As colleagues you have the moral
responsibility to police your own. If
your commanders order you to brutalize your people you have a Higher
Command
that says, “disarm yourself, turn away from your sin, renounce the
orders of
unrighteousness.” And in doing so, cross
the line, come over and join us because we are the winning side of
history. And we welcome your repentance and
heal you
of your shame.
And to the
church, beloved church I say, you cannot sing the hymns of faith if you
are too
afraid to live that faith. In Amos it
says to silence your sacred assemblies and let JUSTICE burst forth. Our nation, with the nations of the world,
are under an assault of tyranny and treason of the 1% against creation
itself. You may not worship God until
and unless you care for the image of God living in those tents and
prophesying
on your behalf. Once the Powers sweep
the Tents away, if you dare to lift your voice even a peep, you too
will be swept
away. But the destiny of the church, the
Body of Christ, is not one of quiet passivity and fear, our destiny is
to bear
witness having no fear of the Cross because even now we have crossed
over into
resurrection.
Rev. Rich
Lang
University
Temple United Methodist Church
www.utemple.org
rich@utemple.org
Videos:
*This article can also be accessed if you
copy and paste the
entire address below into your web browser.
http://www.king5.com/video/featured-videos/Raw-Pepper-spray-released-on-Occupy-Seattle-march--133931238.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhl03fZ9Q2w&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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