LETTER FROM THE REV JOHN MERZ WHO WAS ARRESTED ON SATURDAY AT OWS
From the website of the
Episcopal Diocese of Long Island:
Dear Bishop Provenzano,
Yesterday some troubled the waters and I got in. For me it was not premeditated. In fact Rev. Michael Sniffen and I were clear that for each of us it would be a choice we made on our own, with no pressure from the other.
I feel that being in solidarity with the Occupy movement, with its desperate need for outdoor space along with the pressure it was under through systematic oppression before Nov. 15, combined with the dispersal that took place (in concert with 18 mayors around the nation and homeland security): all this necessitated such a move of conscience. As I crossed property boundaries that many in the church seem to believe are inviolable, I believe a full explanation for my motives and actions in conformity to the vows I took upon ordination as Priest, as well as in my being a public citizen are in order:
On the OWS movements: the power of these movements is precisely their transgressive nature. While non- violence is the primary mode of gathering and demonstrating --I have never once seen a protester strike anyone anytime-- the occupation at Liberty Square/Zuccotti and the general heart of the movement is a kind of ongoing non-violent act of civil disobedience performed in love. Before the dispersal from Liberty/Zucccotti, we experienced a space wherein hope for real change for all was being performed and spread. It was no domesticated affair, no sanctioned public conversation; evidenced by the constant threat of eviction, the 24 hour police presence and the well documented police harassment, violations of private assembly and surveillance (see the newly minted Defense Authorization Act as a sad continuation). If we are uncomfortable with transgression, and I think we always are in some way, I submit we are not conformable to the mode and actions of Jesus. We may not be able to be able to live in that liberated space at all times; I know we find it so hard, but it is real and needs honoring. It follows that we (I know I am) always grasping, always incomplete, always in the dark, are groping for the hand of the spirit to help us find the door to that space. That is where I am: groping in that dark.
See more.
Yours faithfully, John Merz
--
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in.
--
Leonard Cohen
www.ascensionbrooklyn.org
The Reverend John Merz
Priest-in-Charge
Diocesan Missioner to Greenpoint and Williamsburg
Please read it all.
You don’t need to be religious to understand -and embrace- the idea that "Whatsoever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." But the 1%, in their blind greed and schemes, have forgotten and closed their eyes to this, and to what the word "society" should really mean. Because of Occupy Wall Street, we are finally talking less about CUTS and more about BLEEDING. Instead of demanding m-o-r-e budget cuts -to be borne by the middle class and poor- we are FINALLY focusing on the shameful bleeding that the poor and middle class has endured for all too long. Instead of talking about even m-o-r-e cuts in the taxes of millionaires....we are now talking about fairness and justice - about an economy and a political system that is increasingly run for the rich, and by the rich. Instead of talking about LESS government, we are talking about a government that WORKS FOR ALL OF US, not just a favored few. Thank you OWS, for reminding us that people -ordinary working people- really DO matter, and for helping open our eyes to what’s really going on in this country. Trinity Church should look deep into its collective soul, do the right thing, and help OWS. I would bet my life, that if He were here physically with us today...as He was 2000 years ago, He would be among the FIRST to climb those fences, and occupy Trinity’s Duarte Square. Of this I am certain.
ReplyDeleteJesus often broke laws to help individuals (e.g. healing the sick on the sabbath). I'm not sure that he ever did so to promote a "cause." WWJD with TWS and OWS? I I know. He did have a tendency to reframe questions by challenging the underlying assumptions on which they are based. I suspect that what he would have to say would make
ReplyDeleteboth sides squirm.
I meant to say I _don't_ know.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anonymous. Please sign a name next time you comment.
ReplyDeletePaul Powers, none of us can say with absolute certainty what Jesus would have done in every situation. The best we can do is follow him as best we can. He had not much regard for rigid following of the letter of the law.
Few amongst the powers in the country were paying attention to the 99%. OWS has changed the conversation. If that is their only contribution, then I am grateful. OWS also causes a good many of us to squirm, whether we support them or not. Perhaps they truly are examples of following Christ.
Excellent letter that clarifies a lot of issues, especially the moral ones.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this.
Jesus might not endorse any particular party platform or ideology, but He clearly sided with the poor and despised in His life among us. Like OWS, he didn't care much for social or institutional niceties, especially when those niceties were intended to keep some people down and out.
ReplyDeleteCounterlight, you're welcome.
ReplyDeleteWhere would Jesus be? In my mind, I picture him inside the fence getting arrested. I'm fairly sure Jesus wouldn't be a policeman in this situation. Some of the bystanders had a harder time of it than those who were arrested. What is the point of kneeing a post-middle-age woman three times, a woman who is being pushed into the fence by the police line behind the bystanders? What comes over a policeman to motivate him to do such a thing?