The Seeds Of Discontent: Preparing A Sermon On Occupy Wall Street

The following, now slightly reworked, was part of my background thinking for this Sunday’s sermon, which will be a meditation on Occupy Wall Street. I wrote it for the sermon, but I’ve decided not to include it. But, I thought it worth saving, and, thank goodness for a blog…

My belief is that we human beings have two, often contending urges, visceral needs that inform our choices.

One is how we are, quite frankly, herd animals. We organize as families, as communities, as nations. We need each other. And we have a need to look out for each other. It’s what we do as human beings.

The other is that we are very much individuals, and we, pretty much every one of us, are concerned with feathering our own nest, looking out for our own self-interests.

Depending on who knows what, some great mix of conditions, we’re inclined in one direction or another. This seems to be true for us as individuals and as cultures. It looks like our reasons follow our guts, and so we cook up philosophies for what we feel is most important. In modernity we seem to fall into two larger groups, those who are ideologically identified with the group and those ideologically identified with the individual, and we have spun out elaborate philosophies justifying one or the other.

And, from where I stand, to give one’s self too much to one of these perspectives, is to fall into a pit. Look at nineteenth century capitalism. Look at the Marxist states.

Now our American republic is particularly driven by the ideology autonomy, of independence. Our shadow as a people lies in a reluctance to support the commonwealth. We are often negligent in attending to our infrastructure, both hard and soft.

And here’s the cloven hoof.

Things have gotten worse, of late, driven by the siren song of individual autonomy, government protections, particularly market regulations have been steadily eroded.

It is astonishing that the difficulties caused by neglect have been blamed on government.

When, near as I can tell, the problem with government is that it is too easily bought.

And, currently, it is owned by those who want less and less oversight of the very people who’ve caused the problems we’re now mired in.

The Tea Party, as best I see it, has been an example of people who see the problem, but miss the cause.

Occupy Wall Street, while a mixed bag, a bit too much of it silly, has seen who the perps really are.

Shifting the metaphor.

The seeds have been sown.

And a harvest is coming…

The Seeds of Discontent: Preparing a Sermon on Occupy Wall Street