{"id":3774,"date":"2011-10-24T05:00:05","date_gmt":"2011-10-24T12:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/?p=3774"},"modified":"2011-10-23T23:46:58","modified_gmt":"2011-10-24T06:46:58","slug":"am-i-part-of-the-99-or-the-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/2011\/10\/24\/am-i-part-of-the-99-or-the-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Am I Part of the 99% or the 1%? (Scattered Thoughts on #OccupyWallStreet and Global Poverty)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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For the past several weeks, many of us who believe that the economic values of the United States are broken, have watched Occupy Wall Street on the news with awe. \u00a0There\u2019s something about a nonviolent protest that gets any coffee-drinkin\u2019 progressive excited about \u201cstickin\u2019 it to the man.\u201d<\/strong> This prophetic display reminds many of us of the subversive Jesus who exposed the dehumanizing systems of the world \u2013 whether through overturning the unjust tables of the Temple or being executed by Rome for claiming Kingship over-against the Empire. \u00a0I\u2019m convinced that the Occupy Movement correctly asserts that the distribution of financial power lacks morality.<\/strong> In the United States, the ratio of 99 to 1 makes an appropriate point: something\u2019s gotta change.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Jesus speaks of a shepherd who has 99 remaining sheep when 1 wanders off:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? <\/sup>Matthew 18.12<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This begs a question: What are we to do with the \u201cone that wandered off?\u201d<\/em> <\/strong> Could it be that in our day, this \u201c1\u201d might represent the rich of Wall Street?\u00a0 In other words, the 99 find solidarity together, but this \u201c1\u201d sheep believes that if it goes away on its own, away from the community, that greener pastures might be found.\u00a0 It seems that many on Wall Street, the 1%, have indeed found the \u201cgreen\u201d that they were looking for and are getting fat because of it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Notice (I realize I\u2019m being a bit metaphorical with the text here) that the Shepherd is not satisfied to let this single sheep (1%) go its own way.\u00a0 The Shepherd relentlessly seeks to restore the wandering sheep back to the community to which it belongs.<\/strong> A question that could be asked of the Occupy Movement is: In what ways will this movement move beyond demonizing the \u201cones\u201d with power and move toward reconciling love?<\/em><\/strong> This isn\u2019t to say that the Occupiers motives should be scrutinized, as I see the movement as a legitimate call for equality\u2026 a movement that disrupts the norm by overturning tables.\u00a0 But, for Christians, justice that doesn\u2019t lead to reconciliation is only half complete.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There remains yet a second concern, even as one who endorses the overall purposes of the Occupy Wall Street Movement.\u00a0 The more I reflect on the 99 versus 1 mantra<\/em>, the more I wonder how the 1% is being defined.<\/strong> As a friend recently prayed in church: \u201cMay we see that although we may be among the 99% in America, we are still the 1% compared to the rest of the world<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 This thought won\u2019t leave my mind as I reflect on these facts:<\/p>\n