Intro: "Chris Hedges gave an abbreviated version of this talk Saturday morning in Liberty Square in New York City as part of an appeal to Trinity Church to turn over to the Occupy Wall Street movement an empty lot, known as Duarte Square, that the church owns at Canal Street and 6th Avenue. Occupy Wall Street protesters, following the call, began a hunger strike at the gates of the church-owned property. Three of the demonstrators were arrested Sunday on charges of trespassing, and three others took their places."
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges speaks to nearly 100 Occupy Wall Street protesters in Zuccotti Park, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in New York. (photo: AP)
|
THE NEW STREAMLINED RSN LOGIN PROCESS: Register once, then login and you are ready to comment. All you need is a Username and a Password of your choosing and you are free to comment whenever you like! Welcome to the Reader Supported News community. |
Comments
We are concerned about a recent drift towards vitriol in the RSN Reader comments section. There is a fine line between moderation and censorship. No one likes a harsh or confrontational forum atmosphere. At the same time everyone wants to be able to express themselves freely. We'll start by encouraging good judgment. If that doesn't work we'll have to ramp up the moderation.
General guidelines: Avoid personal attacks on other forum members; Avoid remarks that are ethnically derogatory; Do not advocate violence, or any illegal activity.
Remember that making the world better begins with responsible action.
- The RSN Team
It has to do with basic morals, what I -as a cowboy - like to call: the Code of the West:
"A REAL man never takes advantage of a person in a weaker position than himself.
A REAL man lives to SERVE those who are in a weaker position than himself!"
Just because this happens to sound like all of the major religions of the world since time immemorial, is incidental.
TRUTH is TRUTH.
Lately we have seen HOW immoral the church is in regard to the sexual molestation cases. Doing their best to sweep it under the rug.
In one case they HAD to pay victims, and when they ran short of funds, they SOLD a beautiful old church, treasured by it's congregation. The poor people BEGGED the Bishop or whoever were in charge, not to sell their beloved church.
It was sold and the poor congregation was left out in the cold, LITTERALLY.
I have faith in some higher being, but I will not have anything to do with religion. Most religions of the world are intollerant. If you don't believe in their particular doctrine, you will go to HELL.
Religion have killed untold millions.
And countries go to war assuring their citizens that GOD is on their side.
Trinity had a chance to show that they care for the downtrodden, and they royally blew it. Didn't Jesus say: let the poor come to me? At least something like it. Maybe Trinity's congrgation is the Wall Street people??
True in part and indeed selective at times but it seems to me that Hedges is really stuffing the scriptures down the throats of those who would bend it for propaganda and lying against others who oppose them whilst recruiting the "non-questioners" to their personal-gain and power-seeking causes, whether political, religious, judicial, social or any combination of the foregoing, as is all too common (and has been through history).
Hedges has seen some of the best and worst of humanity as both a once on a time man of the cloth in the making, and more recently, as a war correspondent.
I'll take my inspiration wherever I can get it in truth, healing and passion, secular or spiritual, thank you very much!
He's correct to point to the looming affirmation of the churches irrelevance to humanity's awakening; but he neglects to point out the church's grotesque history of pedophilia, and downplays the fact that the churches in the "communist" countries were often well-financed by the CIA.
More-importantly, he claims to speak for OWS when he says "if it fails it will be replaced by violence..." I disagree, OWS is already dead, (in its original incarnation) but its already transforming into something else; and not only will it be non-violent; it will be much more careful in how it doesn't give the cops a chance to even respond. Don't give up Mr. Hedges. Don't cry desperate too soon.
Expect us.
I think religion is here to stay with humanity, so we may as well put it to good use in advancing liberty, equality, and environmental preservation. It has been used for far worse purposes.
VERY weel said.
But...if the message promotes rebellion against inequality and fights for social justice I will grab hold of what is best in that philosophy.(The Liberation Theologists of 1980's Central America come to mind.)I would welcome a "liberation theologist" in the U.S.-perhaps this is Mr. Hedges.
Exactly, wfalco! I too thought about the similarity to the Liberation Theology of the 80s, and maybe you're right that Chris H bring that to the present. Without compassion and strong ethics, there can be no justice of any kind, and a religion that does not practice compassion (PRACTICE it, not just give lip service to it) and work for justice is not a religion I'm going to believe in or try to live.
They are exactly right for OWS. What Jesus taught and the Buddha taught are the compassion that is already arising in us, for the new civilization to come. We ae the ones -- the 99% -- the ordinary people -- we have to bring it in. We're the ones who have to raise the vibrations of this planet. Isn't that what Chris Hedges is living and saying?
How I would have loved to hear these or similar words come out of the mouth of Obama or ANYBODY in America's 'power elite'.
the church membership would probably soar. hell, i'd join.
Amen!
(and me, too!)
wicked ways: Helen Keller--see her speech at Carnegie Hall
RSS feed for comments to this post.