Category Archives: Occupy

Occupiers write 666 on St. Paul’s

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From here:

St Paul’s Cathedral has been ‘desecrated’ by the anti-capitalist protesters camped in its churchyard, the High Court heard yesterday.

Nicholas Cottam, the cathedral registrar, said graffiti vandals had attacked the 300-year-old building several times during the two-month occupation.

On one occasion they scrawled the ‘blasphemous sign 666’ – which represents the devil – on one of the famous pillars at the front of the cathedral.

[….]

He added that there were a number of clergy and staff at the cathedral who were ‘inspired’ by the message of the protest.

Which part of the “message of the protest” managed to “inspire” the clergy, I wonder?

Were the clergy inspired by the “666”? Is one of them the Antichrist?

It seems that you can desecrate, defecate in and deface the cathedral not just with impunity but with inspiration, so long as it’s all done in the name of anti-capitalism.

And the Church of England can’t understand why no-one takes it seriously.

Jesus wasn’t a “super-good” person according to Rowan Williams

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From here:

Jesus would spend Christmas with the St Paul’s Cathedral protesters, the Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday.

Dr Rowan Williams declared that Christ would be ‘there, sharing the risks, not just taking sides.’

He said in an article aimed at the huge audience of buyers of the Christmas edition of the Radio Times that Jesus ‘is somebody who constantly asks awkward questions’.

The Archbishop said: ‘Christmas doesn’t commemorate the birth of a super-good person who shows us how to get it right every time, but the arrival in the world of someone who tells us that everything could be different.’

If Jesus wasn’t “super-good”, does that mean the Archbishop of Canterbury thinks Jesus was slightly bad, that he sinned? If he doesn’t show us how “to get it right every time”, does that mean Jesus sometimes got it wrong? Does Rowan Williams believe that Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father? It doesn’t sound like it.

Dr Williams said in his article: ‘One of the slogans on the posters and banners in front of St Paul’s Cathedral has been “What would Jesus do?”

‘This started life in the US some years ago, with people wearing wristbands with WWJD on them. It’s one of those things that looks wonderfully obvious, a quick way to the right answer.’

He added that when Jesus said ‘give Caesar what belongs to Caesar’, he meant to ask ‘what’s the exact point at which involvement in the empire of capitalist economy compromises you fatally?’

That must be one of the things Jesus didn’t get quite right: when he said ‘give Caesar what belongs to Caesar’, what he really meant to say was that you should ‘give Caesar what belongs to Caesar’ unless, instead of being a ruthless tyrant,  Caesar happens to be a capitalist, in which case, don’t giving him anything since capitalists are more corrupting than the devil himself.

Occupiers attack Barack Obama’s inner Bush

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The Occupy mob has come to the conclusion that the shade of George Bush has possessed Barack Obama and made him, on rare occasions, act like a U.S. president even though he continues to talk like a dopey liberal who never left the campaign trail.

From here:

Demonstrators held signs that leveled some of the Occupy protest’s most pointed criticism to date of the president. “Obama is a corporate puppet,” one said. “War crimes must be stopped, no matter who does them,” read another, beside head shots of President George W. Bush and President Obama.

One man, wearing a mask of the president’s face and holding a cigar, carried a sign that read, “I sold out!”

The Bishop of Sheffield doesn't like the economic system

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From here:

THE Bishop of Sheffield has spoken out against an economic system “shaped by the ethics of greed and everyone for themselves”.

As the ‘Occupy Sheffield’ protest continued on the forecourt of the Cathedral, the Rt Rev Dr Steven Croft said: “We may want to agree with the questions which are being raised whilst disagreeing with the methods of the protesters in raising them.”

Addressing the Sheffield Anglican Synod last Saturday, the Bishop said the Church’s voice needed to be heard as the economic crisis continues and deepens.

People, not economic systems are greedy. If the Church had a firm grip on the notion that we are all sinners – greedy sinners – and did its job to spread the good news that there is a remedy for sin in Jesus Christ, people would be less greedy and the economic system that so preoccupies trendy western bishops would be less “shaped by the ethics of greed”.

Occupy Christmas

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Is now live.

It exhorts us to pay attention to what is important: Christmas with “No credit cards. No big business. Just Christmas”.

So what is “Just Christmas”? The anti-festive malcontents don’t propose to occupy Christmas with the birth of Jesus, joy to the world, the mystery of the Incarnation or anything so trite. The real meaning of Christmas, the logos of the layabouts is the damaging of corporate America:

Occupy Christmas is about turning the tables on Corporate American greed during the season when the 99% can cause the most economic damage and send the clearest message. Instead of spending your hard earned money with Corporate America this (or any) Christmas, why not make the conscious decision to fuel your own local economy? Why not refuse to use credit cards?

At least I have to give the Occupy movement credit for being non-inclusive: they could have called it “Occupy the Holiday Season”.

When is hate speech not hate speech?

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Hate speech definition:

Speech not protected by the First Amendment, because it is intended to foster hatred against individuals or groups based on race, religion, gender, sexual preference, place of national origin, or other improper classification.

So, for example, to hold up a sign suggesting that we should kill and eat homosexuals would be hate speech because it fosters hatred towards a definable group – homosexuals.

As the occupy protesters are keen to remind us, the wealthy are also a definable group, but it is just fine to foster hatred against them because…. well, I have no idea, but it is.

Of course, everyone knows that the wealthy won’t complain because most have succumbed to the prevailing dogma that being wealthy is Bad, so they secretly feel guilty about their opulence. Unless they are socialists or democrats and then they just lie about it.

It’s easy to see why St. James isn’t offering Occupy Toronto sanctuary

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This is what has been done to St. Paul’s Cathedral:

Mr Cottam wrote: ‘Desecration: – graffiti have been scratched and painted on to the great west doors of the cathedral, the chapter house door and most notably a sacrilegious message painted on the restored pillars of the west portico.

‘Human defecation has occurred in the west portico entrance and inside the cathedral on several occasions.’

The Dean of St. James Cathedral, Douglas Stoute, has reiterated that the Occupy Toronto protesters will not be allowed to take sanctuary on Cathedral property, having concluded, I imagine, that it is one thing to stand with the poor – or the faux-poor, depending on one’s perspective – it is quite another to stand in their excrement.

 

Occupy Toronto is angry at the Church

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From here:

TORONTO – Occupy Toronto protesters in St. James Park lashed out at the neighbouring church on Saturday, calling its officials un-Christian for vowing to stand behind a possible eviction.

Douglas Stoute, the rector of St. James Cathedral located on the west side of the park, said Thursday the church would back any decision made by Justice David Brown, who will decide Monday whether or not to uphold a city-issued eviction that would see the removal of occupiers from the park, including the church’s portion.

[…..]

Up until now, St. James Cathedral has allowed a food station, several tents and a yurt to be on its portion of the park since occupiers set up camp in mid-October. And some demonstrators recently said they would flee to the church’s portion of land should police end up enforcing an eviction.

“They’re not Christians,” Occupy organizer Antonin Smith said angrily Saturday in reaction to Stout’s announcement, calling the support the church has given the park occupiers to this point “cosmetic.”

“I appreciate the support they’ve given us, I just thought it extended a lot further…I don’t appreciate being stabbed in the back,” said Smith, who had been in discussions with the church since the occupation of the park began.

“If Jesus were here, he’d be in a tent…Given his values, I imagine he’d be walking with as, along with Allah and Buddha,” he said.

I almost feel sorry for Douglas Stoute. There he is working for a denomination that has, for the most part not only abandoned Christianity, but forgotten what it is, being lectured by squatting miscreants on the nature of Christianity.

To compound the irony, the half baked things the occupiers are saying about Christianity and the reason for the Incarnation could just have easily fallen from the lips of a trendy Anglican bishop – or Dean Douglas Stoute.

St. James Cathedral supports Occupy Toronto – up to a point

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From here:

The City of Toronto has issued a notice under the Trespass to Property Act requiring Occupy Toronto to remove tents, shelters, structures, equipment and debris from St. James Park.

[….]

Our primary concern is for the safety of the most vulnerable members of the Occupy Toronto movement. We are also looking to find a way to continue the conversation around the issues raised by the movement.
The Very Reverend Douglas Stoute, Dean of Toronto & Rector of St. James Cathedral

However, it seems that the Dean doesn’t want to “continue the conversation” inside the cathedral:

the Anglican dean of Toronto said protesters cannot use the adjacent St. James Cathedral to evade eviction if the court rules they must leave. The church owns some of the land next to the cathedral but the city owns the rest.

The Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, on the other hand, has announced something he may live to regret:

The Archbishop of Wales has said he would allow anti-capitalist protesters to shelter overnight in Llandaff Cathedral if they set up camp outside.

I used to live in rooms just around the corner from Llandaff Cathedral for about £4 per week. Had I known the Cathedral was prone to offering free accommodation, I would have moved in there.

Making wearing a mask during a riot illegal

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From here:

A private member’s bill set for debate Thursday in Ottawa would make it a crime to cover your face with a mask or other means during a riot.

[….]

The Alberta MP’s bill exempts people from the bill that have a “lawful excuse” for covering their face. It does not define what a lawful excuse would be under the proposed legislation.

It’s anyone’s guess what would constitute a “lawful excuse”, but I’m betting that if the bill passes, the next riot will see a dramatic increase in burkas.