LIZZIE DOES MANHATTAN

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 | Uncategorized

Occupy Wall Street has basically been Christmas in October for the Episcopal Organization. This guy’s like a douche in a candy store:

In the early stages of the Occupy Wall Street protests, the Rev. Michael Sniffen and some clergy colleagues from the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island traveled to Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park to observe what was happening. He’s returned regularly since, talking to protestors and offering pastoral care.

“I see myself as part of the movement,” said Sniffen, 31, priest-in-charge of the Episcopal Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew in Brooklyn, New York. “I really feel like this is my generation’s plea for a just society. I think the Gospels make it quite clear in Jesus’ teachings that there can be no justice without economic justice.”

Larry Pro’s been by.

Three days earlier, Diocese of Long Island Bishop Lawrence Provenzano visited Zuccotti Park and attended a meeting at Trinity Episcopal Church, Wall Street, of about three dozen interfaith leaders – including an Episcopal priest from Harlem and two from his diocese – discussing ways to support the movement.

And what would an occasion like this be without a visit from the Swan of Newark?

The Rev. Elizabeth Kaeton of Delaware said she heard a distinct message when she spent the 25th anniversary of her ordination to the priesthood at Zuccotti Park on Oct. 18.

“Everybody is really, really clear that what they’re protesting is greed. It’s not about luxury, it’s not about capitalism,” said Kaeton, who is canonically resident in the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. “People are really angry about greed, and I think that’s absolutely right. … That’s what made Jesus turn over a few tables in the temple, was greed and corruption. That’s the moral problem that I think the church needs to speak to.”

The movement is a call for the church to become prophetic while being pastoral “to people who are really struggling and really hurting,” she said. “What I found at Wall Street was the intersection of the pastoral and the prophetic … and that’s where we need to be.”

“I just hope more clergy get involved because I think this is really where the church needs to be,” Kaeton said. “For me, class is the original sin of the Episcopal Church, and we’re not going to get anywhere unless we confront our own classism – while we continue to confront our racism and our sexism and our heterosexism.”

Let’s have a look at just a few examples of “the intersection of the pastoral and the prophetic.” We have already seen that this fellow is as enthusiastic about Occupy Wall Street as Kaeton is.

The St. Louis outlet made death threats against their opponents. And this is what some of these people think about the United States.

But OWS attracts a better sort of person.

Three young punks threatened to kill a 24-year-old Occupy Wall Street protester for pressing charges over an assault at the group’s Zuccotti Park encampment, police said.

“You got our friend arrested. We’re gonna kill you! Watch your back!” the trio warned the young woman on Monday – two days after her complaint led to the arrest of Garfield Leslie, police said Tuesday.

Leslie, 19, of Brooklyn, had offered to sell the woman drugs at the downtown sit-in, police said.

When she declined that offer and his romantic advances, he punched her in the face and then dished out more blows to a friend who had come to her defense, police said.

After clocking the friend, police said, Leslie then punched the man’s girlfriend for good measure.

Naturally, children are highly valued.

A 27-year-old Missoula man at the Occupy Missoula encampment on the Missoula County Courthouse lawn is accused of getting an 11-year-old boy drunk.

John Skinner is charged with endangering the welfare of a child in connection with the incident last Thursday. He pleaded not guilty in Missoula County Municipal Court.

“Indications are that he provided alcohol to this young man,” said Missoula Police Detective Lt. Scott Brodie. The boy, he said, ended up “deathly ill” in Skinner’s tent. Eventually, someone called 9-1-1 and the boy was treated at a hospital, he said.

Relationships between the sexes are marked by mutual respect, support and encouragement.

Robert Grodt did not expect to find romance when he left his girlfriend in Santa Cruz to join the demonstration. But Grodt, 24, has met — and shared sleeping bags with — several women.

“It’s a natural human thing,” Grodt said. “It’s part of our support structure. It’s nice to have someone to care about. It’s nice to have someone to hug and kiss.”

Like the cough drops, bandages and dental floss on site, the park’s medical and comfort stations carry condoms. But volunteer medic Calvin Barnwell said few protesters have helped themselves to the prophylactic stash.

That’s not necessarily an indicator of abstinence. ”They’ve asked for pregnancy tests, though,” Barnwell said.

And gosh darn it, these people know what’s truly important.

It began, as it so often does, with a drum circle. The ten-hour groove marathons weren’t sitting well with the neighborhood’s community board, the ironically situated High School of Economics and Finance that sits on the corner of Zuccotti Park, or many of the sleep-deprived protesters.

“[The high school] couldn’t teach,” explained Josh Nelson, a 27-year-old occupier from Nebraska. “And we’ve had issues with the drummers too. They drum incessantly all day, and really loud.” Facilitators spearheaded a General Assembly proposal to limit the drumming to two hours a day. “The drumming is a major issue which has the potential to get us kicked out,” said Lauren Digion, a leader on the sanitation working group.

But the drums were fun. They brought in publicity and money. Many non-facilitators were infuriated by the decision and claimed that it had been forced through the General Assembly.

“They’re imposing a structure on the natural flow of music,” said Seth Harper, an 18-year-old from Georgia. “The GA decided to do it … they suppressed people’s opinions. I wanted to do introduce a different proposal, but a big black organizer chick with an Afro said I couldn’t.”

To Shane Engelerdt, a 19-year-old from Jersey City and self-described former “head drummer,” this amounted to a Jacobinic betrayal. “They are becoming the government we’re trying to protest,” he said. “They didn’t even give the drummers a say … Drumming is the heartbeat of this movement. Look around: This is dead, you need a pulse to keep something alive.”

If you intend to claim, “Yeah, well, the Tea Partiers…,” just don’t. Tea Partiers did not and do not conduct themselves in a manner that is in any way comparable to this crap despite what Rachel Maddow or Think Progress may have hallucinated. Period.

Why do I bring all these incidents up? Because if you’re going to claim a Gospel imperative for OWS, then you damned well better see to it that participant behavior reflects Christ a whole lot better than it has so far.

Otherwise, cynical people like me are going to pass this off as yet another example of the Episcopalians slapping a coat of pseudo-spiritual varnish on a purely political cause.

The fact that you’re only a part-time Starbucks barista cannot be blamed on “greed” or “Wall Street” if you were dumb enough to major in women’s studies, art history or semiotics. If you believe that “Wall Street” is the reason you can’t afford wheels or a place of your own, then the rest of us are just going to point at you and laugh.

But Liz? If you seriously believe that Occupy Wall Street constitutes “the intersection of the pastoral and the prophetic,” then you and I not only don’t share a religion, we’re not even living in the same universe.

UPDATE: Did I happen to mention the mutual respect, support and encouragement that characterize relations between the sexes at these protests?

Police were today probing reports that a woman taking part in an ‘Occupy’ anti-capitalist protest was gang raped in her camp.

Officers are hunting a group of men who entered the site in George Square, Glasgow, where demonstrations were taking place, early this morning.

The men were not part of the protest and were allegedly drinking and chatting with those occupying the land outside Glasgow’s City Chambers.

Witnesses said the men were standing outside one of the tents boasting about having sex with a girl, even offering others “a shot”.

All official members of the group, which was set up nine days ago, have today left George’s Square while police conduct their investigation.

One protester, who asked not to be named, said: “It is bad news. The wee lassie didn’t know what was happening.

“There was a gang of about three men in the tent with the girl at the time and she sounded as if she was crying while they were doing God knows what to her.

“Everyone is quite shaken up about this and there is a real concern that this will bring an end to what has been a peaceful protest.”

Scottish chivalry’s not dead; great job helping that poor woman, you punkass little bitch. And way to keep your priorities straight. By the way, here’s the punchline.

But this has really worried folk – especially the girls staying here. It is not something you’d expect to happen with so many people around.

“The intersection of the pastoral and the prophetic,” if you need it.

UPDATE: NERDS!! NERDS!! Language warning(one F-bomb) and drink alert. This might be the single funniest video I have seen on any subject in a very long time.

20 Comments to LIZZIE DOES MANHATTAN

Katherine
October 26, 2011

Of course it’s politics! Kaeton’s against every “Ism” she can find, including invented ones. Liberal Episcopalians often don’t have any religion other than politics.

gppp
October 26, 2011

Funny how protesting “greed” for her becomes a screed for the manner in which she lives — especially rejecting the manner (married to a man, with kids) in which she lived at one time. I think Kaeton’s “ism” first, foremost, last, and everywhere in between and at all times is homosexism. That’s just the way it is for creatures of her kind.

She just likes to think that the rest of us won’t notice when she attempts to cloak like this.

Sybil Marshall
October 26, 2011

Still can’t see the term “head drummer” without also envisioning Spicoli, whacking himself with his tennis shoe…….just noticed the “Shane”, HD’s first name; there are probably lots of *Shanes* in this (cultural bowel) movement, too…..bweuuuuu, wish the various parents had stuck with *Dylan* or something! Time to go cue up the scene from the movie where Joey tells Shane, “At that rock over there”!

Sybil Marshall
October 26, 2011

PS–I know I’m supposed to be thinking about Kaeton etc here. But it’s nearly lunchtime.

Allen Lewis
October 26, 2011

Who cares what the Swan of Newark thinks? She is such an egregious ideologue that it is easy to see where she is coming from. This is just another ‘Piskie priest getting their 1960′s groove on. Such stuff is highly addictive, not to mention toxic to your spiritual health.

gppp
October 26, 2011

Exactly where I was coming from.

Smurf Breath
October 26, 2011

This is what always gets me about these sorts of people. They have this absurd Pollyanna-ish view about humanity. They think utopia could be brought about if only they and like minded people were in charge. And yet when they are confronted by hard evidence like this, they somehow tune it out. They cannot accept what is obvious: that humans are sinful, fallen creatures. The fact that they can function semi-normally most of the time, and yet ignore this fact just underscores the truth that they really are blind and dead in their trespasses and sins. It is amazing to watch this spectacle and yet realize that these supposedly rational “brights” will continue to shamble on, unable to see the absurdity of what they are believing.

So I guess no matter how many times marxism fails, idiots like these will shamble towards it continually, not able to see that they themselves have the same flaws that always caused it to fail in the past. We’re doomed.

carl
October 26, 2011

there can be no justice without economic justice.

What exactly is ‘economic justice’ anyways? Liberals tend to define justice as ‘being empowered to act on my authentic desires’ and injustice as ‘being inhibited from acting on my authentic desires.’ None of this has anything to do with actual justice which is defined as ‘right behavior rewarded and wrong behavior punished.’ ‘Economic justice’ sounds suspiciously like a guaranteed standard of living on one end and a maximum allowed standard of living on the other.

carl

Progressive Smurf
October 26, 2011

None of this has anything to do with actual justice which is defined as ‘right behavior rewarded and wrong behavior punished.’ ‘Economic justice’ sounds suspiciously like a guaranteed standard of living on one end and a maximum allowed standard of living on the other.

carl, what is your problem? Just redefine justice to be the latter, rather than the former. But preserve all the emotional connotations of word “justice” as when it meant the former. So then, for example, MSM news websites can proclaim that people against Obamacare are unjust, or oppose justice.

So what’s the big deal? What exactly are you whining about? Don’t you think justice is a good thing?

Michael D
October 26, 2011

“People are really angry about greed, and I think that’s absolutely right. … That’s what made Jesus turn over a few tables in the temple, was greed and corruption. That’s the moral problem that I think the church needs to speak to.”

So I take it Kaeton is organizing a movement to convince Schori to cease and desist all those lawsuits against departing parishes and diocese?

In other words, while they are confronting “classism,racism, sexism, and heterosexism” why not confront their sectarianism?

SouthCoast
October 26, 2011

Woodstock? Meet Altamont. Just don’t say you never saw it coming.

The Pilgrim
October 26, 2011

Better she stay up in Zucchini Park than back in her pulpit in New Jersey where she would be preaching another gospel and leading her congregation into the gates of Hell…
Not that there are that many in her congregation anymore:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/Domestic_FAST_FACTS_Trends_2006-2010.pdf

Jim the Puritan
October 26, 2011

Episcopalians are not against all “isms.” They are for Pelagianism, especially since it does not believe in sin and that salvation comes through works.

Payton
October 26, 2011

Wow, the guy in the video is something. Only thing that comes to my mind is, “Lighten up Francis!”

Sybil Marshall
October 26, 2011

Love the rabid chipmunk in the vid. Can’t wait ’til our state police detective friend sees this– he often needs a good laugh. But are we sure it’s really an Owster and not someone having fun at Owsters’ expense? The handcuff line seems too dumb even for a grass-addled hippie…

Christopher Johnson
October 26, 2011

If the little douchebag ever decided to follow through on his smack, I’d literally pay for his plane ticket. But I don’t see that going over very well even though dude has a pair of handcuffs and knows how to use them.

The Little Myrmidon
October 27, 2011

“In other words, while they are confronting “classism,racism, sexism, and heterosexism” why not confront their sectarianism?”

Why don’t they confront their declining numbers? The updated Charts
which were released last Friday show deline in nearly every church in nearly diocese. Ms. Kaeton’s church has dropped from ~150 ASA in 2006 down to ~75 in 2010. That’s approx. 3 – 5 families or just plain 15 individuals every year, on average.

It’s getting bad when perhaps the loss of one family plus 6 – 8 funerals a year has a significant inpact on a parish’s numbers.

Maureen
October 27, 2011

The Gospel says that if you have free food in camp and have hired homeless people to protest, you should whine and complain if the homeless invite their homeless friends to eat dinner without putting in a hard 8 hour day protesting. Whereas you and your rich-kid buddies are working hard at protesting just by being there, and can invite your friends to visit as much as you like. Some protesters are more equal than others….

The Pilgrim
October 27, 2011

Little Myrmidon –

The 2010 loss alone averages out to 149 people a day, or one person leaving tec every ten minutes for the entire length of 2010.

If what KJS says is true, that “everyone who is going to leave has left,” then I believe that (with the advanced age of the average tec member) the funerals are beginning to kick in and pick up now that the diaspora has slowed.

Hopefully the tipping point has been reached — and passed, and tec is beyond recovery.

Dr. Mabuse
October 29, 2011

Little Myrmidon: That is one heck of a drop! It put me in mind of this post of hers, way back from 2007, already lamenting that numbers don’t tell the REAL story about how healthy a parish is. No doubt the declining numbers then were embarrassing, but compared to 2010, the situation was positively robust!

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