Occupy Wall Street Protesters: Christian Commentators Speak Out
As the Occupy Wall Street protests continue, many commentators attempt to make sense of its purpose.
Few people seem to actually know what the means of the protests are, least of all the protesters, many have said.
Christian publisher, Rev. Paul T. McCain posted on his blog, CyberBretheren, a picture of the Occupy Wall Street protest captioned "down with evil corporations."
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Throughout the picture, the various ways the protesters are influenced by corporations are pointed out, including cameras by Canon, shirts by the Gap and cell phones by Samsung.
The caption is concluded with the following:
"Join us as we organize against corporations, using social networking (by corporations), smartphones (by corporations) services by wireless carriers (that are corporations), wearing clothes (made by corporations), capturing it all with cameras (made by corporations), and getting there via cars, buses, bicycles, and shoes (made by corporations). We deserve more from these greedy corporations. Join us afterwards at Starbucks!"
McCain spoke with The Christian Post and gave his view on the Occupy Wall Street protests.
"My opinion is that obviously the people involved in these protests are deeply concerned, as we all are, about the state of our nation and world, but they seem to be unwilling to separate the good from the bad," he told CP.
"Sweeping condemnations of corporations, by which the very fabric of our society functions and produces so much good, for so many around the world, is short-sighted and counter-productive."
Since mid-September, approximately 1,000 students, union members and other activists have camped out in the streets of New York. They have taken over Zuccotti Park, in lower Manhattan, denouncing the poor state of the economy.
Their complaints range from the lack of jobs, to corporate dominance to there being more wealth for the rich, and less for the poor.
However, commentators feel that their overall message is lost in the varying grievances.
"The nature of the protests has made it hard, if not impossible, to understand what their message is, other than, 'We are angry and we are going to yell and scream for attention,'" McCain said.
"I don't know what their message is, but it appears contradicted by their use of the various products from various corporations to get their message out. The irony is not lost on a lot of us."
