Posted on 11/02/2011 7:43:06 PM PDT by fwdude
VANCOUVER, November 2, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Sunday morning a break-away faction of the Occupy Vancouver movement tried to occupy the city’s Holy Rosary Cathedral during morning Mass.
Several dozen protesters, calling themselves ‘Occupy the Vatican’, were halted when Archbishop Michael Miller requested a police presence, and were stopped again later in the day by police and members of the Knights of Columbus.
The incident highlights a trend by some in the anti-corporate protest movement to use it as a launching pad for attacks on Christianity and the Catholic Church in particular.
Most infamously, on October 15th, members of the Occupy Rome protest entered a Roman Catholic Church and destroyed a statue of the Virgin Mary.
The effort to occupy the church in Vancouver comes after a call on October 13th by former Evangelical leader Frank Schaeffer for the Occupy movement to begin targeting Evangelical and Roman Catholic churches.
In a blog post, Schaeffer argued that “fundamentalist religion” has made the “rape” of the 99 percent possible by pushing moral issues such as abortion and same-sex “marriage,” thus encouraging the less fortunate to “vote against their own class” by backing the Republicans over the Democrats.
“The source of the empowering of the top 1 percent super wealthy and the economic rape of rest of us is the religion of Evangelical fundamentalism,” he wrote.
Frank’s father Francis Schaeffer was credited as a major theological inspiration for the conservative Christian political movement, including the U.S. pro-life movement. While still widely regarded as an Evangelical leader, Frank has joined the Greek Orthodox Church and renounced his former pro-life views.
“Fundamentalist religion of all kinds is the enemy of democracy and thus of America. It is the enemy of working people everywhere too when it’s bogus moral crusades empower the rich to thumb their noses at our government,” he wrote.
“The fundamentalist have replaced economic and political justice with a bogus (and hate-driven) ‘morality’ litmus tests of spurious red herring ‘issues’ from abortion to school prayer and gay rights,” he continued.
The ‘Occupy the Vatican’ group in Vancouver was not supported by Occupy Vancouver, but was reportedly comprised largely of First Nations people upset over the sex abuse crisis and a supposed land dispute.
The group has built a Facebook page to promote more activism against the Catholic Church and to build support for the cause in Europe. The charges the group levels against the Church are wide-ranging, including anger over its moral positions against homosexual acts and abortion.
Bill Donohue, president of The Catholic League, condemned the “Occupy the Vatican” demonstrators as “urban anarchists” akin to the Nazi movement of the 1930s.
“Busting into a house of worship is what the Nazis did in the 1930s to Jews: they disrupted services in synagogues throughout Germany,” Donohue pointed out.
“Today’s urban anarchists, e.g., the ‘Occupy’ thugs, are essentially nihilistic, though there are some who want to censor the voice of Catholicism. While we have not seen attempts by these crazies in the U.S. attacking Catholic churches, we will monitor these developments more closely,” Donohue told LifeSiteNews.
Catholic Civil Rights League executive director Joanne McGarry said that the Vancouver “Occupy the Vatican” incident was a predictable demonstration of things going awry in the protest movement, although she doesn’t think attacks on the Church are at the “core of the Occupy movement.”
“I think it’s inevitable in any protest movement,” McGarry told LifeSiteNews. “You’ll often see a pattern where things start fairly responsibly and then factions either break off or more radical groups join in.”
“It’s just a situation that all owners of private property need to be aware of, that faithful members of the Church need to be aware of,” McGarry said. “It’s plainly unacceptable to attempt to occupy a church, particularly during Mass.”
Oorah!
AMEN and God bless.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Schaeffer
he was a bedwetter and his dad punished him for it
” You must not fight on Holy Ground! Haven’t you ever seen Highlander? “
I quit wearing briefs for similar reason, can make a victim of a deranged back woodsman that wants to hear you squeal..
I have seen Deliverance
and there would always be some jerk there with a camera recording it ...... LOL
if the quote is correct (and remember, it might not be correct) it suggests either a serious illness (e.g. paranoia) or a major spiritual problem.
so it’s okay to trash a church because in some areas there have been times when the church opposes a union running telling it’s non profit hospitals how to run things?
Statistice please, not just anecdotes...it’s a pretty big church.
And compare it with the number of other non profit hospitals stopping unions...
The dirty little secret is that a good union makes it impossible to fire incompetent nurses, aides etc. I’ve worked for gov’t health care facilities and had to run through hoops to get rid of incompetent personnel...
But, because THOSE guys are often defensively armed, he chose to riot against Catholics instead.
as I understand it, the Greek Othod. Church is super conservative, like the old Catholic church....
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)
That confused me too? Unless he is tied to a church that plays loose with those points. Who knows? Up is down and down is up lately.
Yes, love him - as Christ loved. But His love drove the money changers and pagans from the Temple in an overcoming zeal, whipping them mercilessly. Even this is love.
A new offshoot of the Occupy movement has its own slogan: “Occupy The Vatican.”A Facebook page, predictably, leads the charge, but locally organizers have promised to occupy the Holy Rosary Cathedral in downtown Vancouver this Sunday at 10 a.m., right in the middle of church services.
“Jail the Pope, Occupy the Vatican, Expel the Catholic church from our lands,” comes the none-too-subtle online call to arms, complete with a Photoshopped image of the pope behind bars. “Join the worldwide Occupy the Vatican movement this Sunday Oct. 30.
Occupy the ... Vatican? Online campaign urges rush on Vancouver church
Catholic Ping
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
I’ve got a ceremonial sword I got as a cadet in ROTC. It’s sorta flimsy, but I’d bet in a riot situation that it would be good for one good poke in the gut.
I stand with you, and will pay my way to get there.
Vivat Jesus!
I don’t “Catholics”, “Evangelicals”, or “Jews”. I see AMERICANS being potentially molested by communist assh*les.
One team, one fight.
This is for all or nothing.
These morons need to be stopped, and stopped HARD.
Lyrics by Todd Rundgren
I don’t want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day
Ever since I was a tiny boy
I don’t want no candy
I don’t need no toy
I took a stick and an old coffee can
I bang on that thing ’til I got
Blisters on my hand because
I don’t want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day
When I get older they think I’m a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She caught me pounding on the desk with my hands
But my licks was so hot
I made the teacher wanna dance
And that’s why
I don’t want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day
Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
The boss is a jerk
And I get my sticks and go out to the shed
And I pound on that drum like it was the boss’s head
Because
I can bang that drum
Hey, you wanna take a bang at it?
I can do this all day
I don’t want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I don’t want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day
I am just saying: Love the sinner and hate the sin. Jesus Christ certainly loved those whom He drove from the Temple. Driving them out was an expression of His love. God bless!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.