There have been reports that ‘Occupy’ activists in America have started targeting Christians, in a new development for the protest movement.
On 18 November ‘Occupy Springfield’ activists organised a demonstration outside a Christian coffee house, set up by Pastor Scott Lively as an inner-city Christian mission to Springfield, Massachusetts. Dr Lively set up the popular ‘Holy Grounds Coffee House’ to bring the Christian faith to the downtown area. The coffee house is seen as a “spiritual oasis in an often dangerous area”.
Church members had heard about the demonstration before hand and were able to hold a counter demonstration in order to defend their pastor.
Although his focus is on helping people live by Christian principles, Dr Lively was targeted because of his pro-family activism. Occupy Springfield has publicly stated that one of their goals is to close down his mission completely. They put an advert in the local paper, the Springfield Republican, attacking the pastor and accusing him of ‘hate crimes’. The signatories included well-known homosexual activists.
The Occupy movement has broadened its field of engagement since the protests started on Wall Street. The movement was recently heavily criticised after ‘Occupy Boston’ activists stormed the Israeli Consulate on 4 November and held a sit-in in the lobby, screaming anti-Israeli slogans.
Commentators in the US have suggested that the Occupy movement is more than a campaign against inequality but is also driven by hard left values which are hostile to Christianity.
A spokesman for local Massachusetts based organisation Mass Resistance, stated: “The demonstration brings to the forefront what many have observed since the beginning of the “Occupy” movement: That along with its socialist and anarchist economic philosophy, at its core it is anti-American ... and particularly hostile to Christianity and traditional values.”
Links
Crosswalk: Anti-Semitism in the Occupy movement