The Biblical Meaning Behind Occupy Wall Street and the 99%

Now, I know the 99% movement is not a "segregated" movement.  I do not wish to create any boundaries or upset people of different faiths; however, as an accepting movement, we should all listen to each other's beliefs, both political and religious.  I had a bible study with my dad earlier this week and he pointed out James 5 in Bible.  For those of you who do not have access to it, it is reproduced below:

     Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.  Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.  Your gold and silver are corroded.  Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire.  You have hoarded wealth in the last days.  Look!  The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you.  The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Almighty.  You have lived on earth in luxury and self indulgence.  You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.  You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.  ~James 5 (NIV)

To me, this chapter means a great deal.  It shows that nothing has changed in the last 5,000 years, at least!  We still have terrible injustices in the world, but it also shows that there are still people who are unafraid to stand up against this injustice.

A couple of lines particularly stand out for me.  The first is, "The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you."  Isn't that what's happening, hang on, right......NOW?!  So, there you have it.  After all of these years, the same groups still get together in an attempt to keep the filthy rich "honest."  But is the motive the same?  The second line verse that catches my eye is, "You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you."  To me, this holds a couple of different meanings.  First of all, this could mean any innocent person put to death via the death penalty, but it also means the people who have died fighting a war for oil!  It is absolute insanity to die for this.  Furthermore, it is also in response to the people who have died because they were denied medical insurance despite the fact that they had a condition which would, in time, take them from this world.

It doesn't matter that we have separate beliefs.  For many, the Bible is the Word of God, but for many others, it should be taken as a book of philosophy, much in the same way that the world looks at Thoreau's Walden.  Indeed, all religious texts are, first and foremost, philosophies on life.  Some parts are good; others are bad, but all are important in order to understand that the frustrating times we are all going through right now.