A proposal to erect “two tents to be used as administrative offices” in the parking lot of St. Mark’s was rejected by the board pondering the possibility on behalf of the Capitol Hill congregation.
“This conversation is not over. We continue to reflect on what this movement means to us and our mission and theology of radical welcome and the Cathedral as commons.,” wrote senior warden Scott Smallwood in a statement on the decision.
His full statement is here.
The church had been considering ways to support the Occupy movement following the ban on camping that forced its Seattle encampment to leave the Seattle Central campus at Broadway and Pine.
The Occupy Seattle effort has shifted to meeting for its general assembly at the Washington Convention Center. In Tuesday night’s session, a long debate ended in the group rejecting a motion to “commit to using methods of non-violent civil disobedience at all of our demonstrations and define violence as unprovoked physical aggression,” according to minutes published at occupyseattle.org.
“Society is an act of unprovoked violence,” one speaker is quoted as saying in opposition to the proposal. “Revolutionary violence we’re seeing across the world would be considered nonviolence. We’re hung up on the word. To invoke the letter from Cairo: wish not to use violence, but wish not to lose.”
Meanwhile, there has been an increase in squatting in empty buildings around central Seattle. In one case, a group of anarchists, Occupiers, etc. squatting in a Central District duplex have been summoned to appear in court and face eviction.
We also reported on another spur of the long, winding Occupy Seattle trail last week as this group mounted a small but spirited and kind of amusing protest against gentrification on Capitol Hill.
I didn’t realize Occupy Seattle still existed. What did they do again?
So, labeling as leaderful (and leaderless) thang passes overwhelmingly. Nonviolence loses handily. Love the ignorance and naivety of the comments. I usually have to go to a creationist or anti-vaxer site to enjoy such depths of stoopid.
I love the use of Black Power iconography. Occupy is a lot like the civil rights movement, but instead of black people who want the right to work, it’s white people who want an excuse not to work.
How Does Occupy Seattle expect the community to trust them if they are rejecting a commitment to be non-violent? What are those “diversity of tactics” going to look like? What sorts of things do they include?
It’s one thing to point at a police department that is way to trigger and baton happy and say “you’re wrong.” It’s another thing to say that if your group won’t reject the tactics themselves.
“To invoke the letter from Cairo: wish not to use violence, but wish not to lose.”
The difference between Cairo and Occupy Seattle is 200,000 people in the main public square versus 82 people in a community college parking lot.
Highly-developed sense of rationalization there, guys. OS and SPD are now neck and neck is the race to morally acquit themselves of throwing bricks at the other side.
Justin, it would be awesome if you posted teases to future stories like this where readers get to vote on which faction contributed the money quote. “Sociiety is an act of unprovoked violence”: SPOG member or trustafarian OSer?
Great satirical comment! And it’s actually pretty accurate…OS is yesterday’s news.
This vote by OS is yet another example of the fact this “movement” (not sure they deserve this word) has been taken over by antisocial, angry, anarchist types….who simply need some way to spend their idle time.
+1