Privilege and Perspective

Privilege. As the occupy movement continues, with the slogan "We are the 99%", I cannot help but think about privilege. Occupy Wall Street and the movements that have followed has awakened America to the idea that 1% of the country uses its greed and privilege to harm the majority, either intentionally or unintentionally. I would like to preface what I am going to say next with this: I believe the Occupy movement is necessary for real change to happen within the economic and political structure within the United States and I fully support it. However...

... we often forget in America that even those of us who struggle are privileged in comparison to most of the world. We allow our own social location in comparison to our peers color how we see the world. And that disturbs me.

Recently, in the class I am taking, a classmate of mine made a very hurtful comment to me in the guise of speaking for God. A very dangerous thing. But what was perhaps more dangerous was the fact that she didn't recognize that the perspective she shared came from her social location, which is very different from mine. Not only are we quite a few years apart, but she is a stay at home mom in one of the richest counties in the United States. I am a pastor. We worship in different denominations, which have very different ideas about how God speaks to creation, including humans. She has lived in one place most of her life. I am itinerant by vocation. By not taking all of this into account, her comment came across as a judgment not only of me, but of my vocation as well.

If nothing else, the Occupy movement reminds those in the 99% of two things. First, we are privileged as well, even if we cannot always admit that when we compare ourselves to others. Secondly, the 99% is diverse, being composed of men and women, rich and poor, different races and ethnicity, people of different political backgrounds, people of all ages. People with different spiritual beliefs. People with different stories to tell and events that have made them who they are today. And that is why it is so hard to define the agenda of the Occupy Movement - out of respect for the diversity of what people bring with them as they identify themselves with the 99%. Perhaps spiritual leaders have something to learn from this as well. Before we make off the cuff remarks that have the potential to hurt people, we need to respect how we are both the same and different from other people, even those whom we consider to be like us. For God has created us to be vastly different, which colors our perspective.