Right-Wing Voices Scoff at Occupy Wall Street

Republic of Gilead has a post on the Stop the Machine and Occupy D.C. demonstrations in Washington D.C., as well as commentary links on the Occupy Wall Street movement. For this post, I'd like to direct attention to the hostile comments some right-wing voices have made about the movement.

Whatever one might think of Occupy Wall Street's strategy, the motivations behind it are genuine. Too many Americans have fallen victim to hard economic times, with no help in sight. Meanwhile, the close relationship between corporations and lawmakers angers those who believe in democracy. There is a hunger for economic justice in this country, and Occupy Wall Street is channeling that hunger into something positive.

However, many voices on the far right do not agree. As the Occupiers grow in strength and numbers, several right-wing figures continue to mock the movement, accusing it of a litany of wrongs.

The King Hearings Stir Heated Discussion about Islam in America

On Thursday, March 10th, the Congressional Committee on Homeland Security held the first in a series of hearings on the radicalization of Muslims in America, led by Rep. Peter King (R-New York). At a time when several states are considering legislative bans on Shariah law, mosques and Islamic community center projects are meeting with strong resistance, and aggressive anti-Islam rallies have drawn national attention, the King hearings have been interpreted by many progressives as another attack on Muslim Americans. However, Rep. King insisted that the hearings are meant to "inform and not to inflame", highlighting several prominent cases of extremist radicalization in the U.S. (To watch the hearings, visit the C-SPAN archive here.)

2011 March for Life in Washington D.C. -- Part II

(To return to Part I, click here. To watch the March for Life rally on C-SPAN, click here.)

Brother Paul O'Donnell introduced Bobby Schindler, brother of the late Terri Schiavo. Schindler claimed that euthanasia was taking place in the U.S. and tried to link abortion with euthanasia.

"We are all at risk because there is deadly prejudice growing in our nation. Just like the countless number of unborn children that are being killed every day, those with profound brain injuries, the elderly and the chronically sick are also being deliberately killed right now as we speak. Every single one of us need to understand that the same people and the same organizations that are behind the abortion agenda are also responsible for untold number of persons being killed by euthanasia in our nation every single day. We need to fight against euthanasia with the same determination as we do to protect the unborn child."

Next, Father John Kowalczyk of the Orthodox Church of America introduced His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah. Metropolitan Jonah told the audience that they were living in a time of "moral decay" and "decadence," which he attributed to "licentiousness of sexual morality," euthanasia, and abortion. Condemning abortion as an aspect of this "culture of death" and a supposed source of self-hatred and guilt for women, Metropolitan Jonah claimed that Christians provide the means to transform the culture through their message of repentance and forgiveness. Christians, he insisted, must find a means of sharing this message in a "culture that is intoxicated with its own pleasure."

Child Marriage Prevention Bill Voted Down in U.S. House

S.987, the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010, introduced by Sen. Dick Durban (D-IL) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), passed unanimously in the U.S. Senate. Praised by organizations such as PLAN International, CARE, and the International Women's Health Coalition, as well as global figures such as Nobel Peace Prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Irish president Mary Robinson, the legislation denounced child marriage as a human rights violation and would have made elimination of child marriage a U.S. foreign policy goal. S.987 would have authorized the president to provide assistance, through non-governmental and faith-based organizations, meant to prevent child marriage in developing countries and promote empowerment of girls and women.

Ending child marriage is a noble endeavor. Who could argue with this bill? Some House Republicans, apparently.