Quote of the Day: "Jesus was a community organizer"

By: Lowell
Published On: 9/6/2008 3:28:50 PM

"As a committed Christian I was deeply offended by Sarah Palin and the Republican delegates mocking and belittling community organizers the other night. Jesus was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a Governor." - Diane Rehm Show, 9/5/08

Also, check out this statement by ACORN "on the value of community organizing":

ACORN members, leaders and staff are extremely disappointed that Republican leaders would make such condescending remarks on the great work community organizers accomplish in cities throughout this country. The fact that they marginalize our success in empowering low- and moderate-income people to improve their communities further illustrates [that they are] out-of-touch with ordinary people. Through community organizing, people are empowered to take action to solve their own problems, develop leadership skills and make decisions that improve their lives and their communities.

[...]

In the past 10 years, ACORN has helped more than 30 million American families through our various organizing campaigns: better schools, financial justice, living wages, community improvement, immigration, healthcare, predatory lending, voter engagement and utilities.

Bottom line: why do Republicans like Sarah Palin hate the idea of helping 30 million American families and feel the need to disparage those who DO help?

Comments



It was a cheap shot (Teddy - 9/6/2008 4:16:18 PM)
and it was especially insulting in view of the proud Republican philosophy (so they proclaim) of self-help, you're on your own, real men provide for themselves and their families, only losers whine, and so on. On the other hand, the cheap shot enabled them to tap into favorite Republican stereotypes of black inner city druggies and welfare queens. I noticed Palin's audience clapped vigorously and, no doubt, self-righteously; I suppose they were applauding themselves, for not needing the help of a community organizer because they are self-righteously successful, and God loves them by raining affluence on them.... The community organizer remark was more class warfare.

I mean, you could always go shoot a moose if you needed food. What's wrong with that community that it needs an organizer?



Quote of the decade more like (Tiderion - 9/6/2008 7:17:00 PM)
Republicans showed their true selves on that one. I wouldn't forgive them lightly either.


Of course they hate community organizers (Rebecca - 9/6/2008 7:29:26 PM)
They hate community organizers because they represent the ordinary people as opposed to the privileged few. You might even go so far as to say they hate the idea of the community interest altogether. Martin Luther King was a community organizer.  


quoth the raven (pvogel - 9/6/2008 9:24:40 PM)
There simply is no way to find the first person who said it.

"Jesus was a community organizer; Pontius Pilot was a governor."

And while googling to try to find a source on that one, I found this:

"The difference between Palin and Bush?  Lipstick."



Organizers: faithbased perspective (hereinva - 9/6/2008 9:44:47 PM)
I didn't understand the whole community organizer critique..it seemed more like grabbing at straws.

Found this paper by Rev. Cromwell , a minister in the United Church of Christ, on Community Organizing from a faithbased perspective. He includes history, theory, and Christian tradition.

"Two basic values govern and guide the work of community organizing. The first is that of democratic participating and broad inclusively. All people have the right to actively participate in the civic decisions, which govern their individual and collective lives. Community organizing embodies the value of democratic participation both internally, within the organization itself, and by engaging the organization with the broader community and decision-making processes. The organization's members are systematically listened to and actively engaged in the selection, research, and solving of community problems. The organization's leadership is democratically elected and its governing structures and decisions are held accountable by the membership to insure the will of the people is being followed. The organization then engages in the broader community and democratic procedures. It negotiates with and for people who are often excluded from the political mainstream due to their lack of power on the basis of income level, or racial and ethnic composition.

The second governing value of community organizing is justice and compassion. Community organizing works to see that all people and areas of the city are treated with dignity and respect, and that a degree of fairness is being lived out in a community's distribution of goods and services."

And with this- they have a problem ?
Don't Agonize-Organize!

addition info from University of Wisconsin website
COMM-ORG here