When Goliath wins
by Robert Rowen-Herzog
Who doesn’t like a good underdog story?
American myth and culture are chock full of them – from the humble beginnings of a few rag-tag Pilgrims jumping ship from the religious tyranny of the Church of England to the slightly more contemporary notion that anyone – and I do mean anyone – can be elected President. Most of us root against the Yankees and for the Cubs.
And those who espouse a Christian faith might note the consistent underdog themes ensconced in the Good Book – from the people of Israel fighting against seemingly insurmountable odds with Yahweh on their side to that local-Nazareth-boy-makes-good story that founded a world religion and inspired that evangelical ass-kickin’ Left Behind video game.
We can’t get enough of these kinds of stories – David versus Goliath, the 1980 US Hockey team against Russia in Lake Placid, and of course Rocky versus Apollo, Mr. T, evil Russian guy, Medicare Senior Prescription Plan.
But what happens when Goliath wins?
Irony
The ironically-named Jim Profit was in a fight for the better part of ten years with über-retailer Wal-Mart. He, the Jesuit center he heads and an eclectic group of people from the community, the Residents for Sustainable Development (RSD), joined forces in an attempt to keep the monolithic corporation from building in their city.
Still, Wal-Mart won.
Profit is a Jesuit priest and Director of the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, Ontario, located on 600 pristine acres of farmland, wetland, and walking trails. The Jesuits originally bought the land in 1913, and it is now home to a Community Shared Agriculture program, the Ecology Project and Loyola House Jesuit Retreat and Training Centre.
“We call it a sacred belt of land,” Profit says of the 600 acres and surrounding properties, as it is home not only to the Jesuit Centre but also to three burial grounds – Our Lady Immaculate Mausoleum, the cemetery for the Jesuit Fathers of Upper Canada and Guelph’s 150-yr old Woodlawn Memorial Park. “And now that sacredness has been broken.”
Rapid development
Guelph, a city of 100,000-plus, is located an hour west of Toronto. Like many cities its size, Guelph has experienced rapid economic development in the last several years. And what developing city is complete without a Wal-Mart Supercenter as its retail hub?
Wal-Mart originally applied in 1995 to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) for a change in zoning of the property next to the Jesuits, but their request was rejected. They tried again in 1998, and were again turned away. Like most Goliath-esque entities in this world, the expansive retail giant has seemingly unlimited financial resources, a whole bevy of lawyers and as a result, influence matched only by its will to expand.
In 2003, Guelph elected a new mayor, Kate Quarrie, who was very much in favor of allowing Wal-Mart to build their 125,000 square foot shopping oasis. Under her influence, the OMB finally approved the request for a zoning change in 2005. The store opened its doors in November of 2006, just in time for the din of falling prices during the maddening Christmas rush.
As feared, the big box store is just the beginning of a cascade of new development. Wal-Marts typically and insidiously draw other retail chains. The Wal-Mart folks are looking to expand even further with plans to grow to 200,000 square feet.
Adversaries
David versus Goliath always makes good copy, especially when the adversaries are as polarized as the oft-demonized retail giant and a Jesuit priest. Predictably, the battle drew media scrutiny throughout Canada. Still, Profit says that this issue is much bigger than just Wal-Mart. “These things happen gradually. Our property is split by a highway that seven or eight years ago was expanded from two lanes to four lanes to accommodate the increased volume of traffic brought on by the development in Guelph long before Wal-Mart ever came along. We are a culture defined by development and consumerism, and mega-shopping plazas like Wal-Mart exist as a monument to these forces. Consumerism masks the need we all have to turn inward to encounter God immanent at our core. The call to find satisfaction in acquisitions masks the call of the Spirit to find God within.”
Dramatic changes
Despite the dramatic changes in the landscape, the Jesuit Centre persists with its mission, even convincing Wal-Mart to make some concessions for its construction plans – a twelve foot berm complete with large trees and a living fence was created, separating the store’s parking lot from the Jesuits’ property. The changes are stark, certainly. The splendor of the night sky has been diluted a bit with the increase in artificial lighting. Predictably, there is increased noise from the constant clamor of delivery trucks and a steady flow of discount shoppers.
“We need now, more than ever,” Profit insists, “places of quiet like the retreat centre to experience the spiritual, to experience the divine in the face of this consumerism. We are a sanctuary in the middle of the city. We still have wildlife and quiet areas to offer as an alternative to peoples’ busyness.”
Profit is exceedingly upbeat and gracious in the face of what could easily be perceived of as a failure.
“We were never convinced that we were going to win this thing,” he confesses. “We weren’t doing it to win. We took on the fight simply because it was important to do. If we profess faith in the Gospel, we as people of faith have to be involved in these issues. To divorce the beauty of the Earth from the divine is unconscionable.”
Social issues
These sentiments are in the minority, it appears, when it comes to the Church in the west. Social issues for the majority of Christians are remarkably uninteresting compared to, say, keeping gays from marrying, getting God’s endorsement in crusading wars, or finding culturally-savvy salvation in The Matrix films.
Paulo Freire, famed Brazilian liberation theologian and educator, presciently described the different segments of the Church we experience today. “The ‘traditionalist church’ is owned by the elites and functions as a tool to implement their interests; the ‘modernizing church’ is the church of half measures, designed to appease the craze for development while maintaining the structure of privilege; and the ‘prophetic church,’ is the church serving the interests of transformation and liberation.”
Freire’s philosophy and, more importantly, his literacy work with the poor in the 1950s was a threat to the Brazilian military regime; he was imprisoned and eventually exiled. Jesus’ activity was a threat to empire and the Temple elite that collaborated in social and religious oppression of the poor in first century Palestine; he was hounded and eventually executed.
Dangerous
It is all too facile, but dangerously disingenuous, to jump to the post-Resurrection Christ without the subtext of the pre-Resurrection Jesus. That Jesus was an organizer and subversive of the political and religious exploitation that perpetuated the cycle of poverty existing throughout Judaea.
Had Jesus merely espoused theories of individual spirituality and salvation, he would have been embraced and supported by the Romans. Had he been content with the traditional Temple culture, he would have been lauded by the Pharisees. Instead, he dared to question the power structures, dared to question the political and economic injustice of the social milieu, and how the religious were complicit in maintaining the unjust social order.
The entire premise of this religion we call Christianity is based on an apparent failure, the ultimate paradox of the political Jesus executed by crucifixion between two other “social bandits” while his followers awaited the conquering Christ. It is easy to imagine the disciples sitting around following Jesus’ crucifixion, glancing at each other with panicked visages, muttering “you know, fellas, we’re kind of screwed.”
Thank God that the failure and the death are not the end of the story.
New life
“Losing this fight with Wal-Mart,” Profit admits, “was a death. But in the death have been new opportunities for life. This issue brought the community together – a diverse group of people, religious and secular folks alike – united for the same cause. The divisions just evaporated.” That is something Wal-Mart can’t touch.
Nine members of the OMB who voted to change the zoning that allowed Wal-Mart to build in Guelph have been voted out. Kate Quarrie, the pro-Wal-Mart mayor, lost the subsequent mayoral election to the anti-Wal-Mart candidate she originally defeated.
The dust has cleared. Wal-Mart’s doors are open for business, and the people of Guelph are flocking there. The brothers at the Jesuit Centre have moved on too. They have committed to a 500-year project to restore the 100-acre portion of the property to an old growth forest. The centre is selling square meters of the property as a fundraiser to keep its ministry going. And the public is buying them up, galvanized by the attention that the fight with Wal-Mart inspired.
The idea for the old growth forest originated from a discussion between a “secular” conservationist from the Residents for Sustainable Development and Father Profit – in a pub. Only in a pub, with the collision of the sacred and the profane eased by a few good Canadian lagers, could such a perfect metaphor be birthed.
This is one version of the story when Goliath wins. Out of failure, victory. Out of death, life.
Amen.
Robert Rowen-Herzog is a writer from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Comment
Questions? Comments? editor@geezmagazine.org
A very inspiring story. Thank you
so much for sharing. It is so important to remember that winning isn’t everything. One never knows what the long-range
outcome will be… and doing God’s work whether it be fighting for economic justice or the environment is always worth doing. Thanks again.
— Marna Cornell · Mar 28, 06:29 AM · #
lovely stuff – thank you
— Jeffrey Alan Hovden · Mar 28, 11:12 PM · #
Great story from Canada. Presently, I am in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The Jesuits made a great contribution to the Jamaican People and the church troughout the island. Happy Easter. Leo Shea
— Leo Shea · Mar 29, 11:45 PM · #
A Lenten message for our local clergy, busines leaders and government. I visited Guelph, the home of John McCrae a few years past and found it a very plesant city. Someow I thought the Canadians were smarter than those of us to their south. I will return, this time for a Retreat. My group is simply fighting for Peace—and that is not the correct verb—against Bush and his Goliath Goons. Fortunately, you were able to throw the Goons out-but too late. PEACE BE TO YOU
— Thomas Chisholm · Mar 30, 02:24 AM · #
A great story of faith and the ability to rise above defeat, and win big through unexpected results that deepen the faith.
— Jacque French · Mar 30, 02:30 AM · #
this was a great story, but remember, the battle continues in other locations and with other participants. A Christians we are obligated to participate.
Bringing hope to the poor.
— Fred Overeem · Mar 30, 12:21 PM · #
There is more than meets the eye in this article. Jesus taught us by example about politics. Politics is not about winning (the democrats) nor is it about never compromising with others (the republicans) it is about sticking to your passionate core irreguardles of the current system in place. This is why as an imitator of jesus I fight for the independent movement. I dont care what you believe in, you have a right in this country (usa) to be heard and represented. Including your passion for the poor, but also your passion not to have a wal-mart next to your retreat center. Its not just about the poor, its also about standing up for what you believe is right.
Fight for it, gather new and wonderful friends and loose well!independentvoting.org
— T Gapinsk · Mar 31, 12:32 PM · #
Thank you for the great story!
Judy S.
— Judy Sweeney · Apr 7, 04:22 AM · #
I finally had a chance to really sit down and read your article, Bob. My dismay and rage around the ongoing WalMart sagas, turned to hope by the end of the story.
I hate it when Goliath wins. But even in the midst of this, a reversal and a transformation of the heart can still occur.
Thank you for your excellent writing and research. Thanks for taking on such a challenging issue.
Anita Amstutz
— anita amstutz · Apr 10, 05:58 PM · #
One thing the world does not need is more old growth forest – it’s too inefficient at producing anything we need right now, besides peace and quiet – and beleive me, if we don’t manage things better, we’re going to have even less room for old growth and quiet.
Why didn’t the Jesuits take the profit that would be realized from the sale of their land and move their operation to where they could have the things they think they need again? The land in the new place would obviously be farther away from the commerce centre, and therefore much less expensive, leaving lots of money for expanded and improved aficilities.
Why not? Probably because they are arrogant enough to think their needs come first.
I don’t like the Evil Walmart either, but if the shoppers flock there so thick as to disturb the Jesuits’ peace, there must have been a need.
Just take the money and run, and start again, better and perhaps bigger, if that is needed.
Jesus would approve. He thought most human traditions were (and are) crap. FRD
— Frank R. Durnin · Apr 19, 03:47 AM · #
The truth of the Gospel – Jesus can redeem anything! This is a daily experience, this “failure” in our cultures, but still the one truth remains, that Jesus redeems and makes new. Thanks for your article
— Shaun Fox · Jun 10, 05:03 PM · #