One of the Christian leaders arrested in a peaceful protest for the poor on Capitol Hill is calling fellow religious leaders to be a moral and nonviolent influence in the “Occupy Wall Street” protests occurring around the nation.

The Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness, was one of 11 ministry leaders arrested July 28 after ignoring calls to leave the Capitol Rotunda and charged with a misdemeanor. The court dropped the misdemeanor charge against 10 of the 11 ministers Tuesday. One of ministers pled guilty and paid a $50 fine.

Despite his brush with the law, Nelson is urging religious leaders to get involved in other protests, namely the “Occupy Wall Street” protests.

“One of the things I am convinced of is that faith has a role to play in the leadership of these movements,” he said. That role, Nelson said, is one of moral and ethical authority. He observed that there is no discipline in the framework of the OWS protests.

“I don’t always get that there is a commitment to nonviolence,” he told The Christian Post.

On Tuesday morning, the Boston Police Department moved in on Occupy Boston protesters, clearing away tents and arresting 100 resisters. Veteran protesters chanted “We are the veterans of the United States of America” and “Shame! Shame! Shame!” according to The Washington Post.

District of Columbia police also arrested six Occupy D.C. protesters this week after they began chanting loudly in the U.S. Senate’s Hart office building.

The individuals occupying the city and town squares around the country as part of the leaderless movement seem to be protesting several different things. However, a statement that has emerged from the mass of protesters proclaims that the overall aim is to be to combat “corporate greed and corrupt politics.”

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