More progress in making homelessness a crime

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty has a new report on the rapidly growing number of municipalities that have passed ordinances that criminalize homelessness. Living on the streets, even when there are insufficient shelter beds, is now punishable with steep fines. Since people with little or no money lack the ability to pay those fines, fees for late payment will be tacked for good measure. There is something rotten in the soul of America. 

I cannot fathom followers of Christ finding this the least bit acceptable:

There has been an increase in laws criminalizing homelessness since our last report in 2011. While the increase is seen for nearly every surveyed category of criminalization law, the most dramatic uptick has been in city-wide bans on fundamental human activities. This increase in city-wide bans shows that the nature of criminalization is changing and that cities are moving toward prohibiting unavoidable, life sustaining activities throughout entire communities rather than in specific areas, effectively criminalizing a homeless person’s very existence.

We are talking about scripture worthy mean-spiritedness. 

“‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 

Ezekiel 16:49

Not only are we not helping the poor and needy, but we are increasing their burdens by making it illegal to be homeless and not have a shelter bed. May the Lord have mercy on our very soul.  

Pockets of poverty grow larger in United States

My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!” and either ignore the street person or say, “Better sit here in the back row,” haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted?

James 2:1-4 (The Message)

There is disturbing new data on poverty from the U.S. Census Bureau. These analyses compared poverty statistics between the years 2000 and 2010. Among the key findings is that poverty has become more concentrated in areas where at least 20% of residents live below the income threshold used by the federal government.

In 2010, approximately 14.9 percent of the total U.S. population lived in poverty. However, poverty is not distributed evenly across neighborhoods. There are neighborhoods in every state that have higher than average poverty rates. The U.S. Census Bureau designates any census tract with a poverty rate of 20.0 percent or more as a “poverty area.” In 2010, more than 77 million people lived in poverty areas.

Between 1990 and 2000, the percentage of people living in poverty areas fell from 20.0 percent to 18.1 percent. This trend was reversed in the past decade. Between 2000 and 2010, the percentage of people living in poverty areas grew from 18.1 percent to 25.7 percent. While the overall population grew by 10 percent over the decade, the number of people living in poverty areas grew by about 56 percent.

As noted by Danielle Kurtzleben, the increased concentration of poverty in particular areas is associated with other social, health, and economic problems, all of which make it more difficult for people to ever escape poverty.

All of this matters because living near poverty can carry with it some major problems, Higher crime rates, for example, are associated with higher-poverty areas, as are worse housing conditions, worse public schools and worse health. In addition, economic segregation is correlated with lower economic mobility. If America's poorest are growing more and more concentrated, that could mean lower mobility (though importantly, these associations aren't causal), further entrenching these sorts of economic problems.

People living in pockets of poverty has become particularly prominent in the southern tier of states. As shown in this graphic from the Census Bureau, states in dark blue have the largest concentrations of people living in poverty.

As a follower of Christ, I find these numbers profoundly disturbing in relation to the narrative coming out of many of our Christian leaders. They take to social media and the airwaves to bleat about genital morality, but these same "leaders" are too often silent about the injustices that plague our society. From Genesis to Revelation, there are more than 2000 verses that speak to our obligation as people of faith to lift the burdens of the poor. They trumpet the absolute letter of the law when it comes to matters of sexuality but remain silent on the pain and suffering of the most vulnerable in our society. That smells like a whitewashed tomb to me.

Seeing people suffer fills me with impotent rage when all I can do is offer token gestures. It brings me to prayer, begging for better tools. It is in these times that I feel the presence of the Lord. But it raises a question. It seems to me that if people of faith really care about the poor, then I cannot fathom why so little has been done to create more and better "ladders of opportunity" for those living in resource poor communities. If all the great culture warriors stopped talking about genitals for even a year and started agitating for meaningful solutions, the body of Christ might accomplish something useful to the point of miraculous. Instead we debate religious liberty for corporate executives all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Face-palm. Head-wall. Seriously?

The narrative in this country surrounding poverty is bullshit. Since poverty has not been eradicated in the past fifty years, our political leaders have pronounced the federal "War on Poverty" a failure and  begun slashing the safety net. There was nothing in those federal programs designed to create living wage jobs. That was the responsibility of our corporate leaders who decided to export jobs to cheaper labor markets oversees instead. The War on Poverty was destined to fail unless people could find jobs that lift them out of poverty. D'oh. Me thinks our political leaders fail basic integrity, most especially when they sport their cross lapel pin on the campaign trail.

Government, "closely held" corporations, and non-profits have simply not done a credible job of creating adequate "ladders of opportunity" for the poor. The statistics are there for everyone to see. Given this remarkable cluster of failure, there is an extraordinary need for people of faith to put our heads and hearts together. We need a new paradigm. Instead I have Christian leaders telling me to mistreat my neighbors, co-workers, and fellow congregants if they are involved in same-sex intimate relationships. There is something wrong with this picture.

I always thought "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" included lifting people out of poverty. We live in an ethically bankrupt political and corporate culture. All they care about is power and wealth so it should come as no surprise that pockets of poverty continue to grow. If the Lord's will be done, then people of faith will have to play a large role. That seems strangely fundamental to me.

Today I Give Thanks (TIGT) for threatening skies that did no harm.

Here is a moral dilemma

About 1 of 6 Americans live in poverty. While the cynics bicker over how to define poverty and how much suffering should be required for sympathy, there is no doubt that too many live without hope. We have pockets of poverty that have spanned generations in every part of the country, from the neighborhoods of Chicago to the hollers of Appalachia to government-controlled tribal lands in the Dakotas.

One could ask why the number living in poverty has been steadily climbing in recent years. The federal government's "war on poverty" has not been won after fifty years of program funding. Of course, that funding is for food, shelter, medical care, and job training. The trouble is corporate "job creators" in America have outsourced living wage jobs to cheaper and cheaper and cheaper labor markets. It is difficult to escape poverty if there are too few ladders of economic opportunity. Pretty simple economics.

Let's be honest with ourselves. Living in poverty, even in a rich nation, takes a toll on your physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being. You are subjected to a thousand indignities every week. Despair, substance abuse, broken relationships, and violence are all too common. Hope is in very short supply when millions are born, live, and die in poverty. It is not a life that anyone in their right mind would want for themselves.

Our political leaders have developed a nasty habit of disparaging the poor, calling them free-loaders, takers, frauds, thieves, lazy, stupid, and incompetent. It is the narrative they use to justify slashing government programs for the most vulnerable. The large funding cuts over the past four years will add substantially to the woes of people living in poor communities all across the nation. These same politicians are clamoring for even more draconian cuts and will almost certainly succeed.

So, as followers of Christ, as people of faith, what do we do? How do we respond to injustice piled on injustice? Their wounds are hardly hidden.

There is no shortage of Christian leaders expressing their outrage over issues of genital morality, but few take umbrage at the plight of the poor, sick, old, and disabled. Pope Francis is a rare exception. He has taken up the cause of the poor only to be called a socialist, communist, and Marxist for pointing out the deficiencies in capitalism and dangers of idolizing wealth.

Can people of faith succeed where our government and business leaders have failed to help people escape from poverty? Borrowing from Rabbi Hillel, if not us, then who? If not now, then when?

Speaking out against injustices can make a difference

As followers of that rebellious Jew from Nazareth, we are called to be God's heart, hands, and voice for those in need. Recent events in Alabama provide clear evidence our voice is so important. 

Local news in Birmingham covered the story of a pastor who was harassed by the police for feeding the homeless from his truck. Here is the gist from the local ABC affiliate:

It's routine to serve the homeless every other Saturday for Minister Rick Wood with The Lords House of Prayer in Oneonta, but he was recently stopped by the Birmingham Police Department because of a new city ordinance aimed at regulating food trucks.  

Wood says the incident happened two weeks ago and he was shut down by police because they didn't have a permit from the city to serve food in Linn Park. He was told he needed a food truck and permit from the health department.  

"That makes me so mad," Wood said. "These people are hungry. They're starving. They need help from people. They can't afford to buy something from a food truck."

Within days of the incident, local ministries began serving food to the homeless from a local church. As the incident attracted more attention, the health department provided an exemption to non-profits feeding the homeless. 

"We are thankful that the Jefferson County Health Department has been able to give us guidance on how we can follow the law and their guidelines while still serving those in need. I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of interest in finding a viable solution to this issue. Birmingham is a compassionate and caring city that will always rise to meet any challenge in a kind and thoughtful way, our historic legacy demands it," said Mayor Bell. 

It appears that the incident in Birmingham was merely an unintended consequence of an ordinance aimed at unlicensed food trucks rather than the homeless. The outcry from the public was instrumental in getting local officials to resolve the legal issue quickly. It also stimulated an outpouring of support for those serving the homeless population, including Pastor Rick Wood.

Unfortunately, we live in a nation where many cities have passed ordinances to criminalize living on the streets and penalize those who try to help the homeless. While the Birmingham case has been quickly resolved in favor of compassion, the ordinance in question was not intended the harm the vulnerable. Pushing back against laws that were specifically designed to increase the suffering of the poor has been far less successful. Our prosperity as a nation seems to have hardened our hearts. Calling us a Christian nation is to bear false witness to Christ.

Symptoms of a larger disease

A tiny church in a small midwestern city has gotten into trouble with authorities. Their crime was opening the church to as many as 50 people a night to use as an emergency shelter during a brutal winter. The church is not zoned to serve as a shelter and lacks fire safety equipment.

ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- Leaders at a Rockford church say they have been told by the city that they can no longer act as a warming center and temporary homeless shelter because of zoning issues and apparent safety hazards. 

Apostolic Pentecostals of Rockford church tells 23 New they were told Wednesday by the city that their facility doesn't have adequate fire safety equipment and also isn't zoned to serve the community as a warming center or shelter.

Here is a congregation that takes seriously Christ's teaching to care for those in need. They opened their doors to provide warmth, food, and shelter to the local homeless population. And if they continue to do it, they will be taken to court and likely have to pay hefty fines.

It is fascinating how many of the published comments about this story defended the city. The law is the law. True. This just so happens to be an instance where following the New Testament violates the laws of the larger society. In all likelihood, this church will reluctantly comply with city laws and close its doors to people in desperate need.

We live in a society that is growing hard in heart, especially towards the homeless. Across our nation, municipality after municipality have passed ordinances making it a crime to live on the streets. Even in places without the more draconian laws, area residents and businesses frequently complain when emergency feeding programs draw large crowds of the destitute. Zoning violations typically come to city attention when the neighbors complain. I am willing to bet the neighbors of this little church were unhappy about all those homeless people wandering the streets. The unwashed poor need to be keep from the eyes, ears, and noses of the beautiful people.

Perhaps we should be asking why there were so many people were living on the streets with no place else to go but this little church. The powers that be do not seem to be interested in pursuing long-term solutions to the needs of the homeless. Instead of cheering the generosity of the congregation, the locals decided punishment was in order. Problem solved. Case closed.

Here is what passes for compassion in this sordid little story. The fire marshall, interviewed for the video aired by the local television station, said that he waited until the worst of the winter was over to issue the citation. It was near zero the morning that citation arrived.

Magnificent witness

Stories like this one make me proud to call myself a Christian. A man in Arkansas finds and delivers much needed items to the homeless in the Little Rock area. This labor of love grew out of finding God in the midst of his own struggles and turning that grace into a blessing for others.

The Van is often the most visible part of The One, Inc., the nonprofit organization Reddin founded in 2011 to help a cause close to his heart. After struggling with his own drug addiction during his teens, Reddin got clean and found work at homeless shelters and rehab centers. “Once I found God, I started trying to help folks I could relate to,” he says. “I saw there were a lot of people living unsheltered with a lot of needs unmet…until someone went out there and helped them.” His charity is named for the Christ parable in which a shepherd leaves his 99 sheep to find the lone missing one, the one lost soul.

Reddin was moved by the sight of homeless people turned away from full shelters. So he posed a simple proposal on Facebook: If someone would give him $1,000, he’d buy a van and drive it around Little Rock to bring the homeless supplies they desperately needed. He did better than that. In less than a week, a man whom he’d never met donated a 2005 Ford from his used-car lot.

From that initial interaction, Reddin has built a philanthropic machine, combining old-time grit with modern-day social media. A 15,000-square-foot warehouse in North Little Rock—an auction house in another life—serves as The One’s headquarters. There, Reddin and his colleagues store all the donated items, including blankets, sunscreen, clean clothes and canned food, much of which they solicit using Twitter and Facebook. The original van has more than 1,000 followers on Twitter (@itsthevan) and more than 3,500 Facebook likes. “I built most of what we’re able to do through social media,” Reddin says. “It’s how we’re able to tell people what we need when.”

There are many things about this story that move me. One is the new wine in new skins (Matthew 9:17; Mark 2:22) example of Aaron Reddin. His newfound faith has transformed his life and very being into the hands, mouth, and heart of Christ for people neglected or even abused at the margins of our society.

Reddin has made a difference by simply rolling up his sleeves and diving in. All too often we are tempted to question what we can do as simply one person, especially if our resources are limited. It lends itself to mental paralysis. The needs are too great. The obstacles are too many. I cannot do it alone. It is as if we really do not believe that all things are possible with God.

Reddin proves the old adage that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. He cast about for van to deliver items desperately needed by the homeless. Before long, he had a van, enough donated items to fill a warehouse, and eventually the warehouse to put it all in. He used social media to connect with people in need and those with things to give.

His example has inspired others to follow his example.

The Van’s work—and Reddin’s uncompromising ethics—have made him something of a folk hero in Little Rock, a burly saint clad in ripped blue jeans. The local Sync Magazine has dubbed Reddin the “homeless heretic.” And his message is spreading. In addition to the original Van, Arkansas now boasts “The Mission Machine” in Searcy and “The Russ Bus” in Russellville— thanks to volunteers spurred by Reddin’s mission. Terry Smith, who drives the “VanLanta” in Atlanta, got word of The One last year and thought the same kind of operation could work in her city, right down to Reddin’s divine inspiration: She wrote “Jesus was homeless” in white ink on her van’s back window.

In a few short years, Reddin has touched many lives through his simple acts of loving kindness. It is walking the walk of Christ.

One section of this article I found particularly thought provoking.

Josh Fendley, the founder of The People Tree, which helps Little Rock’s homeless through urban agriculture projects, recalls an eye-opening exchange with Reddin when the two were just getting their respective nonprofits off the ground. “I asked him one important question. ‘Tell my why you’re doing this: Do you love these people—do you feel in your heart this attraction and pull and love for them that makes you serve them—or is it a sense of rage that these people are in this state?’ ” Fendley says. “And he said the first one…love of the individual.”

If I were asked the same question, I would say both. As much as I am moved to tears by the humanity and struggles of those in need, I find it difficult not to be angry at the injustices heaped upon them. However, the later carries many temptations.

We live in a society that is becoming increasingly hard-hearted. Our political leaders disparage the less fortunate and demand larger and larger cuts to government programs designed to provide a safety net for those in need. The rich demand larger tax cuts and find fiendishly clever ways to protect more and more of their wealth even though they have more than 20 generations of their offspring will be able to spend. Corporate leaders do away with jobs that pay decent wages and benefits, all in the name of boosting profits and stock prices. Together, these worshippers of Mammon push more and more people into difficult, if not desperate, financial situations. When so many people have to work two or three jobs just to make enough to escape poverty, our nation has a sick if not outright evil heart. The crowning achievement of that evil has been the recent spate of laws that criminalize the homeless and even those that give them money or food.

As Christians, our silence in the face of monumental injustices becomes complicity. Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it much more eloquently.

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

Liberation theology was premised on the idea that as Christians we should stand with those suffering at the hands of an unjust society. The problem was one of praxis. Some adherents joined in spirit with those seeking to use violence and other ungodly means to right the wrongs. We know as followers of Christ that returning evil for evil is wrong, yet the temptations to do so are great when the injustices are so large.

My gut tells me that Reddin's approach is in many ways superior. He demonstrates a solidarity in body and spirit with the homeless that unequivocally satisfies the teachings of Christ. It is an example that we can all emulate.

It is much more difficult to follow the example of someone like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was able to appeal to the conscience of millions, using scripture as inspiration, without succumbing to the temptation to violence. He rejected the idea of righting systemic wrongs by any means necessary. That takes extraordinary courage.

Even a cursory reading of the canonical gospels reveals that Christ never held his tongue about the injustices he encountered, but I find it interesting that the targets of his outrage were the religious leaders of his day. With the crowds he attracted, Jesus could have joined with the zealots in seeking to overthrow Roman rule and restore power to the Jewish people. Instead, he taught that the Kingdom of God is open to all who seek it, warned the privileged not to value the things of this world, and told his followers that they would be judged by their acts of compassion for the poor, sick, and disabled.

Today I give thanks for the witness of Aaron Reddin.

Praise the Lord

I give thanks today for coming across something uplifting and inspiring. A woman received an email containing pictures of people collecting money for the homeless. They carried signs that explained that they had a comfortable existence but felt compelled to do something for those in need. It struck a chord with her.

Basically the email had pictures of individuals posing as panhandlers. And this my Friend, took me out of my comfort zone. I knew I needed to do this so thus the Underground Outreach was created.

So the Holy Spirit nudged her to step out of her comfort zone. She listened and obeyed.

Right when I stepped onto the grass next to the highway, I was immediately taken back to the halls of middle school. You know the feeling? The “What in the world am I doing here?!?! EVERYONE IS STARING AT ME! I AM WAY OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE!” Yes, I would love to sit here and tell you how I spent the hour and a half praying for all the drivers, all the homeless and for world peace. Yeah, I can’t. I did pray for the homeless when I consciously thought about it. To be very raw with you, the glares and the lack of eye contact sucked every bit of self-confidence and assurance completely out of me. No, this outreach was not scheduled to be all about me but it is hard to not take away life lessons when you purposely place yourself in a situation you have never been in before.

She quickly learned something about being vulnerable and asking for help. It was psychologically painful. She then remembered how she reacted as a driver seeing someone by the side of the road, holding up a sign and asking for money. Avoid eye contact and drive past as fast as possible. That was the reaction of most of the drivers she encountered that afternoon. A small number stopped, some to question her intentions and others to give money and encouragement. It got her thinking (and feeling).

Friend, where are you? Specifically for people standing on the side of the street, where are you? If you do not feel comfortable giving money, please let me encourage you to keep something in your car to help: McDonald’s giftcards, QuickTrip giftcards, Ziplock bag filled with crackers, socks, bottle of water. Do you make eye contact? Do you pass judgment? Where are you? I promise you, I was the person who immediately thought, “Why can they not spend all this time and energy and just go get a job!” Hey, I am being real with you. And then God gently opened my eyes to the love He so graciously lavished upon me and He simply reminded me of these verses……………

You can guess the verses from the gospel of Matthew that came to her. And so she prayed.

Dear Jesus, thank You for Your forgiveness. Thank You for forgiving me of my judgmental thoughts, my lack of compassion, my ignorance, my determination to NOT care…Father, thank You for opening my eyes to the poor, to those in need, to the individuals who You died for. Father, I pray for the gentleman who was standing at the very corner we stood. Who just minutes before we arrived held a sign, “I need a miracle.” Father, please open the eyes of Your followers, may we be followers who not only PROFESS to follow Your teachings but OBEY Your teachings. I pray for this Reader. Father, only You know this Reader’s heart. I pray they seek You and ask their compassion to grow more like Your compassion. May they desire to grow in their walk with You so they may be used to bless another, give to another, clothe another, feed another, visit another. Father, may we not be judgmental people….Oh Father, may we not be judgmental people……………..through the blood of the Cross I pray, Amen.

Amen.

The hardening heart of America

Every day brings more evidence that the least fortunate in our society have become targets of our political leaders. Cities across the nation have rushed to criminalize homelessness by passing ordinances making it illegal to eat, sleep, or beg on our streets. We see people living in cardboard boxes or taking shelter in underpasses. We watch them talk to themselves and simply roll our eyes. No one can claim not to have witnessed unmet needs for shelter, food, and medical care for physical and psychological disorders.

Here is another example of the hardening of our hearts, this time from Pennsylvania. Faith-based organizations have been feeding the homeless in the courthouse parking lot in Harrisburg for the past seven years. It is a central location downtown that allows hundreds of homeless people to be fed efficiently. Now comes word from the powers that be that public property cannot be used to feed the homeless and outreach workers risk arrest for setting up tables in these empty parking lots.

The excuse given by public officials is that the local bank, which rents space from the county, has complained about sanitary problems because of public urination.

There have been incidents, according to the county's Deputy Chief Clerk Scott Burford. Public urination and defecation in the parking lots. Citizens Bank, which rents ground floor space from the county, complained that its ATM kiosk had been turned into a Port-A-John. Employees from both the bank and the county had been "harassed, heckled and followed in some ways," Burford said.

I cannot help but wonder if perhaps the bank harassed the homeless for using its bathrooms and the homeless retaliated by using the ATM as a bathroom. Of course, there is a simple solution. A portable potty could be located in the parking lot to accommodate the needs of the homeless and eliminate conflict with the bank, but that is too logical and caring. Instead, there are "No Loitering" signs posted everywhere and new ordinances to prevent the use of public property to feed the homeless.

The county claims they are not just targeting the homeless. It seems the patrons of local bars have been behaving badly as well.

The county's new enforcement goals will extend beyond the group of homeless men and women who congregate on county property, Burford said. They will also deter Second Street bar patrons that park in the lot, or stop to relieve themselves against a wall on their way home.

Perhaps the homeless have been accused of being a larger public nuisance than they actually are. But who cares about the homeless? They do not have the money to donate to politicians or spend in local businesses. They are just human trash that needs to be kept out of sight and mind for the privileged in our society. At least that seems to be the mindset of local politicians and business leaders.

A couple of other points from the story that deserve mention. First, the problem of homelessness in the Harrisburg area is growing.

Homelessness in Harrisburg has risen 40 percent in the last six years, said Bethesda Mission executive director Chuck Wingate. The volunteers at Isaiah 61 Ministries say they have seen a lot of new faces showing up in line over the summer.

Without a central location, the ad hoc coalition of 25 faith organizations that have come together to serve the area's homeless is likely to collapse. The authorities created new rules but offered no alternatives.

Untreated or poorly managed mental illnesses are prominent in the homeless population in Harrisburg and across the nation. What sort of sick society ignores the needs of people that cannot care for themselves because of psychiatric disorders?

One can only hope and pray that the faith organizations that have been working hard to help the homeless in the Harrisburg area find the strength and inspiration to get around the hardened hearts of local authorities and the moneychangers at Citizens Bank.

Something beautiful

Photographer Michael Pharaoh decided to capture the humanity of the homeless living on the streets of Los Angeles. The first photos from that collection can be found here.

"It was interesting to hear all of their stories and how they came to live on the streets. This project was both a sad yet humbling one."

Amen.

Oh snap

Our political leaders in the U.S. House decided that the poor should starve until the federal budget is more to their liking. They slapped themselves on the back as they cut $40 billion in food assistance despite millions fewer jobs than people looking for work. Afterwards, these little men and women bounded before cameras to gloat. 

"This bill is designed to give people a hand when they need it most. Most people don't choose to be on food stamps. Most people want a job," said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) "Most people want to go out and be productive so that they can earn a living, so that they can support a family, so that they can have hope for a more prosperous future. They want what we want."

Cutting food stamps will create jobs, Mr. Cantor? Of course not. You know that. You just do not care. I am sure the people hurt by this will not live anywhere near you. If there are fewer jobs than people, how exactly will these cuts "give people a hand when they need it most?" None of this passes a smell test. 

Who are these callous, self-centered people and why the hell are they on my television?

Shameful

More disturbing statistics on our failing economy:

One in five Americans reported in August that they did not have enough money to buy the food that they or their family needed in the past year, more than said so earlier this year and near highs seen since 2008. Similarly, Americans' overall access to basic necessities has not recovered to the levels seen before the economic crisis. These findings suggest that the economic recovery may be disproportionately benefitting upper-income Americans rather than those who are struggling to fulfill their basic needs. 

Stagnant wages are one possible reason why Americans' ability to afford food and other basic needs has not improved since the recession. According to an August 2013 Wall Street Journal analysis of Labor Department data, "the average hourly pay for a nongovernment, non-supervisory worker, adjusted for price increases, declined to $8.77 [in July 2013] from $8.85 at the end of the recession in June 2009." Depressed wages are likely negatively affecting the economic recovery by reducing consumer spending, but another serious and costly implication may be that fewer Americans are able to consistently afford food and meet other basic needs.

Give us this day our daily bread.  Forgive us, Lord, for turning a blind eye to the suffering all around us.

Get rid of the barbed wire

The state of Colorado has a plan to repurpose a correctional facility into a homeless housing and services center.

The rural Fort Lyon prison facility, shuttered by Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper amid budget cuts in 2011, reopened Tuesday as a repurposed facility intended to aid the state’s homeless population.

After intense back-and-forths and political wrangling at the state Capitol this year, lawmakers passed a measure that appropriated funds to bus the state’s homeless to the rural facility to receive substance-abuse support services, medical care and job training.

Only 14 people have agreed to be bused and "housed" in the facility, but the plans call for up to 300 residents within two years.

The plan has a certain warm and fuzzy appeal.

“This project will give homeless veterans and others new opportunities,” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “The men and women who go to Fort Lyon will learn the skills they need to get back on their feet.”

The legislature scaled back funding for the program, which will make it more difficult to operate the facility as anything other than a prison for the homeless. In order to successfully "transition" to subsidized housing elsewhere, one has .

According to a news release from Hickenlooper’s office, after at least one-year of residency at Fort Lyon, clients will be eligible to receive a Section 8 housing voucher from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to return to permanent housing in another community.

I wonder what happens to participants that fail to complete the one-year minimum residency requirement. Perhaps I am not thinking charitably about the program, but you have to be somewhat skeptical of political motives when so many cities across the country have passed laws that criminalize homelessness. At least Colorado has given some thought to helping the homeless.

The new lepers

A new Silicon Valley startup wants to help good rich people avoid bad poor people while traveling.

While Silicon Valley brims with brilliant overachievers, its intense inward focus can make for a rather cramped view of the world. Think "satire" that cruelly pokes fun at San Francisco's homeless population, or very serious (and very real) experiments that suggest a homeless man's life could be changed for the better with a few coding lessons.

Today, that worldview was manifested in a startup called Ghetto Tracker, which purports to alert rich travelers to the locations of a city's poor people so they can be avoided. (Ghetto Tracker has since been renamed "Good Part of Town," which does nothing to change its intended purpose.)

The startup's mission is every bit as tone-deaf as one would expect from such a one-percent endeavor. "We use a rating system that allows locals and people familiar with area rate which parts of town are safe and which ones are ghetto, or unsafe," reads the site's self-ascribed purpose for existing.

This company felt there is a viable market for products that help customers avoid neighborhoods where people might be poor. It is a natural progression from rich business folk and politicians making the poor a scapegoat for the slow economy along with taxes and regulations. This trash talk even comes from people that call themselves followers of Christ, especially when running for public office. The politicians elected by money from the rich are quick to falsely accuse the poor of being liars, cheats, and morally defective. There is a very corrupt and evil mindset sweeping America in the 21st century.

What is your obligation to Christ to stop this toxic attitude toward the less fortunate? Read the gospels carefully. Jesus went among the forgotten and marginalized to share God's love for them. He also healed their physical, psychological, and spiritual ills. What Jesus did is the antithesis of what we see in America today. We live in a country where the poor have become targets of hatred instead of love. I assume the Lord would expect us to follow His ethics instead of what passes for ethics among the privileged.

The poverty line does not matter

We keep hearing things like this:

There's broad agreement that the way the U.S. measures poverty has some fundamental flaws — a topic that's likely to come up next month, when the new poverty numbers are released. Here are three key problems, as explained to me by Christopher Wimer, a researcher at Columbia. 

1. It doesn't account for geographic differences. The poverty line is the same, no matter where you live — whether it's in New York City or rural South Dakota. 

2. It's based on a 50-year-old formula that assumes Americans spend about a third of their income on food. But, after adjusting for inflation, the price of food has fallen significantly in the past 50 years. Today, people spend only about a sixth of their income on food. But they spend a bigger chunk of their income on other items, like child care and medical expenses. 

3. It doesn't consider the value of of government benefits, such as food stamps and tax credits.

 On the contrary, the problem is absolutely not the line used to arbitrarily define poverty. The real problem is that the distribution is wrong. There are too many people suffering at the bottom of the income ladder. Fighting about where to put a line is stupid. The real questions are: why there are so many people down there at the bottom and who is doing anything to help? Debating the poverty line ignores poverty as a problem. That ain't gonna fly with the Lord.

Love loses

Six churches have banded together for the past six years to feed the homeless in Raleigh, North Carolina. From the mission statement of Love Wins Ministries:

We want to build relationships that cross cultural and societal barriers. It is not that complicated: We love people – period. No agenda, no strings attached. People that society has left behind. People who wear dirty clothes. People who beg for money on the side of the road. People who are not welcome in most church buildings. People the city wishes would disappear. People made, we believe, in the very image of God.

In other words, they are working to translate the teachings of Jesus into action. They want to show love to the marginalized and downtrodden. Sadly, feeding the homeless is something that their city is cracking down on, with police officers threatening to jail ministry members for passing out food.

This morning we showed up at Moore Square at 9:00 a.m., just like we have done virtually every Saturday and Sunday for the last six years. We provide, without cost or obligation, hot coffee and a breakfast sandwich to anyone who wants one. We keep this promise to our community in cooperation with five different large suburban churches that help us with manpower and funding. 

Today officers from Raleigh Police Department prevented us from doing our work, for the first time ever. An officer said, quite bluntly, that if we attempted to distribute food, we would be arrested.

Government officials, no doubt at the behest of business interests, have decided to get tough with the homeless as part of an effort to revitalize this area of the city. It is a further hardening of hearts. By the way, the feeding program is necessary because of the lack of services on weekends.

We feed people and have been doing so, and much more, for six years. On the weekends people have no where else to go other than the park because Wake County and/or the City of Raleigh offers no soup kitchens or other options on the weekends. None. There is no “official” place you can get a meal if you are homeless or at-risk of homelessness. You are left to your wits, and for the last six years, you could get a cup of hot coffee and a hot breakfast sandwich from us – because you could not get one from any tax funded location.

The Love Wins blog post about their recent confrontation with the police attracted almost 400 comments. I was amazed at the number of people that suggested that the solution is to feed the homeless from churches participating in the ministry. Rather than bring the food to the homeless, the ministry should figure out a way to transport the homeless to the food. And, of course, some could not resist the temptation to throw stones at the poor.

It may be causing more of a problem, than creating a solution. I have worked and volunteered in a local ‘soup kitchen’ that fed people for free. Most of them were local people, who left their neighborhood homes, and were just to lazy to get food for themselves. Sure, somehow people really need help, but a large gathering of homeless vagrants may not be the best for a local park.

I have never run across anyone that goes to a soup kitchen because they are too lazy to prepare their own meals, yet here is someone claiming that soup kitchens are full of freeloaders. The myths of welfare "queens" and food stamps being used to buy luxury items like crab legs are very persuasive for the self-centered. Cynical politicians thrive on the ready acceptance of slander and scapegoating.

The Lord said that He will judge harshly anyone that neglects the suffering of others. Perhaps He was just being overly dramatic. Or perhaps repentance is in order. Giving the finger to the poor is like giving the finger to Christ. It is a big mistake, whether you think you are predestined or not. Failure to show God's love, especially for those crying out to God, is something you definitely do not want on your spiritual resume.

This is America

This is the country we live in during the blighted 21st century. The very same country God blessed with bountiful resources. Let's walk the mean streets of America.

Did you hear about the twenty-something overnight technology millionaire named Peter Shih? The one that thumbed his nose at everyone in San Francisco, with special animus toward the poor in his midst.

San Francisco has some of the craziest homeless people I have ever seen in my life. Stop giving them money, you know they just buy alcohol and drugs with it right? Next time just hand them a handle of vodka and a pack of cigarettes, it’ll save everyone some trouble. I’m seriously tempted to start fucking with people and pay for homeless guys to ride the Powell street cable cars in the middle of the day, that ought to get the city’s attention.

I liked the editorial comment by the Uptown Almanac:

Peter has been crushing it lately. Peter's start-up is seeing exponential growth. Peter is raising money. Peter is raising hell. Peter is about to hire a growth hacker. Peter is king. 

But San Francisco is bringing Peter down. San Francisco is allowing mentally ill, drug-addicted homeless people abandoned by society to be in the same 49 square miles as Peter. Peter does not approve. Peter just wants to make apps for other Peters, call out some women for being bitches, and put the world's issues out of Peter's mind. But Peter is a visionary. Peter is an innovator. Peter is going to disrupt the city's blindness to Peter's problem with homeless people by paying the homeless to hang out with tourists. Peter will solve homelessness for Peter.

Sounds like an Ayn Rand devotee. Those arrogant twits think themselves gods.

Not to be outdone by a rich slacker, cities in Florida and South Carolina have made it a crime to be homeless. Yes, make sure the people already deprived of every dignity face losing their freedom.

City council members in Columbia, S.C., recently voted unanimously to criminalize homelessness. 

Concerned that Columbia has become a “magnet for homeless people,” and that businesses and the area’s safety are suffering as a result, council members agreed on Aug. 14 to give people on the streets the option to either relocate, or get arrested, according to the city’s “Emergency Homeless Response” report. 

Cooperative homeless people will be given the option to go to a remote 240-person bed emergency shelter, which will be open from September to March. The shelter will also be used as a drop-off for people recently released from prison and jail, too.

Let me walk you through the math. There are more than 1600 homeless people in the Columbia, South Carolina. The city is a building a 240-person minimum security prison for the lucky homeless. The police will supervise all coming to going away from this newfangled "shelter." The even less fortunate will be carted off to city jails. Nothing opens up job opportunities like a criminal record.

I take it there are few followers of Christ in South Carolina. How could there be a real presence of Jesus in a place where so many affluent people blame their business and personal insecurity on the poor? It is not possible. You cannot claim to love an unseen God and mistreat people you see in need. Jesus made it abundantly clear that we are responsible to care for the people crying out for help.

“As small business owners on Main Street we see first hand how the homeless crisis is affecting the city,” Jessica and Joe Kastner, owners of Paradise Ice, said according to the report. “Unfortunately it seems the people who make their living off of caring for the homeless are the ones making all the noise at these meetings. They've had 20 years to fix the problem and it has only gotten worse thus ensuring their paychecks stay safe. Please think about the everyday citizens, the revitalization of Columbia and the safety of everyone.”

The Christ-less business people accuse organizations serving the poor of not solving economic disparities that leave some homeless. Although there are few economic opportunities for the poor, mentally ill, disabled, or suffering with an addiction, business owners are demanding more tough love for the less fortunate.

Here is a member of Congress from the great state of Oklahoma by the name of Markwayne Mullin. Mind you, he said this during a town hall meeting with his constituents:

In a video of the event posted by ThinkProgress, the freshman Republican said he was in Crystal City, Va., buying groceries in a nice but crowded store when he noticed something strange. 

"Every lane was open and it was backed up and I noticed everybody was giving that card," Mullin said, apparently referring to the electronic benefit transfer cards most states use to distribute food stamps. "They had these huge baskets, and I realized it was the first of the month."

Wait, it gets better.

"But then I’m looking over, and there’s a couple beside me," Mullin continued. "This guy was built like a brick house. I mean he had muscles all over him. He was in a little tank top and pair of shorts and really nice Nike shoes. And she was standing there, and she was all in shape and she looked like she had just come from a fitness program. She was in the spandex, and you know, they were both physically fit. And they go up in front of me and they pay with that card." 

Mullin knew what he'd witnessed. "Fraud," he said. "Absolute 100 percent, all of it is fraud. There's fraud all through that."

So this privileged politician claims that anyone who is not physically or mentally incapacitated should not be not be fed. Ironically, this man also claims to be Pentecostal Christian. He seems to think the spirit of God only moves among the economically secure. It does make you wonder where this man got the idea that what Jesus taught is less important than believing Christ will give you eternal life.

This is also the America that enslaves young people in crushing debt and economic despair.

Researchers from Northwestern University found that adults ages 24 to 32 with high financial debt are more likely to have poorer self-reported health (both mental and physical), as well as higher diastolic blood pressure. (Diastolic blood pressure is thebottom number on a blood-pressure reading; WebMD defines it as indicative of "the pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between beats").

"You wouldn't necessarily expect to see associations between debt and physical healthin people who are so young," study researcher Elizabeth Sweet, assistant professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a statement. "We need to be aware of this association and understand it better. Our study is just a first peek at how debt may impact physical health."

 The young are being robbed of their economic and health security. Christ would be so impressed.

We are repaying the gift of God's bounty by allowing the affluent to increase the suffering of the poor. America has become vicious in the 21st century. Fear the rapture, folks. The Lord is coming and He will not be smiling.

Poverty as a life sentence

An article in the Arizona Daily Star describes how breaking the law is quickly becoming a life sentence to poverty for not only the offender but also their children. In this difficult economy, people with a criminal record cannot find jobs and housing, making it difficult to escape poverty and increasing the temptation to break the law again.

Ex-prisoners here face big obstacles to rebuilding their lives, says Andy Silverman, a University of Arizona law school professor who has led a civil-rights-restoration clinic.

"I get calls almost on a daily basis from folks telling me the problems they are having in getting jobs, renting apartments, applying for professional licenses, etc.," Silverman says. That's true even when the convictions are many years old.

The children of offenders fare even worse. Growing up in poverty takes a toll. The deck is stacked against them in every way possible.

Growing up poor dims kids' chances of success as adults. The chaos that comes with unstable housing, spotty school attendance and limited access to nutritious food and medical care increase the chances kids will grow up to be unemployed, unhealthy and in trouble with the law - in short, the responsibility of taxpayers.

Reporter Patty Malechor makes one other critical point in the article. Mercy works.

Texas in 2007 put a halt to its prison construction boom and instead invested $240 million in treatment and diversion programs. The results have been dramatic, says Pew Charitable Trusts: State taxpayers have avoided nearly $2 billion in new prison spending, and parole failure is down 39 percent.

 The real story, though, is the vengeful nature of our society. It is another sign of the hardening of our hearts.

Forgetfulness

The millennial generation is already known for high rates of under-employment and debt. These economic stresses appear to be taking their toll on these young people. Here is another example. A national survey found that 18-34 year olds complain of forgetfulness in daily activities more often than people over age 55.

Millennials 18-34, in fact, are significantly more likely than seniors ages 55 or older to forget what day it is (15% vs. 7%), where they put their keys (14% vs. 8%), forget to bring their lunch (9% vs. 3%) or even to take a bath or shower (6% vs. 2%).

When life becomes stressful and chaotic, our attention to detail suffers. Forgetfulness is a canary in the mental health coal mine.

We asked Patricia Gutentag a leading family and occupational therapist what may be at the root of these relatively high levels of forgetfulness in millennials. “Stress! Stress often leads to forgetfulness, depression and poor judgment.” Indeed studying for finals and preparing for job interviews, not to mention relationship issues are leading stressors in young adults. Gutentag quickly adds, “We find higher rates of ADHD diagnoses in young adults. This is a population that has grown up multitasking using technology, often compounded by lack of sleep, all of which results in high levels of forgetfulness.”

As followers of Christ, we have a responsibility to lift their burdens and increase their opportunities. If we turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to their struggles, more will sink into despair and turn away from faith. We cannot claim ignorance. Most of us have close relatives in this age group and know their struggles first hand. The question is whether we have the courage to challenge economic injustices that are growing more common in our nation.

Peter Buffet questions the Charity Industrial Complex.

Philanthropy has become the “it” vehicle to level the playing field and has generated a growing number of gatherings, workshops and affinity groups.

As more lives and communities are destroyed by the system that creates vast amounts of wealth for the few, the more heroic it sounds to “give back.” It’s what I would call “conscience laundering” — feeling better about accumulating more than any one person could possibly need to live on by sprinkling a little around as an act of charity.

But this just keeps the existing structure of inequality in place. The rich sleep better at night, while others get just enough to keep the pot from boiling over. Nearly every time someone feels better by doing good, on the other side of the world (or street), someone else is further locked into a system that will not allow the true flourishing of his or her nature or the opportunity to live a joyful and fulfilled life.

He has a point. If there are structural barriers in our society that keep people from escaping poverty, charity will not solve anything. The question is how to foster real structural change in our economic system.

I’m really not calling for an end to capitalism; I’m calling for humanism.

Although he does not define humanism, I suspect he means greater value being placed on social capital rather than just profit margins and market value. Capitalism with a heart for the folks at the bottom of the economic ladder. Philanthropy can then become an engine for innovation and opportunities for people to escape poverty.

It all sounds a little pie-in-the-sky for my tastes. If greed is the only virtue in the market, we wind up with capitalism that exploits and grinds the soul out of the people without much capital. That is America in the 21st century. If not greed, what will motivate the private sector to consider the human costs of corporate policies? To insure that wealth is shared down to even the lowest paid employees rather than  hoarded in board rooms? Buffet is right to suggest we need less charity in a social justice-oriented society because less need and suffering are created at the hands of privileged. But where does the moral compass come from in this utopia?

This is where the body of Christ should come in. We should be a powerful voice against greed and materialism. We should demand economic justice for all in our society, particularly for those struggling with poverty. The Jesus we see in the Gospels makes it crystal clear what he expects from his disciples. I would not want to guess how many Christians in America The Lord sees that love wealth as much as God, if not much more.

The trouble, of course, is that we who make up the body in Christ have been the dominant moral compass in America for a long time. The Rapturists are mistaken if they think encountering the one true God will be an experience of glorious bliss. Would you really want to explain to the Lord of lords, King of kings, why our country is riddled with lust for gold while we ignore the suffering of our neighbors and squander the resources of creation? Love God and others, right? Everything follows from these two ideas said Jesus. Perhaps the Rapturists think they love God more than materialism and treat their fellow Rapturists with love and respect. I have my doubts whether the Lord will look on many of us with approval and pride, regardless of the brand of Christianity we have sworn our allegiance.

Let's take stock of our fruit. Survey after survey has shown that younger generations in America are turning away from organized religion in droves. The reason is simple -  they do not see Christ in us. They do not see a chorus of voices against social and economic injustices. They do not see compassion for the suffering of others. Yet they do see high profile religious leaders take to the streets about sexual morality. They do not see Christianity as instrumental to a fair and just society.

Buffet is right to question the sincerity and effectiveness of charity. If charity means throwing the poor just enough crumbs to survive but never escape poverty, then it truly is a failure of our moral imagination. So how do we improve our moral imagination? Buffet never addressed that question.

Why is it so hard to get out of poverty in the Bible Belt?

Barbara Raab points out that your chances of escaping poverty depend on where you live in America. Location matters a great deal.

And now there is new research, published this week, showing that when it comes to the chances that a poor child born in America can climb up from the lowest rungs on the economic ladder, where that child lives may be more telling than previously thought. The researchers started by looking narrowly at questions of tax policy for poor parents, when they discovered something surprising but unmistakable in their data.

“Location matters, place matters,” says Nathaniel Hendren, a Harvard professor and one of the authors of the study. When it comes to a low-income child having a chance to climb up the economic ladder, “it matters where you grow up.”

Your best bet is to live in the West or Northeast. The deck is stacked against you in the industrial Midwest and "sunbelt" Southeastern states.

The odds of children from poor families moving into the middle class are significantly lower in the Southeast and industrial Midwest. Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis, Raleigh, Indianapolis, and Columbus are some of the metropolitan areas where upward mobility seems to be seriously limited.

Not much upward mobility in the proverbial Bible Belt. I would think people that claim to be serious about following Jesus would want to lead the nation in giving the needy a hand up, not come in dead last. So what is going on here?

Here is a potential clue.

You found there are some factors that set upwardly mobile cities apart from others: a large and geographically dispersed middle class so that lower and upper classes live among one another; good schools; a high share of two-parent households; and populations engaged with religious and community organizations.

Since these are areas that profess strong engagement in religious organizations, that only leaves economic segregation, failure to educate the poor, and a high rate of single-parent households as potential differentiating factors. Perhaps there needs to be more discussion of generosity of spirit to go along with all the talk of sexual purity that is so popular in this region.

Speaking of generosity of spirit, it is funny the rich do not have to worry about downward mobility no matter where they live.

The study also suggested that mobility has its upside: for rich people. People born into relative wealth seem to stay wealthy, and they don’t seem to have a big risk of falling down the ladder.

It looks like the rich have perfected the art of Mammon worship. Their prayers for perpetual wealth have been answered. And this is likely to be their only reward according to that Jesus fellow.

I have to wonder what people imagine the Kingdom of God on earth as in heaven will look like. Will it be a gated community with mansions for some, hovels for others, and dungeons for the rest? Or will it be a place where are all are equal and cherished in the eyes of God? And what is our responsibility to bring us closer to a world that mirrors this future Kingdom? Are we to act as the hands of God to lift the burdens of others? Of course.

We are required to treat all as our sisters and brothers, as our mothers and fathers, and as our daughters and sons. That is the walk of Christ. Talking about Christ while turning a blind eye to the suffering of others betrays the Lord. No one will ever have faith in God because of the testimony of a hard-hearted person. That is not the witness that Christ expects of us. "Faith without works is dead."

It is troubling to see how difficult it is to escape poverty in some areas of the country. There are only two viable hypotheses. One is that too few of the financially comfortable are willing to do anything to help lift the poor out of despair. Or worse, perhaps the well-to-do folks are knocking down the ladders of opportunity. I doubt the Lord will applaud neglect or abuse, most especially by those who claim to believe he is their salvation. Christ is neither blind nor stupid.

We live in a society that idolizes greed. The historical Jesus as recorded in the four gospels makes it clear we are not to fall prey to materialism. What you did for those in need, you did for the Lord. On the other hand you lose points for neglecting or harming those in need. Everyone who has read the book of Matthew knows exactly what I am talking about.

Perhaps it would be wise for people of faith to work together to make sure everyone has enough to eat, a place to sleep, a good education, job opportunities, and care when old, sick, or disabled. That would mean putting aside petty disputes over theology and secular political ideology to find common ground among our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Ask yourself if you really hope the Lord returns soon, even tomorrow. Will he be pleased by what he finds? It will suck to be us if we are found bickering about bull crap while people are suffering in our midst. I doubt he will find that the least bit humorous. And that is an understatement.