But the Bible hasn’t been around since the dawn of time.
God’s law and who God is are inseparable. God and his law are eternal.
Wow. If it comes from the Discovery Institute, you don’t need to engage with the content; you can just dismiss it.
I watched the video on homelessness so that I could identify where Christopher Rufo was obviously off track. He was clearly on track, although I expect to be roundly dissed for that assessment.
So since I am already branded as being on the wrong side, let me give you something else to grouse about. I will state it more bluntly than Rufo. The publicly funded compassion industry is failing. But there are no consequences for failure. Lack of funding is to blame. So if you fail, your job is secure, and you get more money to spend. If you were to succeed, you’d have to find other work. It is rather like a building contractor who never completes a project but continues to get funding. So he doesn’t need to go out and bid for another job and building the next building. Sweet.
While in Nigeria, I asked why, when there were so many working on anti-terrorism, there seemed to be no impact. The answer I received was that if the problem was solved, jobs would go away. Yep. Just because it is cynical doesn’t mean its not true.
For a couple of years, we had a large homeless camp directly across the street from our church. The problem was definitely not the lack of housing. There was violent crime, and parents had to clear their yards of sharps each day before allowing their small children to play outside. Everybody generates garbage, but not in the way that it accumulated in the homeless camps. They bring it in–a sign of hoarding, another mental illness!
How did our church respond? During the winter months, we had propane “campfires” and hot drinks and soup where people could gather around, converse and warm up. I would join them, and surprisingly, I enjoyed the conversations–often more interesting and substantive than those after church services.
A homeless ministry–privately funded compassion–is housed in our church building and staffed by formerly homeless people. This ministry provides all kind of services including long term rehabilitation and discipleship in three rehab centers–and the gospel. Faith based treatment has far better long term outcomes as compared to government based programs. So which is more compassionate? What kinds of programs deserve the funding?
And then the 3 PM Sunday Service, the parking lot is full, and the auditorium fills with people, most of which have been homeless, but have found release from the bonds of addiction and sin through faith in Jesus Christ. And in turn, they are committed to ministering to those still bound in sin.
The problem, as Rufo identified, is addiction and mental health, not housing. The solution is faith in Jesus Christ, not more public funding.
But the Bible still hasn’t been around since the dawn of time. Neither has the Law of Moses, etc.
But if the Law of Moses is really eternal, do you actually keep all 613 rules?
I’m not from the US, so I have no tanks in the Culture War. However, I am VERY suspicious of anyone (right, left, center) who claims to have found THE problem with any complex social issue.
I don’t doubt that mental illness and addiction plays a factor in homelessness. Though in the case of the latter, one must consider whether addiction is the cause or a symptom of homelessness, from my experience it changes from person to person.
Other issues are a factor as well. For example, one must have an address to open a bank account, a job to afford to rent a home, and a bank account to get paid. That is a structural issues that has nothing to do with mental state, addiction, or housing.
Additionally, many young people end up homeless because they are fleeing abusive homes. That’s a social issue that has nothing to do with housing, addiction, or mental state.
Saying you have discovered THE problem makes for powerful rhetoric because humans like arguments that are neat and tidy. But from my perspective social issues, much like anything you dig into enough, are complex, messy, and rarely simple.
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I appreciate your work with the homeless and your service in Nigeria. As you likely know, I grew up in West Africa. A big draw to terrorism, as you likely know, is actually joblessness for the average person. The “samari” (young people) will sit in the village, wishing they had work to build a family and support their parents. Al Qaeda will come and say, “Work for God with us. We’ll pay you and help support your family.” They are desperate, so they go. They learn more of what they really ask soon, but money comes to their parents. There is a vicious cycle.
I’m not disputing the need for spiritual healing. That is fundamental to everyone. We all need it. I’m just discussing the temptations that go on. Thanks for your your hard work and care. It is inspiring.
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You are correct. Good reminder. So here is a restatement:
A major (not THE) symptom is addiction and mental health. And these cause a cascade of other problems. A person is unlikely to get and keep a job if they are addicted and/or dysfunctional. So yes, getting a job is an issue that has much (again, not “nothing”–a “neat and tidy argument”) to do with addiction and mental health, regardless of whether it is a cause or effect of homelessness. In both cases, it is a choice. Generally no one is forced to take drugs or become or stay addicted.
And how does one help a person that doesn’t want help, or doesn’t want to change? Unless we take away their freedom to choose–maybe lock them up–we cannot force them into treatment or housing. In any case the treatment is unlikely to be successful.
Sometimes the best way for a person to acknowledge their need is to give them the dignity to make their own choices and then allow them to experience the consequences of their decisions.
Housing is a part of the solution for some people. But many homeless are “houseless” by choice.
Another major point Rufo makes: The strategy of our city governments on the West Coast aren’t working. (I live in the Portland area.) He is right about that too.
I say “symptom” because sending someone to treatment for addiction without treating the root causes is like putting a salve on a skin cancer. The cancer doesn’t go away; it may feel better temporarily, but just keeps getting worse. Faith based treatments almost always result in far better outcomes as measured by still in housing, still employed, and still free from addictions in five and ten years.
Oh yes, many are homeless by choice. I guess it’s acceptable to say that here.
Pretty much. I consider the whole enterprise to be mostly alt-right politically motivated partisanship and propaganda.
I didn’t watch the homelessness video. I only linked it to show that Rufo was associated with Discovery Institute. I was not intending to say he is “off” on homelessness. On CRT he is an alt-right political shill with a clear culture war agenda.
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Lol I as houseless by choice for almost a year. Me and sverbal others all hiked, camped , hitchhiked and snuck onto trains from florida into Mexico, and then up California into Washington. If it ever happens again though it’s definitely not by choice and everything fell apart. Use to make the bulk of my money by along tourist traps by getting reservations at like 10 of the busiest restaurants near each other and then show upon like 30 minutes before it was time and they place would have a two hour wait and I would tell some angry family that hey for $25 you can be eating in half an hour! I still tell that trick to the younger “beach bums” who are mostly 20-24 year olds who want to backpack America for a a few months.
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Are you talking about this country? I would like to see your statistics. We have separation of church and state here. Seems there was a story about a young man being “treated” for “sex addiction” at an Evangelical facility. He went out and murdered several Asian women whom he was fetishizing.
Are you actually saying that people “choose” to become or stay addicted? Why do we have a problem with Big Tobacco? Please understand that nobody sets out to become addicted. Often people become addicted to medications prescribed for them.
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This has dozens of links to other studies. You have your work laid out for you:
That’s why Christians, primarily, use private compassion rather than than coercive tax funded compassion.
Hmm. Wow, for someone asking for statistics . . . Are these your “statistics” . . . “Seems there was a story . . .”
Can you supply your studies to show this? People may not intend to become addicted, but yes, they choose addictive behavior. “Nobody sets out . . . " Please supply your statistics that show that as well. Really, “nobody?” (What’s good for the gander is good for the goose.”)
Because people choose to smoke.
Or do we live in a world where every problem every person encounters is because they are a victim–somebody else is responsible? And where does that end? The victimizers are the way they are because they are victims of their environment?
It is when we “come to the end of our rope,” recognize our need for God and repent that the cycle of sin can be broken. Jesus came to set the captives free. What authority do I reference for this?
Luke 4:18, 19
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
This is not just physical oppression–read the context from Luke 4–both what Jesus experienced prior and what he did after.
I have nothing against faith-based ministry for addicts. I volunteered for one at one time. My uncle was helped by AA. But you can’t claim that faith-based works better, because in order to do that, you would have to randomly assign one group to get faith-based help and another group to get non-religious help and then compare outcomes. And that is not ethically doable. Perhaps you understand why.
This was a news story. It really happened.
The expression is “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” Feel free to support with evidence your idea that people choose to stay addicted.
It’s obvious that you don’t understand the nature of addiction, or that companies can and do play a part in making people become addicted. In experiments even animals can become addicted, and not because of spiritual problems.
Here are some quotes from the article (and maybe I missed it, but I can’t find the name of an author):
“Critical Race Theory (CRT), attributed to and pioneered by former Harvard Law professor Derrick Bell and legal scholars Kimberlé Crenshaw and Richard Delgado, among others, has lived for almost 50 years within the hallowed halls of advanced academic institution
No matter that CRT had never been taught in Virginia’s K-12 schools.
CRT is an advanced, legal, academic theory that is not taught in K-12.” There is that all inclusive word, “never.”
That’s rather strange that it has been 50 years in the hallowed halls . . . and has stayed there. The nearly universal trend is that what starts in academia ultimately migrates to our schools.
I spent this past week with my grandkids, and we were at a bookstore for some time. I picked up Ibrahim X Kendi’s book for grade school children–Stamped for Kids.
Here are quotes from the reviews on Amazon:
From the first three five star reviews on Amazon:
• This is a MUST READ book that should be on every classroom shelf.
• it really helped me as a parent and educator! A MUST-READ!!
• Powerful book. It needs to be part of the elementary education of ALL students.
From one star reviews:
• I purchased this book, because school districts are using it as part of their curriculum.
• The reviews celebrating this as a great read to teach middle school children about history make me so sad.
• Other parents complained about this being a part of the curriculum
In the reviews, parents both celebrated it being a part of their school’s curriculum, and decried it.
And from the School Library Review:
“ideal for upper elementary and middle school libraries.” (A bit strange as the reading level is listed as grades 1 to 5.)
So much for it not being in grade schools. The author of this article is wrong, and should and probably knows better.
The narrative is that in Virginia, there is “nothing to see, nothing behind the curtain.” Parents are tilting at windmills. They just made up this teaching of CRT in their schools out of whole cloth. So why the “curtain” in the first place? And why not open it? Maybe, just maybe, they actually had evidence that this was happening. Apparently this unnamed author is wrong about it not being in schools.
Of course, Virginia x-governor Northam opened the door when he said that education of children should be left to the professionals, and that parents shouldn’t butt in or have a say. Leave education up to the experts. Parents don’t know much about that–schools are serving the government, not families. And some (many?) teachers don’t want pesky parents poking around in what is none of their business.
Here’s a problem–the lack of transparency. Why not actually make public what is in the curriculum? Of course, general outlines are sometimes available, but they don’t go into any detail about what is actually taught. I can’t find lists of textbooks. If there is nothing to hide, why not have “teacher-cams” in the classrooms? When there is lack of transparency, there is understandable suspicion. Don’t blame that on the parents paranoia.
Schools are now more than education; there is also advocacy on the part of many teachers, curriculum or not. Advocacy about climate change, transgenderism, and CRT. Please don’t deny this. We have talked with teachers troubled about it, students, been in schools. It is there.
Here is an accurate summary of what CRT actually is and why it has become controversial (Okay, I’m plagiarizing that one.)
Here’s a video link:
By the sometimes reviled Christopher Rufo. But let’s not attack Rufo. Let’s consider what he has to say.
Not true. Most of what is taught in grad school is never taught in elementary school. The issue is that people have conflated basic facts about reality that CRT presupposes (racism is systemic, racism is perpetuated through institutions) with CRT itself, allowing them to find “examples of CRT” everywhere. Kendi can write a children’s book about racism for schools and the fact that he wrote it and that it’s about racism doesn’t make the book “CRT.” All this shows is the effectiveness of a politically motivated media campaign to redefine the label CRT to include basic education about race in America.
I don’t know what you imagine teaching is, but the curriculum is a basic outline. Teachers don’t read scripts, they teach. Lesson plans are outlines. There is no way to publicize every word that gets said in a classroom unless you record and monitor teachers.
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No. He has a history of lying and manipulation and I have no interest in what he has to say.
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Hillsdale College is the source of insane political hackery on the CRT front.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, speaking Thursday night, took potshots at teachers’ unions and boasted about his record on “school choice” before getting into the red meat. “We will not spend taxpayer money to teach our kids to hate our country or hate each other,” he said, noting that Florida has banned CRT and replaced it with “the most robust civics education in the country” — a “patriotic” curriculum the state developed in partnership with Hillsdale College, a private Michigan Christian college that played a significant role in Trump’s 1776 Commission. DeSantis added that he’s instituting both new civics tests for students based on that curriculum and a $3,000 bonus for teachers who opt into attending a “bootcamp” on the new conservative standards.
This is all a fake controversy designed to get rabid conservatives elected by playing into the fears of their base and engaging in transparent race-baiting. It’s sad.
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I watched that video.
He overtly lied from 3:50 - 4:00 by defining all aspects of equity and social justice as CRT
Then proceeds to lie about equality being an actual thing in American society and upheld (from independence onwards)
He then provides to oversimplify CRT as a totally unified approach to things such as non-discrimination, private property, and meritocracy, and school integration.
Then trots out specifically chosen boogeymen a la 5:30
lol @ corporate HR not protecting sexually abusive and racist C-suite individuals
then state institutions are neutral (8:26) that’s a good one
Apparently minorities are not American people
Then a false equivalency at 9:10 where political views are apparently equal in treatment to racist views
my university is a mono-culture?
Then proceeds to not address the theoretical aspects and real issues
Okay, apparently I was told that institutional/society does not need radical change on nearly every aspect to address injustice is in fact false/manipulative (11:15 onwards)
Then proposes that only the neo-Marxists are playing identity politics (11:40)
Follows up with the most selective cherry picking of one part of the whole critical theory movement and how is has been applied (12:30-37).
Red state governors need to protect their citizens from the evil CRT (13:55) and not address any issues apparently. Apparently racially-based gerrymandering is not important enough for him and his movement and Red state identity-politics and their own counter-reformational version CRT is perfectly fine.
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Dan,
Give us a break. Overtly lied? Really.
Boogeymen? Really. Isn’t that what Kendi proposes? And is he not one of the stronger voices in the movement? So we should at least know what he is proposing, and it seems that you also think it is a terrible idea, although unlikely
Oversimplified? Give us a break. This is a short video, not a 3 unit university class.
I don’t know your university, but in many or most universities, the balance of liberal to conservative has shifted dramatically from approximately equal over the last 50 years to very few conservatives, and they are often marginalized.
That is a gross mis-characterization. He neither said nor implied such.
Yes, that IS what he said. So you disagree. You are free to do so. But that is a disagreement, not a moral failure.
He is a conservative and believes that we should conserve what is good, and work to change what is needs to change. This is what classical liberals also believed, although they may have proposed somewhat different paths. But the new liberal or leftists believe that the current systems are corrupt and can’t be changed, so need to be dismantled to start over again, at least in some or many cases.
That is certainly not what he said. He said there were terrible injustices in the past, and that there were still some that need to be addressed.
He didn’t address gerrymandering and many other issues in this short video. Gerrymandering is bad, and is bipartisan in practice.
Well, all for now. Thanks for giving the time stamps so we can easily reference what you are referring to,