This is also true of many who are trafficked into sex work. The drugs are used as a control mechanism by pimps.
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When you have to put scare quotes around facts you are headed in the wrong direction.
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T Davis Bunn, “Promises to Keep,” is a Christian writer who details that. Many kids on the street are from abusive homes. Since states have cut back on mental health care and relaxed laws keeping people with schizophrenia and psychoses safe, there have been more on the streets who deal with horrible mental disease.
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Thank you for your profound insight. No need to interact with ideas when you can make deep statements such as:
So many rules on the BL forum, one can hardly have a productive discussion. It is like traveling through a neighborhood–one way, no right turn, left turn only, street closed ahead, authorized vehicles only, silver cars only on Tuesdays. Street names change.
So only with great difficulty can you get to where you are travelling. In a similar manner on the BL forum, often only with great difficulty can you have a productive discussion.
How can the truth be “obscene?” Many are not homeless by choice, but many others chose to live on the streets even when given an option. Matthew, a sometimes attender at our church for over a year, choses to live in his car even with other options available, among others I have known. Police officers we know that have more frequent interactions than I do bear the same witness.
If you still doubt this is true, maybe you live too sheltered a life, and need to get out a bit.
Here’s a similar situation. There are multitudes of people who hear the good news that Jesus loves them, yet reject his offer of salvation, and an eternal home with him in heaven. Millions choose to remain in rebellion and separated from a loving God. Hard to understand yet true.
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What you are referring to are not the rules of BioLogos Forum. These are the community guidelines of the BioLogos Forum.
https://discourse.biologos.org/faq
You’ll find that they are very conducive to productive conversation. However, that does not mean that posters are shielded from scrutiny, fact checking, and peer-review.
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I was thinking the only rule we had was “Be nice” and that one is still tough to keep!
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Sometimes people do not stay in shelters because they have had bad experiences or are mentally ill.
Often not so hard to understand. People can rightfully be repulsed by the church when it is heavy-handed, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, anti-science, etc.
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Haha… true. Have changed rules to ‘guidelines’.
It’s not a rule of the BL forum. It is a rule of rational thought. If you have to ignore facts in order to keep an ideology safe then the ideology is probably not worth holding onto.
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Thanks. The community guidelines are great. I think I said so in my first post.
Those are not what I am referring to. Please look through this thread with a critical eye. There is some gold in there, but there are a lot of roadblocks as well: non sequiturs, trash talking, inconsistency in asserting what counts as a source of knowledge, etc. that hinder us in discussing the question, “What does CRT have to do with Christianity?”
Wouldn’t it be helpful, as a forum, to be a bit self aware and self critical if it would help us to have more productive conversations?
What does Christianity have to say about CRT? What have we learned in this discussion? Perhaps there is much we can all agree on?
Which of the following five statements would you agree with?
- “America has a history of slavery, racism and injustice Residual racism is still a pernicious force in American society. This is undoubtedly true. We should examine the relationship between racism and power in society.” And we should teach that part of history to our children as well.
- If there are concerns raised by parents that our children are being abused emotionally, psychologically and intellectually, we should take those concerns seriously and address them.
- Understanding is more important than agreement. “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
- CRT is not monolithic, and there are lots of variations.
Supporting the last point, here is a helpful quote: “Cartagena defines critical race theory as “a legal movement aimed at understanding, resisting, and remediating how U.S. law and legal institutions such as law schools have fostered and perpetuated racism and white supremacy,” but he also emphasizes that CRT now operates in “disciplines and domains that are beyond law or legal studies” and, as a whole, resists one-sentence definitions.
Here’s what Kendi says. I would have no problem with what he writes if we weren’t all sinners. If we weren’t we wouldn’t need an anti racist amendment. And because we are all sinners, and to give any person or group of persons this kind of authority is frightening.
No political appointees, so no accountability to elected representatives. Permanently funded, so again no accountability–as if the anti-racist gods can find people who are unbiased, apolitical, and incorruptible to run this Department of Anti-racism. What could possibly go wrong with giving this much power to a group of people?
IBRAM X. KENDI
Ibram X. Kendi is a professor of history, director of the Antiracist Research & Policy Center at American University, and author of How to Be an Antiracist .
“To fix the original sin of racism, Americans should pass an anti-racist amendment to the U.S. Constitution that enshrines two guiding anti-racist principals: Racial inequity is evidence of racist policy and the different racial groups are equals. The amendment would make unconstitutional racial inequity over a certain threshold, as well as racist ideas by public officials (with “racist ideas” and “public official” clearly defined). It would establish and permanently fund the Department of Anti-racism (DOA) comprised of formally trained experts on racism and no political appointees. The DOA would be responsible for preclearing all local, state and federal public policies to ensure they won’t yield racial inequity, monitor those policies, investigate private racist policies when racial inequity surfaces, and monitor public officials for expressions of racist ideas. The DOA would be empowered with disciplinary tools to wield over and against policymakers and public officials who do not voluntarily change their racist policy and ideas.”
In London, I picked up a book on Islam for young children. It said that Muhammed had to fight against the infidels because they would not do what was right. Doing what is right is pretty subjective, isn’t it?
I said his idea was brutal overreach.
Your claim of unaccountability is incorrect. It is accountable through your elected judges, LE, and legislative branches.
How would you address systemic issues of discrimination and unfairness within US (and every) society?
Would you compensate people for redlining, and other such practices? Would the market grant justice?
Addiction and mental health issues are medical problems. Medical services are not free, so public funding is needed. Also addicts and people with mental health issues do not ordinarily flock to treatment, social workers are needed to help them along the way. Finally, those who are helped with addiction and mental health issues need affordable housing.
Racism is sin. Sin has consequences for the sinners and the sinned against. They are spiritual, mental, and physical consequences. Faith in Jesus Christ can deal with some of these consequences. Church programs can help with others, and public programs can too. Love treats the whole person, not just the spirit.
Terrorism in Nigeria is based on Islamic extremism. I really do not know anyone who is anxious to preach to them. Perhaps the government is using these programs to limit their growth rather than to make them go away. What is your better idea?
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Christopher Rufo admitted to intentionally poisoning the well regarding CRT and gloated about it in social media.
Candace Owens has made absurd comments that show a complete lack of judgement. For example, she recently suggested that the US should use military intervention to free the Australian citizenry from tyrannical COVID precautions.
Neither of these people can be considered seriously on the topic of CRT.
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Why are you so obsessed with Kendi?
You should check out what’s Happening in Ontario, Canada.
When your big discussion of the pernicious dangers of anti-racism legislation is a panel of all white people, I’m immediately suspicious.
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It does not matter who is on the panel. It’s the content that’s important. Their concern is about the neo-Marxist bill going through the Ontario Parliament. It’s alarming! One of their points is that anti-racism is actually racism. They prefer non-racism. Listen to the video and critique it.
I’ve been unable to engage in this dialogue because my laptop kept breaking down and had to be returned to the vendor three times, immediately after I got it back, for repair. Eventually They gave me a new one. I did not realise that this this forum is only for Americans. So I’ll unsubscribe.