The Partisan Paradox IX: Trapped By Circumstances

I used to have a long-standing position on social justice and poverty. I didn’t involve myself in it. There were just too many opportunities to turn what was social charity into political activism in the act of trying to right social wrongs. My attitude towards this has changed considerably after (1) Having studied how Jesus treated and acted towards the poor and disenfranchised of society and (2) Working with a local urban church in Pottstown, PA and observed firsthand how bad things can get when no one helps the addicts, the homeless and those down on their luck.

What I found exceptionally appalling was the general attitude of ambivalence by many ‘affluent’ churches within a close proximity to Pottstown doing absolutely nothing to help these poor people out. It really changed my attitude towards those struggling on the streets and those in their ‘ivory tower’ mainline churches. You can’t just tell some of these people to, “Get a job” or “Stop having sex and collecting welfare.” It isn’t that simple. Furthermore, people show their ignorance and complete lack of empathy when making these idiotic statements.

How does this affect politics? Directly and indirectly because of God’s common grace, Christians can work with unbelievers in attempting to promote justice and civic peace – and we can do so not only because it is good for believers and religious liberty, but because it is good for all people (Galatians 6:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:15). Social justice warriors of the liberal persuasion will be more vocal adherents about community/government involvement in helping the poor. It is part of their calling card. In truth, this is part of what liberal politics kind of gets right. They just go about it a bit too aggressively and expect more of politics and government than is warranted. They want government to play a heavier hand in it in a socialist manner. I believe this is dangerous to civil liberties not beneficial to them. It causes much more government oversight. Never a good thing.

Conversely, on the socially conservative side. The approach is more often than not that of a natural law account of social justice that suggests policies that empower more people to engage for themselves in the free market and flourish. This works if people have access to said market or access to the means of empowerment given by the government but many do not. They are trapped within systems and ways of life that are not easily escapable. Just….’getting a job’ isn’t an option for a single black mother with two or more children. Its not like they can afford daycare and leaving them home alone is grounds for a child’s removal from the home. One side tries too hard and the other lives in a idealistic pipe dream. Leaving all the disenfranchised to the church eventually overwhelms local churches that are trying to help (never mind those that don’t give a rip).

Writing on this matter, the authors of The Search for Christian America have stated:

“Some Christians speak as though there is an absolute antithesis between Christian and non-Christian thought, neglecting the degree to which Christians themselves are hampered by sin and error, and the degree to which God’s common grace allows substantial room for communication and cooperation among all people in practical everyday life . . . Because we all live in God’s world, we have, in God’s common grace, some basis for discussing and shaping public policy without explicit appeal to the Bible. In fact, people from all nations of the world have been able to agree on many principles of justice and human interest, as for instance, in agencies and statements of the United Nations. That they violently disagree on other points or on the application of their common principles should not obscure this degree of commonality. So, Christians and non-Christians may be able to agree on the value of charity toward the poor and the starving, on the undesirability of genocide, that literacy should be encouraged, on the virtue of loyalty to friends and parents, and on many other things (pp.135-136).

You see, in totality…not all of the UN is bad, only part of it. Not all politicians are crooks, just some of them. Not all of Pottstown Borough is in error, just some of it. The problem for a Christian aligning to these organizations and leaders is the need to discern which ones are in error when they act as a whole by majority. The risk doesn't warrant a reward many times. Part of the problem of the homelessness in Pottstown is the Borough's methodology itself. It is a old network that has vested interests in the borough and making themselves look good as do all public or government organizations. This is why Christian organizations and Christian leaders are justified and steering clear of them whenever possible. As many municipalities do, they try to sweep the social blight of the borough under the carpet and hide the homeless and addict problem. In the past the Pottstown borough has even gone as far as to drive the homeless out of the borough claiming they were trying to get them help by pushing them to organizations that would help them. 

The irony? There were none. No state-funded institutions in place in the borough to help. It was up to a handful of ministries within the borough to do damage control after the borough raided and burned all the belongings of the homeless in that area. They use inmates from a local prison to do the ‘clean-up’ and meanwhile intimidated the homeless into fleeing. I posted that story on this blog eight years ago in my post: The Poor, The Downtrodden & The Disenfranchised. Most of the borough members were likely not Christian and very poorly informed. If they were Christian they were in name only or sorely misguided. Sadly, many in local churches were probably not Christian either judging by their complete lack of action in instances like this. Only a handful like Pottstown Bible Church stepped forward to anything to help.

Civic involvement in borough meetings and just plain grace towards others in the area could’ve staved off a lot of suffering. The churches intimate knowledge of the homeless and drug issues could've given much need insight into the issue. Instead the borough went into homeless areas unilaterally and blatantly destroyed lives that were already in poor shape. I seriously doubt this is an isolated case. There are may instances like this geographically and politically throughout this nation. (and globally).

Many were not afforded an opportunity to be ‘empowered’ or have access to social systems of aid…and people suffered. Had Christians been actively involved to help and be a social conscience. People might not have needed to suffer. Some that died might not needed to have met an untimely demise. Yes, some died. I knew some of them. Some Christians in select areas of the community could’ve had a more positive influence in helping people think more clearly about the homelessness and drug issues in the Pottstown Borough. 

Instead, the old networks of entrenched stagnate philosophies still prevail and sadly people still suffered. Ignorance prevailed. The Devil won. Homeless stay homeless and addicts stay addicted even though many I know in ministry in the area worked daily to try and keep this from happening.

We have an effect in the community as Christians. This becomes especially important when the political hierarchy is debased, unwise to the issues or worst of all...they’re corrupt. I don’t really know for sure what the issue with the local borough is but it borders on ineptitude that could be overcome by righteous Christian influence and wise Christian counsel. Something they clearly are not getting and if they are, they are wholly ignoring it. These tragedies are avoidable by tactful utilization of the Gospel in the community through wise counsel.

A more in-depth look at my thoughts on social justice and poverty can be found here:

The Heart of God for the Poor