| Jan. 11th, 2007 @ 09:48 pm Yay! A rant! |
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I just got back from this thing called The Urban Policy Plunge at my school. It was a two day thing where we stayed that the Downtown Chapel on Burnside and learned about / did volunteer work for the problem of poverty and homelessness in Portland. It was really an amazing experience- we worked at the Oregon Food Bank, visited a few health clinics, listened to speakers, and visited and worked at a bunch of soup kitchen type places. Other than going to Powells, I've never really walked around on Burnside, and it was weird to see this new, gritty, sad, and real side of my city.
I'm struggling with some of the things that I saw, though. Most of the homeless shelters and soup kitchens were religiously affiliated- Brother Andre's Cafe, The Union Gospel Mission, etc. Obviously these organizations are helping the homeless an incredible amount, but the extreme fundamentalist religious messages that they seem to be giving them are disturbing. My group and I started talking to a man outside of The Union Gospel Mission who told us that the Devil sends out evil spirits- of lust, gluttany, etc. He said that any person who acts on one of these sins is controlled by the Devil and is 100% corrupt, evil, and tortured by their guilt. Someone asked him, "can't a fat person (who is guilty of gluttany) be happy?" He went on this empassioned tyrade (sp?) about how they are sinners and will never have a single bit of contentment until they find Jesus. He also said that sex, even in a marriage, is sinful. Okay. This man is homeless. I can not comprehend how filling him with this intolerance towards people's imperfections can be justified. It is very likely that this man has faced a lot of intolerance and judgements from society because of his lifestyle. Shouldn't a shelter trying to help him get his life on track be filling him with messages of tolerance and equality?
Another man was completely drunk and told me that he'd found Jesus, dropping to his knees and praying. He periodically swore, and every time he did he'd drop down again and beg for God's forgiveness. Obviously his love for God was giving him a want to be good, but it seems to me that organizations are telling them that that is the ONLY way to be good- the ONLY way to find respect or love or success.
I personally don't believe in mission trips to undeveloped countries. The good that they do in terms of giving people housing, food, clothing, etc. is amazing and much needed. But I don't like the idea of expressing your beliefs on someone who is ignorant of other religious ideas- who has never been introduced to them. Much of the homeless population, at least those that I saw last night, seemed unaware of the good that people can do in their life on their own. Like I said, I'm stuggling with this, because these organizations are helping people sooo much. But what they're preaching to them is seriously intolerant and I think that it is ultimately hurting them. I have a lot of spiritual beliefs, but I think it's neccessary for people to come to them on their own, and to understand themselves first.
I've been struggling with religion for years. I think that an opinion on the deepest, most fundamental questions about our existence needs to come from a lot of experiementation and thought. The homeless need help desperately, from caring and dedicated people, but that help shouldn't have to come with a sermon attached. |
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