An Open Letter to the Mayor and City Council of Pasadena: Let's end, not criminalize, homelessness!

This is a letter that I sent out today to the Pasadena City Council. If you live, work or worship in Pasadena and would like to see our City focus on ending, not criminalizing or managing, homelessness, please come to the Pasadena City Council on Monday, Oct 17, at 6:30 pm. You can also let the Mayor and City Council members know how you feel by writing them via the Clerk Clerk at mjomsky@cityofpasadena.net.

You can find talking points at http://laquaker.blogspot.com/2016/10/why-we-need-more-affordable-housing-not.html

Dear Mayor and Council members,

Like you, I am concerned about homeless people sleeping on our streets and would like to see every homeless person in our city housed. That's the solution to our homelessness problem, not tougher laws.

Lt. Morris, a police officer in San Diego, says what most police officers would agree with: "You can't arrest your way out of this problem." .http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/nonprofits/authorities-cant-force-the-homeless-off-the-street-heres-what-they-can-do/

It sometimes helps to arrest chronically inebriated homeless people and give them a choice between jail and treatment, but only if it's part of a community-based approach involving all the stakeholders, as was done in San Diego. Simply arresting and fining homeless people, sending them to jail, and giving them a criminal record only makes it harder for them to get housed.

Laws that criminalize the homeless can also jeopardize HUD funding for our city.

Pasadena already has lots of laws on the books that protect citizens and businesses from obnoxious or threatening behavior. (See below)

What we need is more permanent, supportive housing. We have the land to build affordable housing like "Marv's place" in every district. Council members need to have the political will and courage to do what's right and needed.

We also need to engage the religious and non-profit community, as was done in Santa Barbara with their program to let homeless people use parking lots. For health and safety reasons, homeless people need access to facilities like showers and bathrooms and lockers. See . http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-homeless-safe-parking-20160504-story.html

We have lots of space in this city where homeless people could sleep without being considered a nuisance..

Our city has been successful in reducing the number of homeless from around 2000 to around 500. Let's make it our goal to end chronic homelessness in our city. Si, se puede, if we spend our money wisely and use smart strategies, as Utah and other places have done with programs like Housing First. 

.        Pasadena police do not need “new tools,” i.e. more stringent laws, to protect the public from aggressive panhandlers and camping.  Current laws already provide ample protection to businesses and property owners:

·         If anyone leaves something (e.g. a tent or sleeping bag) on someone else’s private property, the owner can toss it in the trash or sell it as abandoned property.  If someone leaves their property on a publicly owned site, it must be handled according to certain guidelines. According to Officer Domino Scott-Jackson, police have a right to evict people from a public place using a 72 hour notice and at hour 73, their belongings can then be removed. Items must be kept in storage for 30 days. If they aren’t claimed, they can be disposed of.

·         Property owners have a right to put up a No Trespassing sign on their property. If someone goes on their property without permission to do so, they can call the police and the police on request of the owner can arrest the person for trespassing under Penal Code (PC) 602(o)(2).

·         The Trespass Enforcement Authorization letter makes it clear for the police that the person who is on another person’s property is not welcome. A business owner can file a “Trespass Enforcement Authorization Letter” with the police department that allows officers to make arrests of those individuals who are on the property afterhours. If that letter were not on file, the officers could not request the individuals to leave or make any arrests. They would have to contact the owners every single time they find people at the property to investigate whether or not the person has permission from the owner to be there.

·         A person can be arrested for illegal camping or lodging under Pasadena Municipal code(PMC) 3.24.110(8) and/or Penal Code(PC) 647(e)

·         A person in possession of a shopping cart (with an identified business) could face a violation of PMC9.62.070 and PC485.  

·         Businesses and churches that are open to the public have the right to ask folks to leave under PC602(o)(2). When the owner asks someone to leave and they refuse, they can be arrested.

·         Currently, It’s not illegal to pan-handle in Pasadena, as long as you are not blocking the driveway, impeding traffic or standing in the street (See Vehicle Code 22520.5(a) – infraction). But threatening behavior by a panhandler can be considered “accosting,” a crime according to California Penal Code Section 647.

·         If someone feels harassed by a pan handler, a citizen’s arrest can be made, showing that the pandhandler intends to do something illegal, under code PC647(c), which addresses  aggressive panhandling.

Why we need more affordable housing, not more laws criminalizing the homeless residents of our city

As our city becomes more gentrified and upscale, the Pasadena City Council has felt pressure to pass more stringent anti-camping and anti-panhandling ordinances to drive homeless folk out of sight and out of the city. Jill and I are involved in efforts to make sure that funds go to affordable housing, not to laws that will only worsen the problem. We have put together this Fact Sheet to help educate the public and our elected officials so they can make wise policy decisions. Following the Housing First model, our city has reduced the homeless population from nearly 2000 to around 500. By utilizing city land, we could access HUD funding to build permanent, affordable housing for those who are homeless. This is the kind of solution that will make a real difference. 

ANTI-CAMPING FACT SHEET

1.            There has been a significant rise in laws criminalizing of the homeless people in California, but these laws have only worsened, not solved, the problem. UC BerkeleyLaw’s Policy Advocacy Clinic conducted an extensive study of this problem in 2015 and concluded that “criminalization harms homeless people and perpetuates poverty by restricting access to the social safety net, affordable housing, and employment opportunities.” http://www.homelesslivesmatterberkeley.org/pdf/CA_New_Vagrancy_Laws.pdf

2.            Criminalization measures do nothing to address the underlying causes of homelessness  The National Center on Homelessness and Poverty provides not only reasons why criminalization doesn’t work but also offers policy solutions that have proven effective. .https://www.nlchp.org/criminalization

3.            Pasadena could lose HUD funding if it is found to have criminalized homeless people. In determining what projects are funded, HUD now examines whether applicant communities are preventing the criminalization of those experiencing homelessness by having ordinances that “ban camping in public spaces, ban loitering or begging, even limit to the time someone can spend sitting or lying down on a city sidewalk or park bench.”     http://nationalhomeless.org/hud-puts-teeth-into-effort-to-stop-criminalizing-homeless-people/

4.            The enforcement of anti-homeless laws is expensive, directing limited resources away from efforts that would effectively and humanely reduce homelesssness. . It is expensive to make arrests, go to court, to be checked out at Huntington Hospital, or more—and in the end be brought back to the streets. This cost to tax payers would be better spent on permanent supportive housing for the homeless. Research shows that it costs taxpayers approximately $40,000 a year for homeless people to stay on the street, and the cost to house a homeless person about $20,000 a year. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/mar/12/shaun-donovan/hud-secretary-says-homeless-person-costs-taxpayers/

5.            There is a direct correlation between the cuts in funding for affordable housing and the rise of homelessness and anti-camping measures. Homelessness is primarily caused by a severe shortage of affordable housing, exacerbated by a 85% reduction in federal funding for affordable housing. Despite these cuts, two states and nineteen cities have now ended homelessness for veterans. http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/comm_planning/veteran_information/mayors_challenge/ 

6.            In California today, so-called “quality-of-life” laws aim to keep homeless people out of public spaces, but do nothing to reduce homelessness or help homeless people.  “Quality-of-life” laws is a misnomer, because these laws have a devastating effect on the quality of life of homeless people, especially those who are young people. http://files.ctctcdn.com/32a36ff6001/acdee492-e1fd-4c9c-a3a5-98b796230bbc.pdf

7.            The enactment of anti-homeless laws raises significant legal questions about the constitutional rights of homeless people. In 2006 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held a Los Angeles municipal law that prohibited sitting, lying, or sleeping in public places violated homeless people’s Eighth Amendment right to be free from “cruel and unusual punishment” since homeless people need to sleep and rest and the city did not provide them with the means to do so. This ruling called into question CA  State Municipal Code 647 (e) which states that “lodging in any building, structure, vehicle or place, whether public of private, without the permission of the owner or person entitled to the possession or control of it.” Municipalities that have tried to implement this law could face law suits if they do so.

8.            Anti-camping laws violate biblical principles that protect the rights of the poor and homeless. “A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge” (Proverbs 29:7).  “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you” (Leviticus 25:35-36 )  See https://www.openbible.info/topics/helping_the_homeless

9.            Anti-camping laws also violate rights found in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, of which the US was a signatory in 1948. This Declaration is not legally binding but sets a moral standard by which nations are judged and to which they are supposed to aspire. Article 25 states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.” In 1949, Congress enacted the US Housing Act, which called for “a decent and suitable living environment for every American family.”  Our nation’s and our city’s aspirational goal is to provide affordable housing for everyone, not criminalize those who can’t afford housing. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_housing

10.        Education is needed to dispel harmful stereotypes and spread the truth about homeless people and panhandlers:

·   Panhandlers do not beg on the street to make vast amounts of money. A police offer in the Hope Team publicly stated that panhandlers make $200 an hour in Pasadena, a figure that was repeated several times during her presentation. This would make Pasadena the most generous city in California. In San Francisco, a study showed that panhandlers average $25 per day. The public needs to be informed that many people panhandle because they cannot find work or affordable housing, or live on the limited money they receive from SSI or from GR. Even though Pasadena is a relatively generous city, it does not provide enough food and housing for every homeless person. Most homeless people would prefer to work than panhandle. Albuquerque’s Republican mayor offered  homeless residents a chance to clean streets, and this program proved very successful. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2016/08/11/this-republican-mayor-has-an-incredibly-simple-idea-to-help-the-homeless-and-it-seems-to-be-working  and https://thinkprogress.org/everything-you-think-you-know-about-panhandlers-is-wrong-36b41487730d#.t8sjkvbia

·   The reason that some panhandlers beg is in order to pay their rent or keep their cars. Police from the Hope Team also stated publicly that some panhandlers have homes (and even Mercedes!), thereby implying they didn’t need to beg for money. It is true that some panhandlers live in cars, motels or shared apartments, and panhandle to make rent payments, or to cover car expenses. If they didn’t panhandle, many would end up destitute on the street. It should also be noted that 45% of homeless people work part-time and 10% of students in California’s higher education system are homeless at some point.  http://www.lifeofthelaw.org/2014/06/the-right-to-beg/  and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/09/AR2010070902357.html

·   Most homeless people would prefer to be housed in decent, affordable housing. A police officer from the Hope Team stated that 80% of homeless people are “service resistant” and implied that they prefer living on the street. It is true that many homeless people do not want to go to shelters, or be forced into treatment. Some would prefer jail to a treatment center. Many suffer from mental illness or drug issues that make them wary of authorities. But the state of Utah was able to house 90% of its chronically homeless folk using the Housing First model. This model offers chronically homeless people a permanent, affordable home with wrap-around services offered when and if they are desired. This example shows that with the right approach, the vast majority of homeless people are willing and able to be housed and many will seek treatment voluntarily when they are ready, though not when they are forced.  http://www.npr.org/2015/12/10/459100751/utah-reduced-chronic-homelessness-by-91-percent-heres-how

·   Former inmates often end up homeless, but that has not necessarily lead to an increase in crime. Thanks to Prop 57, and requirements by the Supreme Court to reduce prison crowding, California has dramatically lowered incarceration—by about 55,000 inmates since 2006—with no broad increase in crime. But recidivism rates remain high and corrections spending continues to rise. Many people released from jail end up on the street and return to prison because of a lack of support services.  Rather than send homeless former inmates back to jail (where it cost $64,000 a year to house in 2016), organizations in Pasadena that provide help to inmates who are trying to reenter society need to be supported. http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i=1208  and http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/re_en and http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/article/ZZ/20111219/NEWS/111219233

11.        Pasadena police do not need “new tools,” i.e. more stringent laws, to protect the public from aggressive panhandlers and camping.  Current laws already provide ample protection to businesses and property owners:

·         If anyone leaves something (e.g. a tent or sleeping bag) on someone else’s private property, the owner can toss it in the trash or sell it as abandoned property.  If someone leaves their property on a publicly owned site, it must be handled according to certain guidelines. According to Officer Domino Scott-Jackson, police have a right to evict people from a public place using a 72 hour notice and at hour 73, their belongings can then be removed. Items must be kept in storage for 30 days. If they aren’t claimed, they can be disposed of.

·         Property owners have a right to put up a No Trespassing sign on their property. If someone goes on their property without permission to do so, they can call the police and the police on request of the owner can arrest the person for trespassing under Penal Code (PC) 602(o)(2).

·         The Trespass Enforcement Authorization letter makes it clear for the police that the person who is on another person’s property is not welcome. A business owner can file a “Trespass Enforcement Authorization Letter” with the police department that allows officers to make arrests of those individuals who are on the property afterhours. If that letter were not on file, the officers could not request the individuals to leave or make any arrests. They would have to contact the owners every single time they find people at the property to investigate whether or not the person has permission from the owner to be there.

·         A person can be arrested for illegal camping or lodging under Pasadena Municipal code(PMC) 3.24.110(8) and/or Penal Code(PC) 647(e)

·         A person in possession of a shopping cart (with an identified business) could face a violation of PMC9.62.070 and PC485.  

·         Businesses and churches that are open to the public have the right to ask folks to leave under PC602(o)(2). When the owner asks someone to leave and they refuse, they can be arrested.

·         Currently, It’s not illegal to pan-handle in Pasadena, as long as you are not blocking the driveway, impeding traffic or standing in the street (See Vehicle Code 22520.5(a) – infraction). But threatening behavior by a panhandler can be considered “accosting,” a crime according to California Penal Code Section 647.

·         If someone feels harassed by a pan handler, a citizen’s arrest can be made, showing that the pandhandler intends to do something illegal, under code PC647(c), which addresses  aggressive panhandling.

World Quaker Day 2016: Bringing Together Friends from Far and Near

World Quaker Day was celebrated by Southern California Friends for the second year in a row with exchanges between Orange Grove Meeting (Pasadena, CA) and Whittier First Friends Church (Whittier, CA), two of the oldest Meetings in California. They were both founded over one hundred years ago and are located around twenty miles apart. Orange Grove Meeting is unprogrammed and was founded by Philadelphia Hicksite Friends and Whittier First Friends Church was founded by pastoral Friends from the Midwest. Historically they have had close ties and have supported the work of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL).

This year Deanna Woirhaye of Whittier First Friends Church put together a slide show of Friends from around the world addressing two basic but far-reaching questions: "What is Quakerism?" and "How do I express my Quakerism in my life?" This was shown at Whittier First Friends and will be posted online. (I met Deanna at the World Conference of Friends in Kenya and she visited Orange Grove Meeting last year on World Quaker Day.)

This year two Friends from Whittier First Friends Church, Michael and Elizabeth Elliott, visited Orange Grove Meeting and shared their experiences as pastoral Friends. They have been very active in FCNL and I’m looking forward to seeing them at Quaker Lobby Day in DC  in November.

The Elliotts took part in an adult study in which I presented a power-point explaining the history of FWCC (see below) and posed for discussion questions such as these:

•How do we dialogue with people whose religious views differ from our own, especially Evangelical Friends?

•What are the challenges/pitfalls?

•What are the rewards?

We had a rich discussion of these questions and then gathered for a group photo.

While adults worshiped together, my wife Jill led a children's program focusing on World Quaker Day and explained that many Quakers throughout the world are Evangelical Christians who believe in the Bible and in Jesus. To help them understand the concept of Christian unity, she led an interactive exercise on passages from the Gospel of John 15:5 (“I am the vine and you are the branches”) and from Paul's letter to Galatians 5:22-23 on the "fruits of the spirit" (“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control")

The children were given branches of grape clusters our garden and as the enjoyed the taste, she asked questions (“what makes grapes grow?” “what happens if you cut a branch off from the vine?” “what do grapes taste like?” “what happens to grapes if they are cut off from the vine and left too long?”) As they were  led around the yard they had to stay connected, as we need to be connected to stay alive (and tasty). They then made their own grape vine with pipe cleaners and balloons where the children chose and wrote one of the fruits of the spirit. They enthusiastically shared this lesson with the adults at the rise of Meeting and received many smiles of appreciation.

In addition to these celebrations, Jill and I had lunch with Bob Webster, a Quaker pastor from Foothills Community Church, which is part of Friends Church Southwest and is located a couple of miles away from Orange Grove Meeting in East Pasadena. We asked him how his church was doing and learned that it is thriving and is multiracial and multi-ethnic, no small achievement and something we liberal Friends can perhaps study and learn from. 

I spoke to him about World Quaker Day and FCNL and shared with him Marge Abbott's pamphlet on FCNL and the religious basis of Quaker Lobbying since he seemed very interested. 

The intellectual high point of this luncheon for me was his discussion of the Quaker Center at Asuza Pacific, where Quaker pastors are trained. George Fox University  and APU are the only higher educational institutions on the West Coast where Quakerism is taught. Jill is teaching in the Social Work dept at APU, so I saw this is a chance for me to get to know this program better. At some point, I hope to meet the director, Kurt Walkemeyer. For a history of the APU Quaker Center, see 

http://www.apu.edu/friendscenter/history/

The "God moment" for me occurred when I mentioned that I knew Bob Vogel, a weighty Friend from Orange Grove Meeting who was my mentor until he passed away eighteen years go.  (Bob Vogel was a CO during WWI and worked for the AFSC for many years, and there is a chapter about him in my book "Transformative Friends".) Bob Webster replied that he and Bob used to have lunch together and were friends. I was very moved since it has been my hope that I could carry on Bob Vogel’s legacy, who I think wanted me to follow in his footsteps and be an ambassador to Evangelical Friends. I am sure he would be pleased that I lunched with Bob Webster.

I feel a deep sense of gratitude that Jill and I are able to work together to bring Evangelical, pastoral and unprogrammed Friends a little closer together thanks to FWCC and World Quaker Day. What a blessing it is to help create the beloved community of Friends from both far and near.

Hopi Prophecy: "We're the Ones We've Been Waiting For."

Today I will be giving the closing benediction at the "Not in God's Name" Conference.  I wasn't sure what to say or do until the Spirit knocked on my door twice this week. First, a friend from my men's group sent me a prophecy attributed to a Hopi elder, and on Friday, an Episcopal monk read the same prophecy at the Community of Divine Love community service. It struck me that we didn't have a Native American voice at the Conference, and that if we were going to talk about violence and religion, we needed to acknowledge the horrendous violence that Christians have perpetrated on native people and the earth through the so-called "Doctrine of Discovery." The Hopi prophecy is a good reminder that we can't put our faith in leaders, we need to put our faith the the divine wisdom that the Great Spirit has implanted in our hearts. I especially like the Hopi proverb: "Wisdom comes only when we stop looking for wisdom and start doing what the Creator intended for us." My hope and prayer for this Conference is that it inspires us to redouble our efforts to be interfaith peacemakers.

Friends, as we conclude our time together, let us remember to honor the original stewards of this land, the Tongva people. Let’s hold in our prayers the protectors of our mother, the earth, who are trying to stop an oil pipeline from desecrating the traditional lands of the Lakota. By the so-called “Doctrine of Discovery,” Christians have claimed that they own the land that has been under the care of the Native People of this planet since time immemorial, but traditional wisdom and the Bible teach us that the earth and all its fullness belong to the Creator. Much blood has been shed over land in order to extract resources and this violence needs to end. Let’s conclude our conference by recalling a prophecy that has been attributed to Hopi elders. 

"You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.  And there are things to be considered . . .

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
 What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader."

This could be a good time!"

    "There is a river flowing now very fast.  It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.  They will try to hold on to the shore.   They will feel they are torn apart and will suffer greatly. 

    "Know the river has its destination.  The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above water.   And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate.  At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, Least of all ourselves.  For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt. 

    "The time for the lone wolf is over.  Gather yourselves!  Banish the word struggle from you attitude and your vocabulary.  All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. 

    "We are the ones we've been waiting for."

Let’s reflect on these words in sacred silence and listen for the wisdom from within. Another proverb of the Hopi tell us: Wisdom comes only when we stop looking for it and start living the life the Creator intended for us. As we reflect in silence, let your inner wisdom tell you what you need to do and if you feel led by Spirit, briefly share what you intend to do as a result of this conference to foster peace and harmony among people of different faiths.  

The story of Lazarus and the rich guy: what's in a name?

The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:14-31)

14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.....19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ 27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ 

Our society adores celebrities, who are people famous for being famous. A rich person's name is considered a valuable asset. Trump is probably only exaggerating a little more than usual when he says his name is worth three billion dollars.  The rich in Jesus' times also considered their names to be valuable. Having a name like Caesar or Herod meant you were important. You belonged to a family that counted for something, that was part of the aristocracy, which literally means "the rule of the best people." The poor, on the other hand, were nameless and powerless. They were considered nobodies, losers.

How different it is in God's kingdom! When the Pharisees, who love money, mock Jesus for siding with the poor, he tells them the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Jesus doesn't name the rich man, but he gives the poor name a name, Lazarus, which means "God is my helper,"

The rich man's name "Dives" is the Latin word meaning simply "the rich guy." Jesus tells us this man wears purple linen and lives in a gated palace and is probably royalty, perhaps even the Emperor himself. Emperors and kings wore Tyrian purple as a sign of their wealth and status. In God's kingdom the rich have no name, just wealth.

The poor man has a name in God's kingdom but is disregarded by the rich. He lives outdoors, on the street, and is so sick that dogs lick his sores. He is much like some of the chronically homeless people who live on our streets and seen as eyesores. We often treat them as if they are nameless and  refer to them simply as "the homeless." During a panel discussion an advocate for homeless people in Utah said, "Please don't use the term 'the homeless' as if all homeless people are alike. Each one has a story and a name."

One of the great blessings of my life has been getting to know homeless people by name. Getting to know the stories, and the struggles, of my homeless brothers and sisters has helped me to get in touch with my own humanity. I feel more fully human and alive because the friendships I have formed with homeless and formerly homeless people. A formerly homeless man named Mark lives in our home and not only is an indispensable helper and handyman, he constantly surprises me with his insights. The other day he informed me that the expression "low man on the totem pole" would not make sense to an Indian. To an Indian, everyone on the totem pole is equally important, especially the one on the bottom, who holds up everyone else. It is our corporate, hierarchical society that misunderstands what native people see clearly; the intrinsic worth of each person.

That's also the point of Jesus' story. If we separate ourselves from the poor, if we live apart from them in gated communities, or in neighhorhoods that exclude the poor through zoning policies, then we who are privileged are the losers. We lose a vital connection with those who can help us to become fully human and to see God's beloved community as it is intended to be. And we suffer the consequences of living in a hell world of power and privilege without compassion and justice.

Loving God, help us to see our brothers and sisters on the street are people with names and stories, and  hopes and dreams just like us. Help us to see that we are all interconnected, we are all part of God's family, and if those on the street are suffering, we need to reach out to them, not hide behind walls or "safe neighborhoods". Help us to learn their names and listen to them and do what all the prophets tell us we must do. Be just, be compassionate, and create a society where there "there is no poverty among us" (Acts 4).  

Religious Communities Must Stop Blessing Gun Violence!

[This is a reflection given at Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, icujp.org, on Friday, September 23.]

This week our conference “Not in God’s Name” will focus on religion and violence. It seems fitting though a bit  inconvenient that All Saints Church in Pasadena will be hosting an event focusing on gun violence at the same time. When people think of religious violence, they often think of terrorism and Islam, but far more dangerous is America’s cult of guns.

There is ample evidence showing how guns have turned into a deadly religion in America. A bumper sticker sums up this pernicious and delusional belief system: Guns, God and guts have made America great.

 I commend James Atwood of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship for condemning the cult of guns in our country in a brilliant article written in 2008. In this piece entitled “When Guns Become Idols,” Atwood writes:

I’d like to expand on my contention that guns in America have become idols. I define America’s idolatry with guns as an aggressive belief system dedicated to the expansion of gun ownership which encourages people to take their guns to the workplace, college campuses, public schools, libraries, national parks, churches and bars. This belief system is enhanced by an attitude which overtly and subtly proclaims that safety and security come through guns. My friend, Rev. Rachel Smith calls this phenomenon “Gundamentalism” Although claiming the highest of social values, the belief system itself requires continuous deception and the distortion of the truth in order to minimize or ignore the 30,000 people who are killed by guns every year.

First, I believe guns have become idols in America because many people give them sacred status. Warren Cassidy, former NRA executive said, “You would get a far better understanding of the NRA if you approached us as if you were approaching one of the great religions of the world.”

In 1998, when Charlton Heston, President of the NRA, was given an antique musket, he mused, “Sacred stuff resides in that wooden stock and blue steel when ordinary hands can possess such an extraordinary instrument.” 

http://www.presbypeacefellowship.org/content/when-guns-become-idols#.V-Fjg_krK00

 I hope that ICUJP will play its part in unmasking the idolatry of guns and proclaim that there is nothing sacred in these instruments of death. Religious communities must stop blessing guns and encouraging gun ownership.

I am pleased that Sojourners magazine devoted its May issue to the question “Should Christians Own Guns/” and includes an article by a conservative pastor decrying the “idolatry of the gun culture.” Rob Schenk begins his article with this chilling story about the relationship between racism and the cult of guns among white Evangelicals.:

SITTING AT A DINING-ROOM TABLE full of fellow evangelical pastors, I asked how many were “carrying” (a euphemism for being armed with a concealed handgun). They all raised their hands. Then I asked, “What determines when you draw your gun and prepare to shoot another human being?” There was awkward body language and mumbling. After a few seconds passed, one older man said, “I’ll tell you what determines whether I draw the gun or not. It’s the man’s skin color.”I was left speechless by the pastor’s jarring, blatant racism. Still, as respectfully as possible, I asked him to please clarify what he meant.“Well, we got a big city nearby, and, you know, the black people there are always killin’ people. Now, if a colored man comes into this county, I know he means trouble because he knows he doesn’t belong here. That makes him more dangerous than a white man. That’s why I’d pull my gun.”The man who was speaking, and the others nodding their heads in agreement, are my colleagues. I am one of them when it comes to a statement of faith—but not when it comes to race and guns.

This article makes it clear why people of faith who oppose gun violence need to work together to unmask the false religion of guns. As you may know, Jill and I organized a gun buyback in Pasadena as part of the Palm Sunday Peace Parade. Over 200 people took part, and we had a Peace-source Fair as well as a guy buyback. We raised nearly $30,000, bought back 130 guns, and provided grants for groups like Women Against Gun Violence. We also provided a biblical perspective on why Jesus would not have agreed with the Evangelical pastors who were “carrying.”  Jesus made it clear that he didn’t want his followers to use weapons even when he himself was under attack. In the garden of Gesthemane, when Jesus was about to be arrested by Roman soldiers, one of his followers cut off  the soldier’s ear with a sword. Jesus rebuked his disciple, healed the wounded soldier, and said, “Those that live by the sword perish by the sword.”

This is what Christianity stood for before it was hijacked by the Roman empire and later by the American empire. I am glad that All Saints is leading an effort to end gun violence. I have invited Julian Serrano of All Saints to speak to us about her church’s gun violence prevention work.

Meanwhile, let us have a moment of silence to pray for those who have been killed by guns. The statistics are sobering. Here in this land where the NRA encourages parents to keep loaded weapons in their homes,  a toddler with a gun accidentally kills himself or someone else with a gun each week.  Each day 82 Americans perish by gun violence.

World-wide, guns are used to kill as many as 1,000 people each day. Millions more are wounded, or their lives upended when  to development aid, markets, health, education and human rights is disrupted by people with guns.

Let us pray for the victims of this devastating plague. Let us hold in our loving thoughts the families of those who have perished due to gun violence.  [Time of silence.]

Friends, let us dedicate ourselves to ending this terrible disease of the human spirit. Those who agree, please say AMEN!