Foley’s work in The Anti-Greed Gospel, comes out of years of historical study on the lynching era in U.S. history, spanning from the post Civil War years to the 1940s. During this period, mob rule in the form of lynchings became common place, especially within the southern states that formerly made up the Confederate states in the Civil War. Lynching was used as a means of punishment, but ultimately something much more devious...
~By Sarah L. Sanderson~ To keep learning about how to repair society-wide harms. To keep unlearning implicit biases towards individuals. Both of these are difficult challenges that require intentionality and work. While living in Oregon, I wrote a book about my journey of uncovering how my ancestors had contributed to historical racism in that state. But recently, my family moved across the country to Maryland, where I’m beginning the process all over again. I’m now learning about the history of this place, and...
~By Kimberly S. Moreland~ Racism plays a significant role in undergirding poverty and other injustices in the United States. Authors Goldblum and Shaddox, in their seminal work, Broke in America: Seeing Understanding, and Ending U.S. Poverty, say that racism and poverty are each other's evil twin. This combination creates many forms of oppression targeting our most impoverished and marginalized citizens. What is behind this dynamic duo, Malcolm Foley says, is that greed undergirds racism and oppression. Foley’s book, The Anti-Greed Gospel; Why the Love of Money Is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create a New Way Forward, continues by saying that greed is insidious because it is a sin that we are conditioned to both ignore and justify. Unfortunately, Portland, and the entire state of Oregon, is no stranger to poverty as well as racist policies...
~By Travis Jones~ Growing up, I always wanted to become a police officer. I admired what they do in the community and wanted to help keep people safe. Three of my cousins were also police officers and my uncle was a retired police officer. Needless to say, I grew up with a high view of law enforcement. As I was in my early teenage years, I also became a huge fan of hip hop music, specifically...
~By Travis Jones~ These shallow bars of my security, can only keep out so much. These feeble bars offer me surety, but their protection is just a crutch. Fragility stoking my fears, I put up another bar. Afraid of my own tears, I become a controlling czar. This need for security, turns my focus inward, away from all others. This need for surety, shifts my locus inward, giving me no time for all my sisters & brothers.
~By Robin Keating~ This month, we’ve been discussing how a lack of security affects those living in poverty. Insecurity often shows up in behaviors such as low confidence, anxiety, or fear. But at its root, insecurity often stems from misplaced trust or a misunderstanding of where a person’s true worth comes from. When we encounter someone struggling with insecurity in any area of life, we have the opportunity to point them to the unshakable security found only in Christ. As we come to understand who God is—and the great value He places on those created in His image—security grows. Knowing His promises, His character, and His steadfast love brings a peace that circumstances cannot shake.
~By Robin Fleming~ I would like you to close your eyes for a couple of minutes as you think about the words “secure” and “security.” Let those words roam around your mind, bring up images, and stir up feelings freely and with no expectation of anything in particular. Ready…go. I’m curious what came to mind for you. As I did this exercise myself, I saw locks on trunks, storage units, dump loads tied down in our trailer, and guards stationed at a shopping mall. I heard calls of “Batten down the hatches!” and “Secure the perimeter!” I thought about secure attachment in relationships. And I experienced feelings of comfort, safety, certainty, and being held.
~By Travis Jones~ In the days in which the Bible was written, security was a common issue for most people, and the Bible records that it was especially problematic for the people of Israel (both in the OT and NT). Cities needed to have a wall built around them to provide protection from outside forces who might riad or destroy them. This is evident in the book of Nehemiah where Nehemiah went back to Jerusalem to help rebuild the wall so that the people would be safe from their powerful neighbors who sought their downfall.
~By Stuart Smith~ Years ago, my mom was a caretaker and had the opportunity to move into a nice apartment in downtown Portland to be closer to her work. So my parents decided to rent out my childhood home to my wife and I to live and raise our son in. One dark winter evening while we lived there, I came home from work to find our power was out. The odd thing was, only our house didn’t have power...
~By Stuart Smith~ It is important in this month's topic to resist the temptation in thinking that poverty equals crime. And all those in poverty have or will commit a crime of some kind in their life. The truth is every class (socio-economic), race, and culture, has to deal with crime. Rich and poor commit crimes in our cities and neighborhoods. Most of us have people we can turn to when life gets hard. I know I do.
