Same as the Poor
(originally posted July 21, 2006)
It can be easy to vilify the poor in our midst. Sure, outwardly we express sympathy and even volunteer our time, money, and effort to help them. But inwardly, we can all too quickly seethe or judge or disregard. Or maybe it's just me. I'm guessing not.
It is fascinating to me, then, that so many of the things we disdain in the poor in our midst are things we ourselves are guilty of. Consider, for example, the terrible threesome of sex, drugs, and materialism. We scold our inner city residents for having children out of wedlock, harboring various substance addictions, and rocking designer clothes while not having enough money to pay the heating bill. To be sure, there is some responsibility we need to dole out here, to those who make bad decisions, as well as to hip-hop artists who are held in high esteem by our inner city kids, who glorify gratuitous sex and drug use and flaunty wealth.
But have we considered that we who are well-bred and solidly middle-class are guilty of the very same offenses? We may not have as many children out of wedlock, but we are no less guilty in the area of sexual sin, with our hidden affairs, laddie mags, and sex-soaked cable shows. We may not do crack cocaine or marijuana, but take away our TV and our coffee and see if we don't experience the same headaches and irritability as those detoxing from an illegal substance. And our form of materialism -- a keeping up with the Joneses in our houses and electronics and vacations -- is no less insidious, no less brash, and no less offensive.
Last month, a good friend of mine was walking home with her baby son when she was harassed by a homeless woman, cussed at for being white, and told to "get the %$#@! out of my neighborhood," never mind that this was my friend's neighborhood as well. And yet we who wouldn't dare cuss at anyone or chase them out of our neighborhoods nevertheless practice the same "NIMBY" inhospitality when we approve minimum lot sizes and reject multi-tenant developments in our neighborhood.
Die-hard conservatives would tell you that the poor deserve to be vilified for their sinful lifestyles and poor choices. Flaming liberals would tell you the poor deserve to be excused because they're the victims in all this. (By the way, who decided that extreme conservatives would be called "die hard" and extreme liberals "flaming"? My guess is a homophobic and "die hard" conservative.) But if you think about it for more than a second, you realize that poor or rich, we're all the same. Whether we're poor or rich, we deserve to be vilified for our sinful lifestyles and poor choices. And before a holy God, there are none that deserve to be excused.
(originally posted July 21, 2006)
It can be easy to vilify the poor in our midst. Sure, outwardly we express sympathy and even volunteer our time, money, and effort to help them. But inwardly, we can all too quickly seethe or judge or disregard. Or maybe it's just me. I'm guessing not.
It is fascinating to me, then, that so many of the things we disdain in the poor in our midst are things we ourselves are guilty of. Consider, for example, the terrible threesome of sex, drugs, and materialism. We scold our inner city residents for having children out of wedlock, harboring various substance addictions, and rocking designer clothes while not having enough money to pay the heating bill. To be sure, there is some responsibility we need to dole out here, to those who make bad decisions, as well as to hip-hop artists who are held in high esteem by our inner city kids, who glorify gratuitous sex and drug use and flaunty wealth.
But have we considered that we who are well-bred and solidly middle-class are guilty of the very same offenses? We may not have as many children out of wedlock, but we are no less guilty in the area of sexual sin, with our hidden affairs, laddie mags, and sex-soaked cable shows. We may not do crack cocaine or marijuana, but take away our TV and our coffee and see if we don't experience the same headaches and irritability as those detoxing from an illegal substance. And our form of materialism -- a keeping up with the Joneses in our houses and electronics and vacations -- is no less insidious, no less brash, and no less offensive.
Last month, a good friend of mine was walking home with her baby son when she was harassed by a homeless woman, cussed at for being white, and told to "get the %$#@! out of my neighborhood," never mind that this was my friend's neighborhood as well. And yet we who wouldn't dare cuss at anyone or chase them out of our neighborhoods nevertheless practice the same "NIMBY" inhospitality when we approve minimum lot sizes and reject multi-tenant developments in our neighborhood.
Die-hard conservatives would tell you that the poor deserve to be vilified for their sinful lifestyles and poor choices. Flaming liberals would tell you the poor deserve to be excused because they're the victims in all this. (By the way, who decided that extreme conservatives would be called "die hard" and extreme liberals "flaming"? My guess is a homophobic and "die hard" conservative.) But if you think about it for more than a second, you realize that poor or rich, we're all the same. Whether we're poor or rich, we deserve to be vilified for our sinful lifestyles and poor choices. And before a holy God, there are none that deserve to be excused.
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