Activism

Remember when separation of church and state was a thing?  The original ‘build a wall’. Of course none of us were around when the deist founders wisely inserted that anti-persecutional notion into our country’s foundational documents. For two hundred and fifty years, the concept of a secular society in lieu of a religious one has been the official guiding principle of civic order.

But a tug of war, and erosion of this boundary has always been underway. ‘In God We Trust’ printed on money and statehouses…  Prayer and benediction at inaugurations, and openings and closings of Congressional sessions…Tax free churches…And now in Louisiana, an official declaration that the ten commandments must be printed and displayed in every classroom.

Despite the fact the world opinion is increasingly hostile to the actions of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, the killing continues.

Despite the fact that Spain, Norway and Ireland have recognized a Palestinian state, the killing continues. Despite the fact that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is requesting arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, the killing continues.

There are many international organizations making statements about the continuing atrocities being committed by Israel and Hamas and worldwide college protests only reinforced the polarization that has been created over the war in Gaza.

What good are all of these efforts if they only produce talk and more talk while the leaders of countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Israel and a host of other smaller countries waging wars, as well as terrorists groups such as Hamas, do not stop fighting?

It’s starting to look like the late 60’s and early 70’s across America and the world. An unpopular war is raging, thousands of people are dying and the people who are making this war happen are not listening to the rest of the world, asking them to put a stop to the madness.

This time the war is in Gaza and the state of Israel is incurring the wrath of much of the civilized world. The U.S. has become an enabler and many people feel that Biden is not doing enough to prevent Israel from killing more Palestinians and destroying their land. Senator Bernie Sanders is calling for the withholding of support to Israel if there are not strict conditions on how the aid is used, but his common sense pleas are falling on deaf ears.

It seems that although people of all ages are outraged at the behavior of Israel, it is mostly the young people of the world who are showing their displeasure at events and putting themselves at risk by protesting on college campuses. This is similar to what happened during the Viet Nam War.

I have been trying to understand why having a visible population of people who either appear homeless or, who look as though their body or their mind is in a troubled state, cause people to react strongly to their presence. I don’t think there is a simple answer to this question, but I do believe that if we try to look at “those people” from different perspectives we just might be able to soften the fear and anger that is aroused.

It is frightening to many people to have to walk in close proximity to people they believe to be homeless or troubled. Part of the problem is that panhandling has become a common activity and when people are asked for money they feel violated and they may fear that they will be accosted if they don’t give people what they are asking for.

We live in a free society and that means that all of us have rights to pursue a vocation, whether or not it is socially acceptable, as long as it does not break any laws. Some places have tried to outlaw panhandling. Panhandling is a confrontational act and some people might say they have the right to walk in their own town without experiencing the fear that panhandling arouses in them. A lot of people react when they see a panhandler by assuming they are too lazy to get a job.

I went out on a date this week, if you can call it that. All it was really was dinner. We knew each other quite well, and both of us had the taste for a certain cuisine from a very popular place. It was bound to be crowded at the dinner hour, we knew it would be. And it was. But nonetheless, we were game.

This establishment has a particular and rigid system in place regarding ordering. One line at a counter. For everything. To pick up take out. To eat in. Get a beverage. Whatever. A single line that delivers customers to the register one at a time like a gum-ball machine. You line up and wait your turn. No wiggle room to the method. There are tables, but no table service. Servers bring the carefully prepared items over to you when ready, but the only way to obtain food is to place and pay for an order when it comes your turn.

This brings me to the point of all this. The other night, on our “date”, I went up to order for us and it’d be fair to say there were half a dozen or so people ahead of me. Suddenly, a guy sidles up to the counter, we could all see it coming, and it wasn’t made any better by the fact he had his AirPods in, but anyway, he leans in- well, first he shut his music, angles in and then says, to all of us, “I placed my order before and got served already but forgot something, would you mind if I just slip in and add a little something?”

Should we continue to remind people of what an evil, manipulating and dangerous sociopath Donald Trump is? His followers will never accept any form of truth and the rest of us are living in fear of him becoming President again.

I was reminded of the statement by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller. At first he sympathized with many of the ideas in Nazi Germany, but when Hitler came to power he became a critic and ended up in prison. His words are as relevant today as they were in Nazi Germany.

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

It goes in cycles. The public conscience gets activated and politicians and policymakers talk about the crisis of homelessness and about how something needs to be done about it. There is a lot of talk, a few stories by major media outlets for a few weeks or months, and then not much changes.

To be fair, there are a number of programs around the country that create housing for homeless people and they do make life better for people as long as there is solid case management support and motivation for people to improve their lives. Brattleboro, Vermont has a number of organizations serving the homeless and, despite growing in capacity and comprehensiveness over the years, they are faced with a Sisyphean task.

Sadly, Vermont has the second highest rate of homelessness in the country. We have a severe shortage of affordable housing, prices for homes that are too high and high property taxes that make it difficult for too many people to stay in their homes as they age and try to live on fixed incomes.

Are you one of the 902?

We are working with Crime Research Group (CRG) on a study funded by the National Institute of Justice to help find people willing to participate in a study about the experiences of defendants of color in Southern Vermont criminal courts. Researchers are looking to speak with people over the age of 18 who have at least one closed criminal case since 2019 that was handled in Bennington, Rutland, Windham, and/or Windsor County. Participants will be interviewed about their experience before, during, and after court.