Sometimes I think the best help we are able to give can still be degrading, and there's no way to help it. For example, people (I think just a select few) keep stealing the soap and toilet paper from the bathroom. Because we don't have an unlimited supply of either, often there is no soap in there and today, the janitor decided participants who wanted toilet paper would have to come into the office and ask me, and then take some off of the roll but not take the whole roll with them. I know we do the best we can, and I feel badly for those participants who don't steal anything but have to deal with the consequences. And I feel equally badly for those that do take things, because their circumstances have turned them into opportunists who will take even tiny used bars of soap off of the men's room sink.
Last night, we watched the documentary Jesus Camp about Evangelicals. I felt so sorry for the kids, because they were made to feel guilty and confused and angry at anyone who didn't share their feelings. At their evangelical summer camp, they wore face paint and camoflage and screamed about "going to war" against sin- why feed little kids violent and scary imagery? There are so many ways to raise kids in a religious environment that's healthy, and there were none of those ways in this movie. Paul sent us an article:
and I think it's so interesting because it touches on things I've wondered about the past few years- why do some people who would define themselves as devout Christians (like people in the movie) preach about a prosperity gospel or an "Every man for himself" attitude? Why would they think that by Jesus saying "Love thy neighbor" he really meant to say "Love thy neighbor only if he is American, and heterosexual, and upper to middle class" ?
The article's writer says the Bible calls for "nothing less than a radical, voluntary, and effective reordering of power relationships, based on the principle of love." I know that I'm young, and naive in some ways, but I feel like I've seen so little of that. And I haven't read the entire Bible, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't say that before you help those in need, stop and wonder whether or not they deserve it. I think I've written about this before, but one of the participants when he says grace before lunch says "Thank you for giving blessings to those who can bless others." But there seem to be so many people with blessings who choose not to help others.
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