This is so on point. There are totally so many ways we come to say things as part of the “sales and marketing/rebranding” effort “for” oppressed people that, in an effort to fend off some stigma or prejudice, ends up just creating a new reductive message that also takes away from the complexity of real human beings, their nuances of experiences, and their agency.
You reminded me of sections from two books: At Home on the Street is an ethnography about folks experiencing homelessness that holds together the unjust structural causes with the diverse complexities of individuals in the street as week as anything. Also the last chapter of A Theology of Liberation where Gutierrez wrestled with these (seemingly) contradictory ways that poverty functions in the Christian tradition and spiritual life.
Thank you Kevin for wrestling with these topics. Your writing challenges me to look at my own ministry with our unhoused neighbors. One difference with Jesus and his disciples that came to mind, at least as depicted in the Bible, is that they seemed to have no difficulty getting food most days. Also, they were welcomed into the homes of a number of people. Most of the unhoused people I know personally, struggle with food insecurity daily and rarely are welcomed into people’s homes.
This is so on point. There are totally so many ways we come to say things as part of the “sales and marketing/rebranding” effort “for” oppressed people that, in an effort to fend off some stigma or prejudice, ends up just creating a new reductive message that also takes away from the complexity of real human beings, their nuances of experiences, and their agency.
You reminded me of sections from two books: At Home on the Street is an ethnography about folks experiencing homelessness that holds together the unjust structural causes with the diverse complexities of individuals in the street as week as anything. Also the last chapter of A Theology of Liberation where Gutierrez wrestled with these (seemingly) contradictory ways that poverty functions in the Christian tradition and spiritual life.
Thank you Kevin for wrestling with these topics. Your writing challenges me to look at my own ministry with our unhoused neighbors. One difference with Jesus and his disciples that came to mind, at least as depicted in the Bible, is that they seemed to have no difficulty getting food most days. Also, they were welcomed into the homes of a number of people. Most of the unhoused people I know personally, struggle with food insecurity daily and rarely are welcomed into people’s homes.