The Trump administration suddenly reversed course Dec. 10 on a planned shift in housing policy that would have sent hundreds of thousands of children and adults into homelessness during the winter months, according to advocacy groups. The move came just…
Efforts to combat global poverty unchanged due to US withdrawal
Efforts to combat global poverty remain unchanged for the second consecutive year in part because of severe cutbacks in American international aid, according to the director of the newly released “2025 Fordham Pope Francis Poverty Report.” “Something has shifted, and…
A committee of one
On Thanksgiving Day, when my sons and I sit down for dinner, we will be joined by a gentleman who spent the past 12 years living the harrowing life of an unhoused person. While living on the streets, he suffered…
Ending homelessness is a humane priority
The Trump administration recently issued a sweeping executive order on homelessness that dismantles support for the “housing first” model. The order pushes communities back toward punitive approaches, tying housing to mandatory treatment or abstinence, expanding involuntary institutionalization and even encouraging the criminalization…
Bullying homeless people isn’t just wrong, it won’t work
I hate to admit it, but I used to hold the same view of homeless people many other folks seem to have. Most of ‘em are winos and druggies, I thought. Headcases and drifters. Derelicts pestering me for money on…
Latest PRRI data show growing gap between white evangelicals and other Americans over same-sex marriage and legal protections for LGBTQ people
While the same-sex marriage now is the law of the land in the United States, white evangelical Christians remain distinct outliers among all Americans in accepting that reality. This finding from Public Religion Research Institute comes amid a backdrop in…
The folly of naming a place you don’t understand
I started getting calls and emails a few months ago from a couple of development companies that were introducing new plans down the street. Their reps were looking for some combination of buy-in, or solidarity, or absolution, all of which…
Why is there still ‘no room’ for so many homeless in America this Christmas?
More than 2,000 years ago, when Jesus was born, there was “no room” for his family in Bethlehem. Likewise, as Christmas 2021 approaches, we have no room for hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans who live in tents, cardboard…
The connection between the wealth gap, monopolies, affordable housing and biblical truths
The first 346 words that follow the headline “The U.S. wealth gap presents both a political challenge and a spiritual problem” on Baptist News Global by Todd Thomason are packed with data that Christians of all stripes should carefully consider….
If you think racial equity exists in America today, you’re in the minority
Americans who contend there’s a level playing field for Blacks and whites today are in the minority of public opinion, according to new research by Gallup. The polling firm finds a growing number of Americans believe non-white people are subject…
Denver is sweeping away homeless encampments; two churches help open their own
While activists fight the city of Denver for sweeping away homeless encampments during a public health crisis, two Denver churches have set up camps on their property as an alternative. With local nonprofits, Denver Community Church and First Baptist Church…
‘They won’t take care of the house anyway’: One small transfusion of justice
“If you come and see the people, and talk with them, they don’t talk about how they’re living on less than $12,000 a year. They’re not talking about the fact that they go to bed hungry at night or that they don’t have a hospital. Their focus is on their joy and the things they do have. There is a lot of love.”