conversations on the fringe

If you’ve ever NOT given a person experiencing homelessness money because you just knew they would buy alcohol or drugs, remember this next time…

On cold nights spent outside, alcohol provides temporary warmth. It is also nerve-wracking to sleep in a shelter and difficult to get a good night’s sleep. Alcohol can help an individual relax so they can sleep. Lack of sleep exacerbates mental health issues.

Withdrawals are worse than you could ever imagine. If someone needs to “get their sick off” so be it. Being in severe withdrawal is what drives people to desperate behaviors.

Meth is a stimulant. If you are sleeping outside, vulnerable to anyone and anything, being able to stay vigilant is necessary for survival. This is especially true if you are a woman, trans, or youth.

Being without a home also usually means not eating on the regular or not eating nutritiously. Cigarettes can act as an appetite suppressant. Smoking cigarettes may give some temporary relief from hunger pains.

Bottom line, stop assuming you know the story that brought this individual to this point in their life. Most of us have never known what it feels like to be so desperate that we would have sex for a warm place to sleep or to steal something to survive, or how life-controlling a substance use disorder is.

A large number of people who have not experienced homelessness want to moralize the decisions of poor people, perhaps to comfort themselves about the injustices of the world. For many, it’s easier to think homeless people are, in part, responsible for their suffering than it is to acknowledge the situational factors.

And when you don’t fully understand a person’s context — what it feels like to be them every day, all the small annoyances and major traumas that define their life — it’s easy to impose abstract, rigid expectations on a person’s behavior.

Next time you encounter someone on the side of the road holding a sign, just give them money. It doesn’t matter is it’s the change in your pocket or a $10 bill. Whatever you can give, please, just do it.

The main message it sends to the individual is “I see you and you matter.” Your money will not likely change their situation but it still matters to the individual just trying to get through the day.

Episode #3: Bryce Foster // Recovery Antihero

Bryce Foster is one of those unique people you can’t ever forget and he’s quickly become one of my closest friends and we are partners in crime doing harm reduction work in the midst of an opioid pandemic. His story is inspiring and hysterical. He’s a pretty smart and a lot irreverent. Also, he’s tried it all and eventually discovered a path that works for him. Listen in while he shares his story. You just might learn something.

Episode #2: Harm Reduction

We are at the 2018 Harm Reduction Conference in New Orleans. Between the awesome workshops and stuffing beignets into our mouths, we sat down with four beautiful, badass, love warriors from the harm reduction field. We talked about LGBTQIA+ youth, homelessness and housing, serious mental illness homeless outreach and jumping fences to love on the most marginalized. We can’t wait for you to listen.

Our merry band of ragamuffins include:

Loren Phillips: Outreach Worker with a large mental health organization in Chicago

Christopher Powers: Psychotherapist and harm reduction counselor in San Francisco

Kimber Brightheart, LCSW: Independent contractor at the Midwest Harm Reduction Institute, founder of Queerplay, and harm reduction therapist in private practice

Valery Shuman, ATR-BC, LCPC: Senior Director at Heartland Alliance Health, Heartland Center for Systems Change, and Midwest Harm Reduction Institute

And me, Chris Schaffner: Founder of Conversations on the Fringe, DOPP Grant Coordinator, JOLT Harm Reduction Center Program Manager

Episode #1: Rape Culture

An interview with Melissa Dessert, LCPC who has extensive experience working to combat the impact of rape culture on college campuses. Melissa has been helping victims of sexual assault since the late 80s and is a local expert on trauma. Also in this podcast is Trudy Schaffner, a social worker and mother of 3 teenage girls. Both lend their vast knowledge and experience to this really difficult and complex issue.

A new study examines trans youth to see who is most at risk for suicide.

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2018/09/new-study-separates-trans-youth-examine-risk-suicide/

I was recently told a story of a 14-year-old CHILD that was kicked out of their home, by their mother, for being trans. She wants to transition from male to female (M2F) and instead of trying to understand, mom promptly kicked her out of the only home she’s ever known.

What does a young teen do in a situation like this? Where are they to go? How do they find sustainable food sources? How do they even consider getting back and forth to school? Where can they get a shower? Hygiene products? Support? Friendship? A hug? Love?

Most end up feeling helpless and hopeless. None of them chose this path. The dysphoria from feeling like you’re in the wrong body, with the wrong body parts is nothing they invented in their own minds.

Compound that with the rejection from family, friends, and the belief that God cannot stand to be in their presence (this is the message trans youth receive from most evangelical churches in America today), it’s no wonder suicide becomes an option for many of the precious children.

How can we reduce the risk these kids face in ending their own life? What role does the church play in creating these hopeless scenarios and what role could the church play in providing hope instead?

The link below is a suicide prevention policy from the Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is an organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention to LGBTQ youth. They created a model policy for schools that I think churches and youth ministries can adapt for their own use.

Click to access District-Policy.pdf

If you are, or you know of an LGBTQIA+ youth that is contemplating suicide, call 1-866-488-7386 right now. Trained crisis workers are waiting to talk to you.

Your life matters!

So let’s talk about that Bible verse that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions quoted to justify the separation of families at the border…

1. Romans Is About All About Love:

First, Sessions took Romans 13:1-3 out of context. If Sessions read the epistle of Romans in its entirety, he would have seen that love is the center of what Paul was talking about in his letter to the Roman Church.  In chapter 12, just one chapter before the verses Sessions quoted, Paul writes: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.” (Romans 12:9-13)

Then, in chapter 13, just a few verses after those Sessions quoted, Paul writes: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:8-10)

Additionally, Sessions’ point that Paul makes a “clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes” is just wrong.  Paul was actually serving time in a Roman prison when he wrote several of his letters found in our New Testament because he – himself – was a “law-breaker.” He was eventually executed for disobeying the laws of the government.

2. Romans 13:1-3 Has Been/Is Being Misquoted to Justify Evil:

Romans 13:1-3 has been historically used by oppressors in power to justify evil.  It was actually used by slave owners and by Nazis to tell those they were oppressing to submit to authority – no matter what – in order to justify the evils they were doing.

Many laws that have been put in place by the “State” (throughout history and that continue to be enforced today, both across the world and in our very own country) are oppressive, inhumane, unjust, and evil. Jesus would never tell people to submit to the human-made authority of such injustice and evil, and I believe Paul wouldn’t want us to, either.

Jesus must be weeping as he watches our national leaders and other Christians continue to use the Bible to justify such cruelty and hate.  

3. Jesus’ Lordship:  

Many Christians throughout history and across the world actually celebrate and uphold the theological belief that Jesus is Lord.  In Ancient Palestine, this notion of Christ’s Lordship was a radical and political statement. To claim Jesus’ Lordship was to challenge the Roman Empire (and the oppressive “laws of the government”).  To profess that Jesus is Lord was to state that Caesar was NOT Lord. In other words, Jesus is Lord over all human authority figures and governmental systems.  To claim that Jesus is Lord was basically saying: “I will submit to Jesus and not to any human authority or governmental system that does not uphold Jesus’ law.”  As mentioned above: Paul urged his readers in Romans 13: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.  The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”

(Many of the early Christians did publicly proclaim Jesus’ Lordship, thus breaking the law and therefore were persecuted for their actions.)

During the rise of anti-Semitism and Nazi-Germany, many churches and Christian leaders responded to other churches and Christian leaders that supported/submitted to the Nazis by reemphasizing Christ’s Lordship. They did this again as a means to oppose such oppressive worldly governmental systems and to remind Christians that it is Jesus Christ – and no other worldly leader – who has authority. It is the Kingdom of God – and no otherworldly government – that reigns over the heavens and the earth.

Separating children from their families is NOT “very biblical.” (Actually, it’s not biblical at all). Rather, it is downright cruel and pure evil!

What IS very biblical:

“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” – Mark 9:37

“When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 19:33-34

“Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen!’” – Deuteronomy 27:19

What IS very biblical:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.” – Zechariah 7:9-10

“Thus says the Lord: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.” – Jeremiah 22:3

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me… Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” – Matthew 25:35,40

What IS very biblical:

Jesus’ parents – Mary and Joseph – were immigrants seeking refuge in a foreign land in order to protect their child (the baby Jesus) and their family… To take children at our border away from their parents as they seek refuge for the safety of their families is to take the baby Jesus away from his parents as they sought refuge for the safety of their family.

“Just as you did it to the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

Rev. Emily Heitzman is an ordained Presbyterian (USA) pastor serving as the shared Pastor with Youth and Households at three ELCA congregations in the neighborhood of Edgewater in Chicago: Unity Lutheran, Ebenezer Lutheran, and Immanuel Lutheran.  She runs a collaborative, multicultural youth group that consists of youth from the three congregations as well as youth from the neighborhood. Emily loves hiking in the mountains, attending indie and bluegrass concerts, biking along Lake Michigan, and singing opera and musical theatre. She has a heart for youth, justice, and the Huskers, and can often be seen with coffee or a Guinness. Emily is one of the writers for The Pastoral Is Political feature on HTTPS://REVGALBLOGPALS.ORG. You can find more of her reflections, sermons, and youth ministry ideas on her blog at HTTP://MUSINGSFROMABRICOLAGE.WORDPRESS.COM and connect with her on twitter at @PASTOREMILYH.