On July 26, Alexander Carpenter posted the 42 second YouTube of my interview with ABC 7 News on the Spectrum Blog. Little did any of us know what a interesting conversation would ensue. Oddly (at least for me) the focus of the conversation has become not how a congregation lives out its spiritual and religious values in the community, but a debate about the merits of government intervention in the the Market (capital "M" intentional). Many good comments have been made (in addition some weak ones with worn out name calling - Castro, Marx and all the rest).
There are now 64 comments. If you have a LOT of time on your hands you can wade through the whole thing here. What I wanted to raise up was an excellent comment, in the form of a litany of questions, by my friend and Hollywood Church leader, Neville Salvador, who has been actively involved in this work. I was so impressed with what he wrote that I asked permission to reprint it here.
The quick sound bites and reporting of the Housing Action event, unfortunately do not (and could not) adequately reflect the complete picture of what those from L.A. Voice and the Hollywood church are doing to advocate for better housing conditions and more livable communities in Hollywood.
Just to give context and a personal background to my post: I am a member of the Hollywood church; an architect with (for the moment) a decent income; my wife works in the Adventist Health system, also with a decent income. We count ourselves among the fortunate ones, having bought our house 9 years ago and have since seen the price of homes in our neighborhood quadruple (even accounting for the recent drop in value of $50-100,000 during the current housing “slump”). Although we actually live outside the boundaries of Hollywood (but not too far), as a long-time member of the church, I consider Hollywood my neighborhood.
Rather than answer the direct questions of the cynics of our social activism in Hollywood, let me share some questions I have asked myself as I have gotten deeper into the Hollywood church brand of activism:
Read the rest after the jump.
1. With regard to housing, do I believe: “I’ve already got mine; how you get yours is not my problem?” Is this simply an economic and market-forces question; or are there theological/ethical implications?
2. Do I believe Christians could/should/can affect public, social and economic policy?
3. Do I carry out my ethical and spiritual responsibilities only on an individual basis, or is there a corporate component that I can exercise as a member of my local church congregation, my citizenship in the American democratic process, and my participation in the general economy?
4. Does the call of the Gospel call me to advocate for social justice, better communities and advocate for (not force) Christ-like values in my neighborhood?
5. Does a gentrified, economically exclusive neighborhood (where only the “served” can afford to live; while the “servants”: restaurant managers, waiters, salespeople, teachers, police and fire fighters cannot afford to even rent units in new developments in Hollywood) represent the best, livable, and ideal future for my neighborhood? Is there a role for Christians in attempting to improve ones neighborhood and physical environment? Or should we hold the position that it really doesn’t matter, since “all these will be burned up in the ‘great lake of fire’ anyway?”
6. Do I believe it is only the poor and homeless who benefit from government intervention, housing policy and subsidized housing, when my mortgage payments, through mortgage interest deductions, are also generously subsidized by my government? Do I, as a Christian, have a role in influencing that policy so those who have less than me also get their share?
7. If indeed sometime in the past, we, as an American society, decided that housing, in the form of affordable homeownership, was for the greater public good, hence “government intervention” into the free-market economy through tax policy, of the mortgage interest deduction; can we now, through our public advocacy, broaden the definition of “affordable housing for the public good” to include renters and others who cannot afford homeownership? Is this only an issue of tax policy and “rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s”; or is there also, somewhere in the discourse about responsibility to my neighbor, a component of my responsibility to God?
8. Do I believe the few, strident, NIMBY (not-in-my-back-yard) -motivated homeowner voices who consistently oppose high-density, government-subsidized developments that have any kind of affordable housing component in it, who attempt to dominate local politics and neighborhood councils, and who disproportionately represent the “public comment” portion of the real estate development process, should be allowed to make their points, un-opposed by moderating voices from concerned Christians?
9. When “we, the people”, acting through the planning and zoning approval process, allow a property to be re-zoned to a higher use or a more intense level of development, thus adding value to the property, can “we the people”, ask in return from that property owner/developer, concessions, and the inclusion of some amenities for the greater good of society (e.g.; open space, sidewalks, lighting, trees, affordable housing units, etc?) Does my Christian duty to look out for the “least of these” (elderly, children, sick/infirm, homeless, “the aliens among you--remember you were aliens in Egypt”) inform my voice when I speak as Joe Citizen/”We, the people” when advocating for or against specific developments in my neighborhood? Or, stated in a more positive, proactive way: Can we, as individuals and collectively, through public advocacy, support the initiatives of government and other regulatory agencies in providing incentives to developers that will encourage them to provide/include/increase the number of public amenities and affordable housing units in their developments?
10. Are there opportunities to raise awareness and bring various entities together; engaging developers, the business community, government officials, church congregations and the larger community in a dialog to find solutions to our housing crisis?
11. Setting aside partisan politics and party allegiances: Do the words, acts and lifestyle of Jesus, as determined by a fair and impartial reading and interpretation of the biblical text, advocate for an amoral (and by this I mean morally neutral; I don’t mean immoral) unregulated, free-market to determine what is “the greater public good”, and the makeup and nature of my neighborhood? Or does it lean toward individual and corporate involvement in, scrutiny of, and perhaps intervention in (guided by a moral and ethical compass), the free-market economy and the existing social order?
Implied in the above questions are a whole range of specific actions and activities occurring behind the scenes; and gives a bigger picture of our advocacy work not obvious from the quick “YouTube” and news media sound bites. These are complex (and not very sexy) issues that do not lend themselves easily to coverage in the popular media.
We are very fortunate to have an enlightened City Council President, an extremely effective and informed deputy-Mayor for Housing, and a visionary City Planning Director. L. A. Voice has been promised a meeting with the Mayor of Los Angeles before he announces his housing policy in October. As we work with these government officials, Chamber of Commerce, developers, churches, the media and the Hollywood community to address the housing crisis, we genuinely believe we can, have had, and will continue to have, a real effect in our community.
By the way, housing is only one of many other neighborhood concerns L.A. Voice is addressing. Gang violence, affordable health care for children and other social justice issues are also on the agenda, L.A. Voice is a faith-based, non-denominational, non-partisan organization and does not promote a national agenda; but rather works with local congregations to pool their voices with other congregations so a given member church congregation has a larger “footprint” and influence in addressing that congregations’ local concerns and needs.
If these issues seem to favor a liberal agenda, that is simply because these are the issues raised by the local member congregations. Urban church concerns and urban politics tend to reflect the members who live and worship in urban areas. One could argue that affordable housing, affordable health-care for children and reducing gang-violence shouldn’t be partisan issues; but I am informed enough to realize how some can interpret these as partisan political issues,--perhaps influenced by the idea that any kind of government intervention in the free-market and existing social structure is somehow tampering with a certain “Manifest Destiny” or “God-given order”.
All I can say about my involvement is: being a fourth-generation Adventist, I have been involved in just about every kind of church program/activity one can think of; from Pathfinders to singing in the choir, from VBS to Maranatha building projects; from playing in the school band and various musical ensembles to serving on church and school boards; from Christmas caroling and ingathering (yes, I’m that old) around the church to passing out tracts and being a part of the local church team presenting public and satellite evangelistic meetings, and following up on Adventist media interest cards; from youth campouts and activities to Secular Campus Ministries leadership. Many of these activities were in the context of my years growing up in the Hollywood Church. Most of these, I have great, endearing memories; others, I cringe at the thought, and in retrospect think, “how disconnected with reality and the Hollywood community– downright cultic!”
As a fourth-generation Adventist, I often wonder, “What portion of this Adventist legacy would I want passed on to my three sons (ages 6-9)?” Will there even be a fifth generation; or will my church be so irrelevant to them that when their time comes, they will choose not to continue the legacy? With the type of initiatives we are trying at Hollywood, such as our involvement with social justice advocacy and L.A. Voice, I have hope that my church will still be relevant to them (my wife blogged about the effect one of our L.A. Voice community events had on our boys—I think the link is on Ryan Bell’s blog—I’m not my wife’s “friend” since I don’t have a Myspace account!), as they find meaning through service to God and humanity.
Perhaps the cynics are right, maybe we can’t change the world; but it sure beats warming up a pew one hour a week; and it's one heck of a way to “occupy ‘till He comes!”
Amazing how Neville had the same thoughts I contributed only a few comments earlier! Bright minds must think alike- cheers!
Posted by: Johnny A. Ramirez | August 02, 2007 at 06:53 PM