medicineman
New Member
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+2]Homeless in America: [SIZE=+1]The Spiritual Dynamics of the Unmet Need to Belong[/SIZE][/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=+1]Exploring the Root Cause[/SIZE]
we are looked down upon as somehow subhuman..Have we caused the
Depression?Did we write the rule books about Capitalism? Did we choose
to be born in such a cruel country?..We are not the enemy,look to your
Bosses and your Banker for the one who holds your life in his hands.
Please grow up America and see that anyone can be rendered Homeless.".
For nearly four decades, America’s approach to social problems has been dominated by a scientific methodology and culture whose practical behaviors were independent of a more fundamental causal connection to the spiritual dynamics of the human person.
This scientific perspective, by denying the causal relationship between the spiritual and human behavior, substantially diminishes the perceived reality of the individual and transforms it into a rough caricature of itself. Devoid of spiritual content, freedom, and dignity, the individual is by methodological requirements reduced to a kind of ‘empty vessel’ whose sole function in the scheme of research is to act as a locus wherein social and economic forces interact and supposedly determine the course of one’s behavior.
Policy-makers, acting within this mechanistic framework, have tended to unduly magnify the role that material causation plays in determining the course of human conduct. Indeed, they have accepted the view that the cause of socially dysfunctional behaviors can be traced to an observed set of social and economic conditions that are correlated to each of these behaviors. Moreover, they have bought into the illusion that such behaviors can be rectified through the proper management of a complex system of incentives and disincentives designed to alleviate the impact these material conditions supposedly have on human conduct.
But, there is a basic fallacy here. The actual causes of behavior are not the same as the material conditions correlated to such behaviors. Correlations only reflect causal activity existing at some deeper level of human reality.
And so, the limitation of this science-based approach for prevention lies in its failure to recognize that there is an inherent spiritual dimension to human problems which is organically and causally related to the material conditions and behavior of the individual. The simple truth is that at their core social problems reflect a radical breakdown in fundamental human relationships (love, compassion, understanding, and mercy), and any attempt to prevent socially dysfunctional behaviors requires a strengthening of those spiritual relationships in the day-to-day life of individuals, families, neighborhoods, institutions, and ultimately human community.
Given the organic nature of human reality, then, it is imperative that we strive to develop a more comprehensive prevention strategy that will address the socio-economic conditions and behavior of the individual within the spiritual context in which they originate. This strategy of prevention need not be inconsistent with the constitutional separation of church and state. All that is required is that we ask deeper questions and strive to develop through reason a more profound understanding of the spiritual dynamics of human behavior as they unfold in the concrete lives of individuals.
Once this process has begun, leaders will then be able to engage the American people in the arduous, but liberating task of redefining the critical social issues of our day. Seemingly intractable problems will be seen within a richer and more complete human context and this new understanding will reveal greater possibilities for human betterment than today’s assumptions can provide. Finally, this new-found hope will serve as a catalyst for a national dialogue that will gradually usher in a new language of community, a new moral leadership, and a new political dynamic across the landscape of America a dynamic of prevention.
Already a mighty and revolutionary power with the potential to transform our culture lies dormant within the spiritual depths of each individual within their hopes and dreams, their existential desires and talents, and their intrinsic ‘crying out’ to belong with others in true human community and this spiritual energy is waiting patiently for the trumpets to call.
If America’s leaders can begin to tap into that source of strength and introduce subtle changes in the prevailing assumptions that shape how we think, act, create, and relate to one another a new creative dynamic will slowly be unleashed across the land that will engage the energies of all citizens in a concerted effort to care for and help one another in meaningful ways and unite them in the common pursuit of building the spiritual foundations of human community in America. Such is the healing power of love, compassion, understanding, and mercy in the hard, practical life of man. And such healing is the very nature of prevention.
[SIZE=+1]Exploring the Root Cause[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]Towards a Strategy of Prevention[/SIZE]
"Please help,we have been abandoned to the elements,outcast pariahs...we are looked down upon as somehow subhuman..Have we caused the
Depression?Did we write the rule books about Capitalism? Did we choose
to be born in such a cruel country?..We are not the enemy,look to your
Bosses and your Banker for the one who holds your life in his hands.
Please grow up America and see that anyone can be rendered Homeless.".
For nearly four decades, America’s approach to social problems has been dominated by a scientific methodology and culture whose practical behaviors were independent of a more fundamental causal connection to the spiritual dynamics of the human person.
This scientific perspective, by denying the causal relationship between the spiritual and human behavior, substantially diminishes the perceived reality of the individual and transforms it into a rough caricature of itself. Devoid of spiritual content, freedom, and dignity, the individual is by methodological requirements reduced to a kind of ‘empty vessel’ whose sole function in the scheme of research is to act as a locus wherein social and economic forces interact and supposedly determine the course of one’s behavior.
Policy-makers, acting within this mechanistic framework, have tended to unduly magnify the role that material causation plays in determining the course of human conduct. Indeed, they have accepted the view that the cause of socially dysfunctional behaviors can be traced to an observed set of social and economic conditions that are correlated to each of these behaviors. Moreover, they have bought into the illusion that such behaviors can be rectified through the proper management of a complex system of incentives and disincentives designed to alleviate the impact these material conditions supposedly have on human conduct.
But, there is a basic fallacy here. The actual causes of behavior are not the same as the material conditions correlated to such behaviors. Correlations only reflect causal activity existing at some deeper level of human reality.
And so, the limitation of this science-based approach for prevention lies in its failure to recognize that there is an inherent spiritual dimension to human problems which is organically and causally related to the material conditions and behavior of the individual. The simple truth is that at their core social problems reflect a radical breakdown in fundamental human relationships (love, compassion, understanding, and mercy), and any attempt to prevent socially dysfunctional behaviors requires a strengthening of those spiritual relationships in the day-to-day life of individuals, families, neighborhoods, institutions, and ultimately human community.
Given the organic nature of human reality, then, it is imperative that we strive to develop a more comprehensive prevention strategy that will address the socio-economic conditions and behavior of the individual within the spiritual context in which they originate. This strategy of prevention need not be inconsistent with the constitutional separation of church and state. All that is required is that we ask deeper questions and strive to develop through reason a more profound understanding of the spiritual dynamics of human behavior as they unfold in the concrete lives of individuals.
Once this process has begun, leaders will then be able to engage the American people in the arduous, but liberating task of redefining the critical social issues of our day. Seemingly intractable problems will be seen within a richer and more complete human context and this new understanding will reveal greater possibilities for human betterment than today’s assumptions can provide. Finally, this new-found hope will serve as a catalyst for a national dialogue that will gradually usher in a new language of community, a new moral leadership, and a new political dynamic across the landscape of America a dynamic of prevention.
Already a mighty and revolutionary power with the potential to transform our culture lies dormant within the spiritual depths of each individual within their hopes and dreams, their existential desires and talents, and their intrinsic ‘crying out’ to belong with others in true human community and this spiritual energy is waiting patiently for the trumpets to call.
If America’s leaders can begin to tap into that source of strength and introduce subtle changes in the prevailing assumptions that shape how we think, act, create, and relate to one another a new creative dynamic will slowly be unleashed across the land that will engage the energies of all citizens in a concerted effort to care for and help one another in meaningful ways and unite them in the common pursuit of building the spiritual foundations of human community in America. Such is the healing power of love, compassion, understanding, and mercy in the hard, practical life of man. And such healing is the very nature of prevention.
