Garth Minott | Respect for the homeless

HOMELESSNESS, WHICH is not having a place to call home, was brought into stark reality earlier this year. Six homeless persons on the streets of the Corporate Area were brutally murdered. In response, President of the Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC), Reverend Newton Dixon, reaffirmed the importance of respect for life. He said the council mourns the loss of life of all persons and in particular “the heinous killing of five homeless persons”. He went on to say, “The Council calls on our nation, inclusive of its political directorate, the church, civil society, young people and school children, to utilise all relevant fora in our country, churches and communities, to ... embed in the soul of the nation the seeds of neighbourliness towards all, and unequivocal care and compassion towards the vulnerable, powerless and poor.”

Such brutal killing of poor and vulnerable persons in the society merits the call of all well-thinking Jamaicans to practise care and compassion. Any modern society which desires development for all persons, especially the most vulnerable, must, as the JCC president says, “resolve that it is in all of our interests to show mercy even as we petition God for mercy and pardon”. A common confession is in order as a response to such brutal act of murder and as we affirm the biblical injunction to love and respect all people (I Thess 3:12; Gal 6:10; I Cor 10:32; Rom 12:17-18; Phil 4:5). Not only is this cowardly act of murdering the homeless inhumane and unconscionable, it is also disrespecting of and a desecration of the lives of people made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:27-28; I Cor 4:14-17).

Readers may know of Jesus’ words in St Luke 9:58, in which he pointed to his choice of being homelessness as follows, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Jesus is not so much extolling the virtues of homelessness but the invitation to be on the mission field for God. This calling to affirm the humanity of all people is what irks people of goodwill. Jesus chose homelessness to do God’s work and to affirm God’s goodness for the most vulnerable. Where such goodness is breached or undermined, respect is lost and we are called to weep and mourn our failure to attain humanity’s highest good of living out the image of God.

St Matthew 5:4 speaks of mourning as a means to an end. It says, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” In this context, Matthew presents the words of Jesus concerning mourning as a means of respect and affirmation of those who wish to live a more humane life. Every person mourns, especially at the death of someone. Mourning, as a response to the brutal murders of the homeless, is a sign of solidarity and affirmation of the sacredness or value of all life. Failure to mourn in this way carries on the attitude of disrespect for those not in our immediate family or collegial circle. The Jesus way proposes collective mourning, so we learn to live with the loss with a pledge to respect the vulnerable, so as not to repeat the brutal action in the future.

Respect for life is affirmation of self and others. It is highlighted by well-known social justice activist Horace Levy in the book They Cry Respect. Levy demonstrates that where a person lives, even on the street, is no reason for disrespect, much more murder. It is true that barbarism has been a characteristic of our nation’s life since 1864 when the British took control from the Spanish. Yet, even during resistance under enslavement, our people demonstrated compassion for the most vulnerable, especially children and the elderly. This compassion, born out of respect for others, must be replicated across the society.

A society built on barbarism similar to that of enslavement will change its trajectory if there is a resolve to learn from the past. Such lessons as economic deprivation and the need for reparative justice hold the potential to build a much more just and humane society, in which there is respect for the most vulnerable. Likewise, in the same way Jesus became vulnerable as a homeless person in order to become a good missionary, it is the same way the homeless have knowledge and skills, are endowed with the divine gifts of compassion and solidarity and can teach others who fail to care. Indeed, if we so choose, we can learn from the homeless to respect the vulnerable and commit to collectively address the structural barriers of class, race and status which continue to deprive over 2,000 persons a place to call home.

If the change in brutality in our society, especially towards the homeless, is to be achieved, then we must collectively mourn the continued loss of life of fellow Jamaicans, and homeless persons in particular. The results of the police investigations into the murders must be made public, and our mourning collectively must be a demonstration of respect. Such mourning is the reason Jamaicans say ‘respect due’ in giving honour to others, or, we ‘pay our last respects’ when we view the dead body prior to a funeral. Respect for the homeless who died tragically and engaging in collective mourning for them is one way to learn from our history of brutality. This respect is able to help us embark on a process of building a much more humane society in which people can live, work, raise families and do business.

Canon Garth Minott is deputy president, United Theological College of the West Indies. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com .