Verily, though our brothers and sisters may freeze to death, at least it won't be SOCIALISM!!!

Because we shouldn't be giving people who having nothing more free stuff

Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, the only fact we have. It seems to me that one ought to rejoice in the fact of death--ought to decide, indeed, to earn one's death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life. One is responsible for life: It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we shall return.

• James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

I frequently mock the practitioners of modern religion. Frankly, they’re richly deserving of such ridicule, philistines who claim the mantle of holiness but who wear only the soiled loincloth of assholery.

So when I encounter someone who lives their beliefs- and gets slapped down for it- it’s an honor to shine a light on them. So, say hello to Chris Avell, a pastor in Bryan, Ohio. Pastor Avell runs a small church called Dad’s Place. For those of you who don’t live in Palm Springs, you might have noticed that it’s been colder than Santa’s ball sack out there, and Pastor Avell felt moved to do what he could to keep the houseless in his community from, you know, freezing to death.

It’s been cold as hell in the Midwest for the last week — hell, it’s been freezing cold all over. We’re now back up to a balmy 22 degrees in here in Chicago, but it’s been below zero for days and thus pretty hard to not think of the fact that not everyone has a place to stay warm. So far there have been eight reported deaths [Ed. note- now at least ten] from hypothermia in Oregon, at least five in Seattle, four in Chicago, three in Milwaukee — and those are just the ones that made the news.

In other news: Chris Avell, a pastor in Bryan, Ohio, was arraigned last week for letting people stay at his church, Dad’s Place, instead of suffering out in the cold and possibly dying. Avell kept Dad’s Place open 24/7 to allow unhoused people to come in from the cold and get warm.

That sounds like a decent, Christian, and downright compassionate thing to do, yeah?

Well, we should keep in mind that no good deed goes unpunished.

Via Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

According to the city, Avell was sent a letter on Nov. 3 informing him the homeless were prohibited from sleeping at the church overnight. Avell ignored the letter, and during a New Year’s Eve service, police arrived and issued violations.

“Many of these people have been rejected by their families and cast aside by their communities. So, if the church isn’t willing to lay down its life for them, then who will? This is what we’re called to do,” Avell said in a Fox News interview.

Jeremy Dys, Avell’s attorney, called the city’s actions “unconscionable.”

“The city would rather kick these folks to the curb in the cold outdoor months of December and early January than allow the church to remain open 24/7 to those who need it the most,” Dys said.

The reason the city gave was that Dad’s Place is on the first floor in a business district, and Ohio does not allow first floor residences in business districts. The church is actually located next to a shelter and takes in some of the people that the other shelter can’t help.

Avell pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and says that for now the judge will allow the people to stay, and that he plans to keep Dad’s Place open throughout the rest of the winter.

This is where we should parse the “letter of the law/spirit of the law” conundrum. Sure, under normal circumstances, the letter of the law makes sense. Then again, under normal circumstances, Pastor Avell would have neither cause nor reason to put up the unhoused in his church…because the community would take it upon themselves to do so.

But when it’s well below freezing and conditions outdoors become a threat to human life, there becomes a point where the law is an ass (I’ll bet you didn’t think I knew Hamlet, didja??).

Would the city of Bryan want to enforce the letter of the law and be responsible for several people freezing to death on its streets? How could the city take such a monstrous position when Pastor Avell is willing to take in the houseless at no cost to taxpayers?

This is especially true when a Supreme Court ruling flies in the face of the city’s position.

Avell told Action News 13, “This is how I worship my God,” so hopefully all of the “religious freedom” types can take time out from their busy gay bashing schedules to help this guy exercise his. Hmm?

In 2009’s Martin v. Boise, the Ninth Circuit Court found that it is illegal for cops to do “sweeps” of the unhoused if there are not enough beds for all of them in the city (and in 2019, the Supreme Court chose to let that decision stand). In other words, they can’t kick people out when there is literally no other place for them to go.

The houseless have to be somewhere. Martin v. Boise (never mind common sense and compassion) says the city of Bryan can’t kick them out if there’s nowhere to go. The city can’t force them into the cold, where they face frostbite and other exposure injuries…not to mention the genuine possibility of death.

“This is how I worship my God.” Would that more American Christians could follow Pastor Avell’s example. Instead, we have Christofascists pretending Jesus Christ was a White Conservative Cisgender Heterosexual, armed to the teeth, Proudly Closed-minded Gun Control Foe © for whom compassion was an afterthought.

Precisely What Jesus Would Do, eh?? Yeah, youbetcha….

Pastor Avell is doing what he believes his faith calls him to do. Good for him. He’s pleaded not guilty, and the judge will allow the Pastor to continue doing what he’s been doing for at least the foreseeable future. As an officer of the court, the judge handling the case may be a steward of the law, but he’s also a human being who understands the need for compassion in the face of horribly adverse weather conditions.

If nothing else, the houseless of Bryan, OH, have the right not to freeze to death. That should be the most basic of talking points in this case. The city’s argument vis-a-vis the case law set down by Martin v. Boise can be argued when the weather doesn’t threaten the lives of those who are down and out.

Chris Avell was trying to give people a place to go — and the same principle that applied in Martin v. Boise should apply here. If those people have no place else to go, their interests and right to exist have to come before “zoning laws.”

In fact, there is a discussion to be had about whether or not the existence of these zones are hurting or helping. Cities all over are filled with empty storefronts in these districts, because zoning laws bar ground-floor apartments and there are not enough retail outlets, restaurants and salons to fill up every single storefront in these districts. So maybe these zoning laws need to be adjusted to allow Dad’s Place to continue operating and helping people.

Even back home in Portland, groups have experimented with using empty office space as houseless shelters. Some issues go along with that- keeping such spaces clean can be a nightmare, and the houseless aren’t always the best houseguests, but it’s a step in the right direction. Like many downtown cores, Portland has a surplus of empty office space in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That surplus of space has depressed the market for office space and forced real estate brokers to look for creative uses for empty spaces. In downtown Houston, some office space is being transitioned into apartments, and the same is beginning to happen in other downtown cores. Using some of the empty spaces for houseless shelters might make sense.

The biggest problem with this is that current zoning laws in many cities haven’t been updated to consider the current realities. In many cities, alternative churches like Dad’s Place can easily fall out of compliance. Then you might potentially have a situation like that Pastor Avell faced.

I applaud Pastor Avell for doing what he felt called by his faith to do- care for those in need, despite the law proving to be an ass. Sure, he could’ve obeyed the law…and who knows how many people might have frozen to death? Instead, he chose the compassionate and caring path many contemporary Christians would’ve forsaken.

For that, those of us who reject Christianity should honor Pastor Avell for living his faith. I may not share it, but I admire anyone who honestly endeavors to live the compassion, caring, love, inclusion, and tolerance that Jesus Christ taught.

We could all benefit from more of that.

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