Not a single voice from Anchorage’s faith community was raised pro or con at the June 22 Assembly meeting which addressed amending Assembly Ordinance 2010-43. This ordinance governs the clearing of homeless camps in Anchorage. As amended it now provides five business days notice before the camps may be cleared.

At the June 8 Assembly Meeting, there was faith community testimony and support for longer notice times. The Assembly postponed further action until June 22 to allow for further deliberation.

With tens of thousands of members of the faith community in Anchorage, one would think at least one member of the faith community, Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, would have offered an opinion as to how their faith would be willing to address this issue. Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) seems to be the standard solution for business, professional, and faith leaders. As a Christian writer, I’m totally surprised, given the nature of Christ’s remarks about who will inherit the kingdom, the Christian faith community was absent and silent.

How many more deaths will it take until we face up to the reality of this problem, and that we all have a responsibility to our fellow man to address it?

Go here for a stark replay of the Assembly’s debate and action in this mini-drama.

Our Fairbanks neighbors to the north seem to be experiencing the same problem and the same apathy toward forwarding meaningful solutions, especially from the faith community. I’m guessing all those social gospel sermons heard from so many pulpits in Anchorage have fallen on deaf ears.