It's just that I'm pissed off that I was replaced by a man who [i:5c1c53729f]really was[/i:5c1c53729f] taken in, and is in more of a position to be made materially and psychologically dependant on TFI than I was. When I worked for them, I had a substantial savings in the bank and my involvement with them was never a matter of my needing a place to stay. He [i:5c1c53729f]did[/i:5c1c53729f] need a place to stay and he isn't even a believer! His introduction to TFI was pretty much his introduction to the Bible. He's easier to manipulate than I am. He has no religious programming to unlearn. Yes, it makes me angry. I beg your pardon, once again.

Right after I wrote that last one I turned on the TV to try and get my mind offf of things and guess what was on on TNT? [i:40fa82b374]The Wizard of Oz[/i:40fa82b374], cued right up to the scene where Dorothy and her friends approach the Wizard and he's telling them that they must prove their worthiness to him by performing a simple task. Reminds me of that [i:40fa82b374]Prime Time Live[/i:40fa82b374] interview...the irony is maddening. I can't get over the irony!

Quote
zeuszor
It's just that I'm pissed off that I was replaced by a man who [i:0ec2a8220a]really was[/i:0ec2a8220a] taken in, and is in more of a position to be made materially and psychologically dependant on TFI than I was. When I worked for them, I had a substantial savings in the bank and my involvement with them was never a matter of my needing a place to stay. He [i:0ec2a8220a]did[/i:0ec2a8220a] need a place to stay and he isn't even a believer! His introduction to TFI was pretty much his introduction to the Bible. He's easier to manipulate than I am. He has no religious programming to unlearn. Yes, it makes me angry. I beg your pardon, once again.

Well, for you that is the issue. It does sound like TFI did not deal with you fairly in this matter, but that does not mean they can take in all of the homeless people from east Dallas.

[b:dc63b66f62]ANTHONY[/b:dc63b66f62]: Of course not.

I am a sold-out Christian. I‘ve taken a vow of poverty. I get $55 a week, plus room and board. And so do the people that work for Trinity. We take the homeless in, but we take them into our homes, not into a shelter. J.C. Joyce said that purpose—that they were not a charity. They were a church.

[b:dc63b66f62]ANTHONY[/b:dc63b66f62]: Evangelical Christianity, according to a Christian surveyor, out of 100 population groups in America, is third from the bottom, beat out only by prostitutes and drug dealers. Something is wrong with the portrayal of Christianity as seen on television.

And what is wrong is, we‘re not meeting the needs of the homeless.

We‘re not meeting the needs of the least of these, my brethren.
[/b]


Of course TFI can't single-handedly (so to speak) solve the problem of homelessness and vagrancy in the barrio. My point is, they tend to represent themselves as if they are advocates for the poor and displaced, a fully qualified 501-c(3) organization, when in reality, they as a body do little; nobody from TFI ever took any homeless into their homes while [i:dc63b66f62]I[/i:dc63b66f62] was around. They realize that they can't do anything to help somebody who is not willing to help him/herself, and that much of the issue is beyond their influence to do anything about...in fairness, I have witnessed Pete bring homeless into the Lair for a meal and some encouragement. There's a lot of people that are sent there by the courts to do community-service work. I have seen Pete[i:dc63b66f62] the individual [/i:dc63b66f62]bring in certain homeless persons for a meal, a shower, some kindness. But as far as an organized outreach to the homeless or some such, bringing people into individual homes, no. That does not happen. They refer most to a local shelter or boarding house. This is in my experience there.

Again, there are homeless sleeping in alleys withing fifty yards of the Block and who is doing anything for them, except the police, who are harrassing them from one neighborhood to the next when they don't tourists to have to look at them? My only point was, it seems phony to promote themselves as advocates for the homeless when in reality TFI itself as an organization does next to nothing about it. When Ole says, " We take the homeless in, but we take them into our homes, not into a shelter. " That is a lie.[/i]

Do you realize that this thread has gotten more hits in the last six months or so than the "Australian Cult" thread has gotten in the [i:f85316d052]last year and a half?[/i:f85316d052]

Not more than, almost as many.

Quote
zeuszor
Of course TFI can't single-handedly (so to speak) solve the problem of homelessness and vagrancy in the barrio. My point is, they tend to represent themselves as if they are advocates for the poor and displaced, a fully qualified 501-c(3) organization, when in reality, they as a body do little; nobody from TFI ever took any homeless into their homes while [i:9e809aa153]I[/i:9e809aa153] was around. They realize that they can't do anything to help somebody who is not willing to help him/herself, and that much of the issue is beyond their influence to do anything about...in fairness, I have witnessed Pete bring homeless into the Lair for a meal and some encouragement. There's a lot of people that are sent there by the courts to do community-service work. I have seen Pete[i:9e809aa153] the individual [/i:9e809aa153]bring in certain homeless persons for a meal, a shower, some kindness. But as far as an organized outreach to the homeless or some such, bringing people into individual homes, no. That does not happen. They refer most to a local shelter or boarding house. This is in my experience there.

Again, there are homeless sleeping in alleys withing fifty yards of the Block and who is doing anything for them, except the police, who are harrassing them from one neighborhood to the next when they don't tourists to have to look at them? My only point was, it seems phony to promote themselves as advocates for the homeless when in reality TFI itself as an organization does next to nothing about it. When Ole says, " We take the homeless in, but we take them into our homes, not into a shelter. " That is a lie.[/i]

I guess it's kind of like everything else with Trinity--they are resting on their past laurels. When I was there we did do things for the homeless and poor, including actually taking them into our homes in some cases. In a lot of ways Trinity still seems to be stuck in the early 1990s, still focused on the glory of a TV investigation they participated in 15 years ago.

Sad.

In case you were wondering: the man who replaced me was taken in through a friend-of-a-friend kind of thing; he was not taken in from a local shelter. Same with the woman referred to in the Lockwood cotton-candy piece...she was displaced and taken in by TFI, but not through a shelter. She knew somebody that knewsomebody that knew Ole. Same with Frank Bono. Thet were all taken in because of mutual friends, NOT because TFI wanted to take somebody in off the street.

[b:b8a57cad80]Anthony lives simply. In exchange for his work, he receives $55 per week, plus room and board. He resides in a quiet neighborhood in east Dallas and opens his home to those in need. It's a commitment to hospitality that other Trinity Foundation supporters share.

"We take the homeless in, but we take them into our homes -- not into a shelter," he said. A few ended up on the streets after giving their money to TV preachers, Anthony said.
[/b:b8a57cad80]


Good Lord. A commitment to hospitality? Here's Ole lying again...keep in mind, this piece of caramel in print was published just last July, while I was still living there. It makes me sick to my stomach.

Quote
zeuszor
In case you were wondering: the man who replaced me was taken in through a friend-of-a-friend kind of thing; he was not taken in from a local shelter. Same with the woman referred to in the Lockwood cotton-candy piece...she was displaced and taken in by TFI, but not through a shelter. She knew somebody that knewsomebody that knew Ole. Same with Frank Bono. Thet were all taken in because of mutual friends, NOT because TFI wanted to take somebody in off the street.

This is part of why the Dallas Project was so naive. People who really fit the definition of street people are usually dealing with other issues besides economic displacement--most of the time it is drug addiction, and in a significant number of cases it is severe mental illness, like schizophrenia. Often, it is both. People like that are best helped by people with special training through programs established for that purpose.

The kind of people that someplace like Trinity could help are people like the ones you describe--folks that are otherwise functional but that happen to be at loose ends for one reason or another. I think it's commendable if Trinity helps people like that, and I know of many other churches that perform similar things. However, it has nothing to do with addressing then entrenched societal problems that result in poverty and homelessness. It is bogus for Ole to act like he has started a new social order or that he is going to foment a revolution in the social welfare system. That's just more of him jumping up and down and shouting, "Look at me! Look at me!"