War on Poverty at 50: Religion's Roots and Lessons

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-i-pinsky/war-on-poverty-at-50_b_4558635.html

Mark I. Pinsky
Author, journalist

Posted: 01/08/2014 8:56 am

HOT SPRINGS, North Carolina

The 50th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson's launch of the War on Poverty reminds us how intractable that effort can be, despite the hope and determined idealism when the legislation was signed.

Appalachia was one of the targets for the newly-established Office of Economic Opportunity, utilizing programs like Head Start and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). This anniversary also recalls how religion has motivated, shaped and sustained this effort, in many ways prefiguring the campaign, in both its successes and failures here, as well as in its limitations.

For more than two centuries, the these southern mountains have been a magnet for missionaries, both religious and secular, all determined to wipe out poverty, hunger and ignorance -- whether the region's benighted folk wanted them to or not. Their too-common failing, local people say, is that the erstwhile do-gooders have not respected the strong beliefs and culture that already existed.

With the best intentions, altruists and uninvited agents of uplift have come with their social gospel of "fixing" local people. That is, to wean them from violence and the debilitating use of alcohol, while bringing their brand of faith, along with education, nutrition and improved living standards. Invariably well-meaning, these efforts have typically ended in disappointment and frustration.

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