I believe that part of the work of faith is to learn and grow so that over time our perspective shifts and we can see more fully God’s dream for the world. Sometimes this shift happens through scripture reading, building relationships, serving in love, and studying theology. And sometimes this shift can happen while watching tv.
I grew up in the 1980’s when the War on Drugs was in full swing. I learned to Just Say No and what my brain would look like on drugs- a fried egg. Over time, as marijuana became legal in Oregon and the culture around me changed I found that I still held lots of beliefs about drugs and more importantly law enforcement that I learned in childhood. Like that drug users were criminals and the police were helping people by disrupting drug sales. As I aged I began to see drug use as a disease and let go of that criminal side of things, but I still saw law enforcement as inherently good in the war on drugs.
But then I watched We Own This City on HBO about the Baltimore police department’s Gun Trace Task Force and the culture around arresting people on false charges just to get them off the streets as a means to prevent murder. The culture of the police department was shocking and one of the teachers at the police academy said the most illuminating thing, “In a war you have to have enemies.”
His point is that when we see people as an enemy we stop seeing them as people. In the show we see 2 guys arrested for simply sitting on their front steps. Another man is arrested walking home after work when the bus broke down, he loses that job when he can’t get to work on time the next day, furthering a cycle of poverty. Instead of looking at the causes of violence and poverty in this community the leadership of the city decided that illegal and inhumane treatment of its citizens was the best way to bring the murder rate down. Unsurprisingly this didn’t work and contributed to corruption and entitlement within the ranks. I have begun to see that the War on Drugs is really a war on black people. And that if we want to set people free from drug addiction our policies and policing must radically change.
What I thought has changed. My perspective has broadened and I understand that we have to do much deeper than Just Say No to a place of deep care for other beloved children of God. I am thankful for the ways that stories can change our view points and I encourage you to engage with media, books, and ideas outside of your comfort zone so that we can all continue to expand our perspectives.
-Eilidh
If you want to read more about the War on Drugs and how we can advocate for healthy change here are some resources:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/06/end-war-drugs-and-promote-policies-rooted-human-rights-un-experts
https://www.aclu.org/issues/smart-justice/sentencing-reform/end-war-drugs
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