An Analogy: Bethlehem as a Burning Building

This analogy helps capture how I feel about the problems at Bethlehem. I found it helpful to have a visual image.

I picture Bethlehem as a tall apartment building. Smoke is billowing from one side of the building. It seems like there's a fire somewhere. There's a crowd of burn victims staggering out that side of the building. They're coughing from the smoke, they have burns, their clothing is singed. They are the walking wounded, and some of them have told their stories publicly. Other people with severe burns are in the ICU. They have even deeper injuries, and many of them aren't sharing their stories publicly. They're in counseling, trying to recover and heal.

Mickey and I saw the smoke and went to investigate. We talked to some burn victims, looked at the smoke and structural damage we could see, and wrote our letter. We went first to the elders to say, "There's a fire! Call the fire department. Bethlehem needs help." But the elders deny there's a fire, even though (it seems to me) it's their actions and inactions which have caused the fire.

We then shared our letter (and 1-month follow-up and blog posts) publicly. "This building isn't safe. People have been burned here. The building is now structurally unsound. Please get out before you get hurt." Some people believed us, but many people said, "I don't see any smoke. You guys are overreacting." Others said, "You shouldn't be saying these things publicly." Some said, "Things seem fine on Sunday mornings. Maybe you guys are mistaken."

To which I want to respond, "Look at the smoke! Look at the structural damage. Please go listen to the burn victims. I can't share the stories from the people in the ICU, but they're severely injured."

And yet many people have chosen to stay in the building. Maybe their units face the other direction, and they can't see the smoke from their window. Maybe they don't know any of the burn victims personally. Maybe all their friends live down the hall, and they are reluctant to leave. This apartment building has a nice gym, good children's programs, good teaching; why leave all those benefits behind? Some have lived in their units for 10 or 20 years. It's hard to move and start over.

But by staying, they communicate to others (both inside and outside) that this a safe building. There are now some vacancies - why not move in next door? By choosing to stay, they send the message that this is a good place to live. Granted, some of them will probably escape harm. Maybe they'll live in their unit for 5 years, avoid the smoke, and then move out, without having been directly harmed themselves. And yet by staying (whatever their motivations), they give the impression that the building is safe. Their actions put not just themselves, but also others at risk of harm.

What is so painful is that we thought people would listen. We thought if we pointed out problems, people would be troubled by them. We thought if we drew attention to the burn victims, people would be really concerned that they were harmed in their very same building. It's painful to sound an alarm, and have people ignore it.

I'm grieved that so many people have chosen to stay in the building, but I'm most grieved by the elders' actions (and inactions). They are responsible for the safety of the building. By denying the severity of the problems, and shutting down the many people who tried to raise the alarm, they are putting people in harm's way.

In the process of trying to raise the alarm, we got wounded ourselves. Now we're coughing from the smoke and staggering out and recovering from burns. How many more people have to be wounded at Bethlehem before people recognize that the building is on fire?