Right now, in one of the most powerless and vulnerable groups, we are living through a holocaust of violence and murder.

In the year 2024, in the wealthiest country in the world, we are living through a holocaust of violence and murder against one of the most powerless and vulnerable groups. This group is the unhoused, and every night, hundreds of them die in the cold. Every day, thousands are beaten, raped, and otherwise brutalized by law enforcement and the citizens they are sworn to protect and serve. Every month, thousands more are rounded up and tossed into cages, their lives destroyed because they tried to ease their suffering with "illegal" drugs. The share of the social services budget allocated to this demographic is miniscule when compared to the funds spent on law enforcement, the judicial system, and prisons. The United States, the wealthiest country in the world, is deliberately allowing hundreds of thousands of its citizens to die in the streets, in the cold, starving, thirsty, sick, elderly, young, disabled, and suffering in a level of depravity that has been unknown in the first world for a century or longer. <br><br>This is happening right now, outside your door. It's happening in a democracy, under the watch of billlions. It's being ignored and justified every day by the same voices that proclaim their godly love and compassion. If you are in the US, you see these people every day. If you work, if you go to school, if you go to the supermarket, if you drive, if you work, you SEE these people every day. If you go to church, if you go to temple, if you go to a synagogue, you are being lied to by your god. Jesus would rather see the wealthy tax collector burn than watch one of the least of these suffer this. <br><br>This is a holocaust in our very streets. This is nothing short of genocide. I am not shouting "This is nothing short of genocide" just to be triggering or provocative; I am saying it because it is true. Genocide doesn't only have to be because of race or religion - it simply is the deliberate destruction of an entire class or group of people. By any definition, what we as a country are doing right now fits perfectly into that category.<br><br>The first thing that a fascistic government always does when they come to power is dehumanize the least of these. And we cannot let that happen. We cannot let these people be denied their inherent human value, the inherent human value that each and every one of us shares. And while you may see us as the "other," you see see us as the enemy, you can do what you want, but you cannot take away our humanity, our inherent value as human beings. God does not make us lesser, because we are homeless. God does not make us lesser because we are addicted to a substance. God does not make us lesser because we are disabled. God does not make us lesser because we cannot afford healthcare or food or a home or education or opportunity. We are not the "other." We are not animals. We are not monsters. And we are not the enemy.<br><br>We are human. We are your neighbor and every bit your equal. <br><br>And this is a holocaust. <br><br>I'm tearing up writing this because I know that it will almost certainly fall on deaf ears. I know that posting this and speaking truth will likely land me nothing but downvotes, and possibly a ban. Meta doesn't allow "triggering" content, remember? We can't say certain words. <br><br>And if you're triggered by the word holocaust, then imagine how it feels to BE HOMELESS. Imagine having nothing, owning nothing, being "illegally" tossed into a freezing jail cell for three days because you were trying to stay warm in a fast food restaurant. Imagine your name never making the news. Imagine you didn't have a name. Imagine being rounded up by law enforcement and forcibly relocated to the middle of nowhere so that a wealthy person can build a house in the city because the police don't want you to show up to their pity party, to get in the way of their "godly" works, to make THEM feel bad. Imagine being laid down on the bare concrete in one of our "for profit" hospitals, dying, alone, your last words heard by no one but yourself. <br><br>This is happening now. This is the United States right now. <br><br>I'm tearing up because I've lived it myself. I can't afford healthcare. I can't afford food. I can't afford a winter jacket. I'm disabled, and unable to work, and a single spelling mistake or misformatted resume gets me instantly disqualified for even the most basic of jobs. <br><br>This is America right now. This is YOU. <br><br>You have a choice. You may work, you may go to school, you may make six figures, you may run a company or run for office or run a mega-church filled with thousands. You may be able to comfortably afford everything you need to not only survive but thrive.<br><br>Or you may be me. <br><br>And if you are not me, if you are one of the haves, if you are thriving, if you are warm, if you are fed, if you are healthy, if you are loved, if you are safe, you have a choice. <br><br>You can help us. <br><br>Or you can murder us. <br><br>Because right now, right now, you are all Judas. You are killing us for thirty pieces of silver. You are turning away when we ask for bread, and instead giving a stone. You are turning away when we are suffering, and perpetuating even more suffering because you are afraid that they will come for you next.<br><br>"It's not my problem." <br><br>"It's not my place." <br><br>"They're addicts." <br><br>"They're lazy." <br><br>"They're subhuman." <br><br>"They're animals." <br><br>"They're the other." <br><br>"They're not my equal." <br><br>"They're not my neighbor." <br><br>"They're not my problem."<br><br>You have a choice. You are Judas. <br><br>And Judas went out and hanged himself.<br><br>The only difference between Judas and you is that Judas loved his neighbor. The only difference is that Judas was overcome with grief and sorrow when he realized what he had done. <br><br>I don't know where you are spiritually. I don't know what god or gods you worship, if any. I don't know if you believe in karma or the concept of hell, if you believe in an afterlife at all. I don't know if you have been taught to fear or love or reject the idea of a higher power. <br><br>But I do know that if you can see a human being suffer and die on the streets, and shrug, and move on, and do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, I know that there is no hell good enough for you. There is no pit in hell hot enough. There is no venomous serpent in hell poisonous enough. <br><br>I do not care if you believe in heaven or hell. I don't care if you believe in karma or an afterlife. I don't care if you believe in anything. <br><br>Because if you are warm and fed and healthy and loved and safe and thriving while hundreds of thousands of your neighbors are starving, thirsty, dying, homeless, and suffering, if you are thriving while the least of these are being rounded up and tossed into cages, being beaten, starved, and killed, then you are not my equal. <br><br>You are not my neighbor. <br><br>And you are certainly not loved by any god I have ever read of. <br><br>But you still have a choice. <br><br>You can see us. You can see ME. You can see the least of these. <br><br>You can love us. You can love ME. You can love the least of these. <br><br>Or you can take your thirty pieces of silver and hang yourself.