Well, I'm here in my apartment, comfy-cozy and well-fed, having enjoyed the blessings of middle-class life in America. I'm one of the fortunate in this country who have, so far, made it - at least as far as our culture is concerned.
What of those that aren't so fortunate, where the economy has thrown them under the proverbial busses, trains, and any other moving techological "thing"? How do we treat them?
This article answers part of that question. Many cities are now banning feeding the homeless, with threats of fines and imprisonment for those that dare to follow Jesus' example. What if He were around today? If He tried his five-loaves-and-two-fish feat in Las Vegas, He would be jailed.
There are no excuses, morally or otherwise, for our nation's collective selfishness. I suspect, however, that you'll get the following reasons from those that defend these laws:
>>In the case of Las Vegas, their entire economy is based on tourism, which is heavily influenced on civic image and reputation. Pictures of homeless people standing next to the MGM Grand Hotel's entrance on the news, and stories of said homelessness being brought back home by the tourists, are probably what the city's forefathers are trying to avoid. Image is everything to them and the casinos - so sweep out the "trash" with the iron hand.
>>I used to live in Santa Cruz, and stories were abundant of nearby cities and towns that would ship their transients by bus to the compassionate confines of Surf City. Reasons given for this "transient transfer" included those city's lack of resources (or willingness to find said resources) for contending with the problem.
>>In the case of New York City, one of the reasons given for the ban was that the food given to the homeless didn't meet nutritional standards. (I'll pause for a minute to wait for the laughs to subside.)
Nutritional standards - such as the ability to sustain life? The real reason is the same as what I attribute to the fine city of Las Vegas - Bloomberg is trying to improve the city's image by using the Iron Hand to sweep out the "trash".
Here in America. In this fine Christian country - where we do such a good job at tuning out His message.
