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Originally Posted by blabare
I moved here 2 years ago. When moving to the "bible belt", I would think you would all be helping the homeless, not giving excuses like "I dont owe the guy on the street anything". I just dont get it.
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A lot of us do. It's just that poverty in America and poverty as described in the Bible, in my opinion are two very different things. In Biblical times, if you were born a slave, a pauper, whatever, that's basically what you were going to be, thus, helping the poor was something which humanely, was the only choice. No matter what you did though, those poor folks would always be poor folks regardless of their choices in life.
On the other hand, in America, it's not all that difficult to go from the bottom of society to the middle. It's entirely possible to go from the middle to the top. Our society is replete with rags to riches stories. Every single one of those stories (except actors, they don't count) has something to do with hard work, discipline and determination.
The guy asking me for money for a "bus ticket" at the local gas station could have just as easily been down at the standby work lot, getting money for odd jobs, going through Workforce Oklahoma to find work, etc. Instead, he
chooses to harass innocent people who are just trying to buy gas. This guy is not poor in the Biblical sense. His situation is not without hope. He's there either through his own stupidity or bad luck. This society, unlike other places in the world will still give such a person the choice to dig themselves out of that hole.
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These are still PEOPLE that need help one way or another. Having police come stop panhandling isnt going to do anything. They just move down the street. Why don't we find a way to get them off the street one way or another.
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Better question -- why don't THEY find a way to get themselves off the street?