Are You a Bad Person if You Give to the Homeless?

Pajamas Media ^ | 10/08/2014 | Robert Wargas

[oblomov]

“So here I am, standing on the corner of 14th and 4th, questioning my morality. “

There must be a better streetcorner to question your morality than in the heart of Greenwich Village.

[Gamecock]

My method for homeless Vets:

Where did you do basic?
Who was your Drill Sergeant, DI, etc?

If they can’t answer or stumble they won’t get the time of day. I’ve had them say they don’t remember their DS, give me the name of a place that doesn’t have basic. These are things you don’t forget.

BTW, Fort Knox, KY. 1985. DS Fizer. B-19-4.

[scouter]

I generally try to give to those who ask, without assuming the worst about them. I don't always do it, and perhaps not even most of the time. But I do frequently. I've asked myself the question many times if I'm just enabling them.

But then I realize that Jesus is their judge, not me. I have to act according to the facts in front of me. If I'm being scammed, then that's on them, not on me. And in that case, they're still poor... only in a spiritual sense, and they are really in danger of losing their soul. So I say a prayer for them, too. Either way, I'm giving them something they can't get themselves, whether it be money, or spiritual aid.

And so I do it judiciously. I don't forget that my wife and kids have the first claim on my money. If I'm meeting my obligations to them, then I can give something to a stranger who appears to need it. If they need lunch... well, I'm fat enough to go without lunch today.

I don't remember Jesus ever telling us to ask the beggar what he's going to use the money for before we give it to him.

[dfwgator]

I rarely even carry cash these days, problem solved.

[dfwgator]

“I was in...Sang Bang... Dang Gong... I was all over the place, a lot of places.” What unit? “I was with the Green Berets, Special Unit Battalions... Commando Airborne Tactics... Specialist Tactics Unit Battalion. Yeah, it was real hush hush. I was Agent Orange, Special Agent Orange, that was me.”

[Guyin4Os]

Giving money to “homeless” people almost always causes them harm.

[Salvation]

Don’t give them money — give them food or food vouchers.

[Tennessee Nana]

not if the homeless guy is called Obama...

[Objective Scrutator]

Liberals care less about the homeless and more about enslaving the wealthy and middle-class to do their bidding, so I’m not surprised to read about how the homeless man had no money.

That being said, directly giving money with no strings attached to the homeless is a terrible idea, as it just feeds into the entitlement mentality and tells the homeless (and other people) that you can make money just by being poor and making appeals to the flag. Many of the homeless are lying when they say they are veterans (to say nothing about panhandlers), so Mr. Wargas may have been frauded anyways.

I would give the homeless directions to a place which could give him a hand up, rather than a handout. If the homeless complain about that, then starving on the streets might be an appropriate fate for them.

[Tennessee Nana]

If a guy has a sign that he is a vet I just tell him where the nearest VA is..

too often the guy is lying about serving..

its sad but it happens a lot...

Ive had people argue with me that Im being awful to a vet for not giving him money and had the guy admit to the other person hes not really a vet and then watched the person pull out money and give it to the con artist..

“Well he has a sign”

[arthurus]

You are, indeed, a bad person if you give to the homeless. When you do that you are denying the Government's competence in the matter of taking care of the oppressed. Instead of giving to the homeless you should use your resources to agitate for more taxes to pay for more programs for the homeless.

In Communists countries private charity is illegal for that reason. It is an affront to the stipulated omnicompetence of the Party and the Government.

[Salvation]

Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy (Ecumenical)

The Spiritual Works of Mercy [Catholic Caucus]
The Corporal Works of Mercy [Catholic Caucus]
Lists Every Catholic Should be Familiar With: The 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy
Lists Every Catholic Should be Familiar With: The 7 Corporal Works of Mercy
Catholic Caucus: Spiritual Works of Mercy
Introduction to the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
The Spiritual Works of Mercy
The Corporal Works of Mercy
Lest We Forget - The Corporal Works of Mercy & The Spirtual Works of Mercy
Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy

 

[Salvation]

The 7 Corporal Works of Mercy
To feed the hungry
To give drink to the thirsty
To clothe the naked
To shelter the homeless
To visit the sick
To visit the imprisoned
To bury the dead

[Vaduz]

To guide them to do the same.

[kenmcg]

Many of these so-called homeless beggars are phonies with extensive criminal records. Recall one day seeing a beggar with a can and a sign proclaiming “will work for food”, offered him a job cleaning the yard, but he wanted nothing to do with it. Recall a few years ago a young NYPD cop observed a homeless man with no shoes. The cop took the man to a shoe store and bought him work boots. It turned out the homeless guy went shoeless as part of his act of “homelessness”, and made a good living begging and actually lived in a middle class apartment.

[thefactor]

As an NYPD officer for over a decade, let me say:

1) The vast majority of beggers are lying.

2) They only write "God" on their cardboard because they know religious people give more.

3) Most of those who say they served, didn't.

4) They CAN sleep in a warm bed every night. Some simply choose not to.

5) They eat every meal for free, every day.

6) Most make over $100/day begging. Cash. Untaxed. Every. Day.

[Uncle Miltie]

You get what you pay for.

So, if you give cash to a drunk on the street, don’t be surprised if you find more drunks on the street looking for a handout.

When a skinny homeless guy is trolling the garbage cans for dinner, I’ll buy him a burger, shake and fries in person. That’s as far as I’ll go.

I’ll also give to the religiously based homeless shelter that requires improved behavior in order to get in.

Otherwise, I gave at the IRS.

[lacrew]

Good Points.

But some panhandlers are outright frauds. As in walk a few streets over and hop in their late model minivan to drive home at the end of the day.

And I saw a fascinating documentary on heroin addicts in Denver a few months ago. They would panhandle all day for drug money. One girl even stuck her belly out and put ‘pregnant and homeless’ on the sign. Several had a dog with them, as it increased their daily haul (something I have witnessed in person many times). Were these people homeless? - Yes, most heroin addicts eventually get to that point. Is giving them money charity? or enabling?

The documentary implied that the majority of panhandlers in Denver were addicts - and heroin addiction often results in death - so you may be enabling a very self destructive behavior. Whose to judge? I don’t know.

Two homeless people once approached me as I left a gas station. They said they needed money for food. I went back in and bought some sandwiches and tried to give it to them. They got very combative and started shouting at me and each other...but they certainly did not want the sandwich.

Its an age old problem. Our local homeless shelter doesn’t let people in if they are drunk or stoned...so they go into the woods nearby and live in camps. When conditions get bad enough, they go to the shelter. But being sober is not one of their goals.