The Noble Profession of Begging
Jesus said the poor are ever with us. Some politicians in the U.S. and China, in spite of what Jesus taught, claim they want to eliminate poverty by redistributing other people’s income. Their real goal is to make everyone but themselves equally poor so the poor can cry out for help and they can better control the masses. You can believe the politicians will not give up their wealth to help the poor. What they want to do is to make most people poor. If people are given food stamps, rent supplements and cash payments they will more likely vote for the great leaders who can then enrich themselves at the expense of the masses. Did not Joe Biden become wealthy in government service? If he could why not them? The great leaders are also fond giving tax refunds to people who do not pay taxes and federal welfare known as SSI in exchange for votes.
With all these government benefits why are there thousands of beggars on the street corners of nearly every city and town in the United States? The leftists will tell you they are desperate without knowing what government aid they are receiving. We have read some research that indicates that leftists, progressives, liberals or whatever they want to be called are not very generous when it comes to giving to charitable organizations. Unless of course they can figure out a way to give other people’s money to charity.
There are signs in a nearby county at intersections urging people not to give money to beggars. The signs further state that government services are available for people in need. Obviously the county is not governed by “progressives”. Apparently many citizens ignore the signs because the beggars still show up and would not be there if the citizens did not give them money.
Why do people ignore the signs and still give the beggars money? Could it be their interpretation of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus taught us to help the poor. One of the most quoted of his teachings is known as the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Jews were descendants of Abraham. God promised Abraham, because of his faithfulness, his descendants would be a blessed and chosen people. The were at the time of Jesus many people in Samaria who were descendants of both Jews and Gentiles. Many Jews, instead of being grateful for their blessings, chose to consider Samaritans inferior to Jews and avoided them. That is probably why Jesus chose a righteous Samaritan to play a prominent part in his parable. As Christians know, in the parable a man was attacked by thieves and left lying and wounded at the roadside. Two Jews prominent in Jewish Society passed by and did not help him. A member of a group despised by many Jews bound his wounds and took him to a nearby Inn. He asked the Innkeeper to look after him promising to reimburse him for his care on his next trip through the area. Hence the understanding of Christians that they should even help a stranger in need.
Some things we should remember when thinking about this parable. The Romans were in control at the time of Jesus and not the United States Government. There was no extensive government welfare program. The Samaritan could not have been deceived by the person who needed help as he could observe the stranger was wounded and in need of help.
If a person in the United States is truly in need they can do as the sign says and seek help from a government agency. You are already helping the poor through your taxes. We should help those in need. You may have family members, friends or neighbors who you know are in need and we should do what we can to help.
If we give money to strangers who beg are we helping them? For fakers we are enabling them to continue their deceit and dishonesty. If they are using the money you give them to buy drugs you are supporting the Chinese and Mexican merchants of death. You are also likely to be teaching the beggars that they do not need to take responsibility for themselves which is a Christian belief. If they are using your money to feed their alcohol addiction how are you helping them? I confess I was suckered by a beggar once. A man approached me on the street wearing a clerical collar telling me he lost his wallet and needed money to get home. I reasoned here is a man who helps others find Christ and I gave him money. The next day the same guy approached me with the same story. He was not helping others he was helping himself to the money of others.
Our welfare system can be a good thing when it helps people who are disabled and cannot take care of their needs. It is evil when it allows people who are capable of supporting themselves to live a life of idleness. Our welfare system is set up to dole out money. I see no evidence of any real effort to help people become self- sufficient. The old adage of giving people fish to eat and soon they will be hungry again is instructive. If you teach a man to fish he can feed himself. In my opinion these principles are not applied in government welfare. We should treat people on welfare like Doctors treat their patients. Give them regular checkups and try to make them well when they get sick. For people on welfare it should be regular evaluations with the goal of helping them become self sufficient.
Beggars are ever with us. Some people take the position that if most beggars are on the take one of them might really need help and we should give to all beggars just to help that person. I go back to the sign on the street. If a person is truly needy they should go to our government services which we pay for with our taxes.
This is a blog for Conservatives and People of faith.