Beggars and Bums

I went to an outdoor event in Harrisburg. It was a recreation of Bethlehem by one of the Baptist churches. Basically, you go in, the "tax collector" takes your money, you write down your name for the census and then you go into the village. The village has a bunch of little shops, bakers, fishermen, carpenters, etc. And throughout the village are a bunch of guys dressed as Roman soldiers who periodically arrest people.

The Roman soldiers and the Jewish reenactors are all very annoyed by "beggars", a few dirty looking kids that beg for change. The beggars are treated horribly, hit, harassed and sent on their way. I couldn't help but think how horrible the whole thing was. How could people be so cruel to these beggars?

Then I realized, we do the exact same thing to homeless people. Of all the offensive things I've heard over the years, the most consistent disgust seems to be reserved for the homeless. Even people that I've known that I would never expect to say anything racist or misogynist will talk bad about homeless people. And God forbid if you give them a dollar.

Do I give homeless people change or a couple of dollars? Yeah, I do. Now two conditions have to be met first. One, I have to actually have money in my wallet, and that's not something I usually have. I habitually put everything into my bank account. I've even made the people at First Charter count my change. So I need to have actual paper money first. Then I have to actually see a homeless guy. So this doesn't happen very often.

But if I do see someone, and I have a dollar or two, I'll give it to them. And you know what? If they buy some cheap alcohol with it, so be it. These are people that are exposed to the elements all day. If they want to get a cheap buzz, fine. Besides, alcohol isn't their problem. Lack of money and a home is their problem. Because believe me, I know plenty of alcoholics that hold down jobs.

I don't know why we have to be so mean to people. Its not like these guys are going to live forever anyway. If some vet has lost it, and stays out on the highway, who am I not to help him out? Plus, I don't know if you realize this, but Jesus and most of the saints relied on other people for money/food. Jesus may have been a carpenter, but its not like he was doing general contracting while he was preaching.

One other thing, somewhat unrelated. When we were going through Bethlehem village, all the reenactors kept talking about the Roman soldiers taking all their money in taxes and not leaving them with enough.

My liberal nature crept up pretty quickly. I was thinking, "Yeah, but the Romans provide roads and national defense, and infrastructure projects are a great way to alleviate localized poverty...."