RE: The Stable of Beggars- Professional Panhandlers Testing Our Empathy?
I see pan-handlers alot all over North West Arkansas where I live and work. I drive for a living so I can easily tack on over 200 miles in a day in just a 5 city metro area. I see the same people day in and day out. I rarely if ever have cash on me so I am if no help to them. One day my boss was riding along and he pointed out a certain beggar. He said "You see that guy? You see that red car in the Denny's parking lot? That is his car. I've seen him get in it and drive away after begging on the corner. You watch, every time you see him you will see that red Pontiac Grand Am." Sure enough he was right. Every time I saw that guy, there was his Pontiac Grand Am. It really struck a nerve with me. Here's a guy begging for money driving around a LOT nice car than me, a guy putting in 60 hours a week hauling garbage. This abuse of people's empathy turns me off from ever wanting to give any of them cash.
I am also reminded of the commands God gave in the Torah, that in a society set up and governed by the Torah, the poor are provided for and taken care of.
‘And when you reap the harvest of your land do not completely reap the corners of your field when you reap, and do not gather any gleaning from your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am יהוה your Elohim.’ ”
Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 23:22 TS2009
“And for six years you are to sow your land, and shall gather its increase, but the seventh year you are to let it rest, and shall leave it, and the poor of your people shall eat. And what they leave, the beasts of the field eat. Do the same with your vineyard and your oliveyard.
Shemoth (Exodus) 23:10-11 TS2009
That is just 2 that I can think of. I know there are many more. Imagine how much further along we would be as society if we actually lived the way God instructed us to.
This is exactly where I was writing this article from, near the Fayetteville/Walmart megalopolis-- we must pass now and then on the road around these hills! I wonder how many of the recent curbside panhandlers are just taking advantage of people's good nature around here.
Those were some beautiful quotes from the Torah, thanks for sharing those, they deserve much thought.
The wife and I were at that very Walmart (well mall Ave, not MLK) earlier getting groceries for the week. There has been a definite increase in the last 2 years. You see them from Fayetteville all the way up to Bentonville at almost every exit ramp.
Yeah in fact it was on one of those exit ramps where I gave a guy 2 bucks last summer, but I definitely have noticed the increase lately. Well, with Tyson as the world's largest meat producer, and Walmart such a monstrous worldwide beast, they are going to attract people to the area. All those 'top 5 best places to live in the US' articles shared on Facebook didn't help things either!