I hate homeless people confronting me for money

Proverbs 21:13

He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered.

Agreed, the torah does teach us to care for the poor, the foreigner, and the widow!

Jesus was a torah teacher and was well acquainted with his father's word (what we call the old testament today), this is what he taught from. Sometimes, it seems that modern churches have forgotten this....

mucus pus dairy wrote:

Proverbs 21:13

He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered.

Agreed, the torah does teach us to care for the poor, the foreigner, and the widow!

Jesus was a torah teacher and was well acquainted with his father's word (what we call the old testament today), this is what he taught from. Sometimes, it seems that modern churches have forgotten this....

There are many methods of addressing the complex issue of homelessness, giving the homeless cash is not one of them, and is more often than not counter productive. There's nothing Christ-like about showing off how much more compassionate you are than others on an internet forum. Not sure what response you're trying to provoke. America is not a Christian nation anymore; stop blaming all problems on Christianity and "modern churches."

There are five choices a civil person may make regarding homeless individuals.

1) Keep going about your business and make no eye contact.

2) Make eye contact, smile and keep moving.

3) Make eye contact, smile, talk to them and offer nothing that day.

4) Make eye contact, smile, talk to them and offer something besides money.

5) Make eye contact, smile, talk to them and offer money.

Being rude to homeless individuals is not a wise choice.

Christians in word not deed? wrote:

I recognize most LR readers, being American, are nominally Christian, like their fearless leader. I feel like the brand of Christianity practiced stateside is largely devoid of some of Jesus’ key teachings, especially about charity. Do unto others...

You are batshit crazy if you think Christians don't give to charity.

"Religious practice is the behavioral variable most consistently associated with generous giving. Charitable effort correlates strongly with the frequency with which a person attends religious services. Evangelical Protestants and Mormons in particular are strong givers...."

"Sociologist Robert Putnam has chronicled the many pro-social and philanthropic overflow effects of religious practice. Not only is half of all American personal philanthropy and half of all volunteering directly religious in character, but nearly half of all associational membership in the U.S. is church-related. Religious practice links us in webs of mutual knowledge, responsibility, and support like no other influence."

http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/who_gives_most_to_charity/

Don't worry, I'm sure someone will start a charity to help treat whatever mental condition all you left-wing nutcases suffer from.

... the overwhelming sentiment on this thread is to avoid giving loose change directly to those most obviously in need. Ironic...

Why be a mean person? wrote:

There are five choices a civil person may make regarding homeless individuals.

1) Keep going about your business and make no eye contact.

2) Make eye contact, smile and keep moving.

3) Make eye contact, smile, talk to them and offer nothing that day.

4) Make eye contact, smile, talk to them and offer something besides money.

5) Make eye contact, smile, talk to them and offer money.

Being rude to homeless individuals is not a wise choice.

What about when they're rude to you following option (2)?

I'm talking about the attempted guilt tripping "You have a nice day now" line that sometimes follows. I absolutely love following that up with "Thanks. You have a good day too". It's awesome how it throws them from their attempted nastiness... but is it really ethically acceptable?

Sticky Goodness wrote:

Why be a mean person? wrote:

There are five choices a civil person may make regarding homeless individuals.

1) Keep going about your business and make no eye contact.

2) Make eye contact, smile and keep moving.

3) Make eye contact, smile, talk to them and offer nothing that day.

4) Make eye contact, smile, talk to them and offer something besides money.

5) Make eye contact, smile, talk to them and offer money.

Being rude to homeless individuals is not a wise choice.

What about when they're rude to you following option (2)?

I'm talking about the attempted guilt tripping "You have a nice day now" line that sometimes follows. I absolutely love following that up with "Thanks. You have a good day too". It's awesome how it throws them from their attempted nastiness... but is it really ethically acceptable?

as jesus said you should treat even your enemy well. even if somone desrespects you you should show him respect. you should be fair to the unfair. also rich people cant get into heaven either way

I've got more than I need, and anyone begging almost certainly has less than they need, or at least very certainly far less than me. I'm willing to give away pocket change to nearly anyone who asks for it, recognizing that I'm taking a chance that one day maybe I'll be giving away my hard-earned pocket change to that one a$$hole that doesn't actually need it.

I'm not religious; I grew up Christian, but it didn't stick. But the messages jesus reportedly shared (I say reportedly because one cannot know for sure how badly his message got revised in modern biblical texts) resonates with me. Him and St. Francis of Assisi (whose tomb we visited; cool place, one basilica on top of a second basilica, with Francis interred in the basement). I think they nailed the golden rule. Sharing pocket change with someone on the street who's hungry, scared or alone, and almost certainly mentally ill or distressed, seems to me to line up with their main teachings.

I've written something like this before in an older thread bashing homeless people, and some smart poster challenged me to give away my home, if I really felt that way. I think some intellectually-impaired basement dweller made a similar suggestion in this thread. I think there's a spectrum between giving nothing and giving everything. I choose to fall between those extremes. It's what suits my own ethics and morals, anyway.

I’m around a lot of homeless people, but none have ever acted aggressive towards me. If he isn’t layered/armored, I’d pull a knife on him. Don’t necessarily stab him, but threaten to.

On this:

The way I look at it... wrote:... I'm taking a chance that one day maybe I'll be giving away my hard-earned pocket change to that one a$$hole that doesn't actually need it.

In my younger years, this was my rationalization for never giving beggars a dime. I've examined that idea with a lot of quiet introspection over the years, and came around to the realization that it just doesn't matter if a beggar pulls one over on me. Why should I care? What's the downside? I guess the downside is, that maybe one time out of ten or twenty, I'm out a buck or two that I don't need for the benefit of somebody who doesn't need it. But, all the rest of the times, somebody with far fewer advantages than me has a (very slightly) easier time getting through the day. The cost-risk-benefit seems pretty straightforward.

YYY wrote:I don't give them money, I give them bags of Fentanyl.

You ought to seek professional help. You are obviously unhinged and a danger to society and maybe yourself.

homeless people need to carry a thing so I can swipe my card cuz I rarely carry cash on me

Advice to OP: don't ever go to Denver.

Say What You Mean wrote:

"I hate homeless people confronting me for money"

Your grammar choice is telling: you hate people, not deeds.

Compare: "I hate being confronted for money by homeless people"

I hate being pressured by management to contribute to someone i don't know, who's going to waddle through a 3k for some nameless charity, or just dropped a baby as I'm making barely minimum wage.

most of them probably hate asking

Oh Yes Teacher, I do too. Dontcha just hate it. ( ok, I'm being snarky).

Yes, I was homeless. Not something to ring a bell about, I've been there and I would love homelessness to end right now. immediately, right this second. But it's not going to happen. Though I do pray for a miracle. Dear God, hear me now.

I never had the courage to ask for a handout. Yes, I mentioned courage. I couldn't do it. I felt ashamed, embarrassed and humiliated. Why couldn't a former ranked number 1 road runner keep a roof over her head?

You're right though, I would have enjoyed a vacation to South America. Though that would happen before my homelessness, a trip to Rio.

Sorry to be a pain in your eye. Out of sight out of mind, huh? That's your solution? Really? Sure round up all the homeless and put 'em on a boat, bus, train, plane just out of here. Medicate us? Truly you jest.

Yes, I know being homeless brings out the assertiveness in people.

A neighbor runs over to my house and bangs on the door asks for help. Do I help? Of course I do, they are my neighbor.

A car accident happens in front of my house. Do I go see if they need help? Of course, I do, It's an accident in front of my house. My neighbor.

See where I'm going? We are all neighbors, we are all human beings. We all have the capacity to love and express compassion towards others. Why is homelessness such an off topic? I think it's the mirror of reflection to see in ourselves when we see or hear people asking for help. Do we help them? Why would I? And what do I get if I do?

Being homeless isn't a piece of cake. Even now as I type this, my arms shake. It's been thirty years. Never seemed to "shake it off".

I, too, wish for no more homelessness. I don't want to see it, hear about it, let alone chat about it. Though for difference reasons than what your are expressing. I want all of the pain in our hearts to go away, to vanish, to disappear, to be replaced with love and compassion.

I think the solution of being out of sight and or out of mind won't work. Homelessness is here and it's going to continue, unless of course, a few things change.

No more domestic violence, loss of employment, abusive families, to name a couple of things that lead to homelessness. It's easy to look at someone on a sidewalk and judge them. But you don't know where they came from, what they survived, what they are surviving.

We all need to care more to love more and express more compassion.

Yes, homeless people may be dirty, smelly but I'm still that after my hour trail run. The only difference is that I have the privilege of a shower, and they don't.

I learned quite a bit about myself while being homeless and quite a bit about other people. I also learned that kindness goes a long way. I hope that's what you teach in your classroom.

elementary school teacher wrote:

- wrote:

You don’t have to give them money, but maybe be a little more compassionate... you don’t know these people’s live stories. Bad things happen to people that they can’t control.

We all have stories. NEVER in my life would I think it's okay to bum around on the streets looking for a handout, poop on the sidewalk (and yes there are public restrooms), or leave trash everywhere (can they not even use a trash can?). Put them all in asylums, medicate them for life if need be, and load up the rest of the able-bodied able-minded on a train for a free tropical vacation to South America. If they can make it back here they are capable of finding a job.

Try finding an asylum these days. My brother in law is totally effed up after a lifetime of drug abuse. He’s had numerous strokes and lives with my mother and father in law. They are getting too old to take care of him and there are literally no places to put him involuntarily.

He would leave any voluntary facility But needs 24 hour supervision. When my in laws are too old to care for him, he’ll likely die on the streets because all of his siblings and their spouses have to work and none of us will have him in our houses stealing our stuff to buy drugs.

Anyone ever seen the movie Hobo With A Shotgun? Watch it on Netflix...

Dave99 wrote:

when ever my they ask my grandpa for money he literally tells them to gtf away from him. i dont like it either but i just tell them no

You two sound like a couple of losers.

Where is the part where someone “confronts” you?

You right-wing snowflake.