If Christ were to begin wandering around our local wilderness, collecting disciples and preaching sermons, sooner or later he and they would run afoul of Bibleburg’s latest ordinance forbidding camping on public property.
The ordinance is both shameful and silly in that it (a) demonstrates the lack of compassion in the black, withered heart of Industrial Christianity and (b) will be impossible to enforce.
Regarding the former, I always thought that it was the money-changers who were supposed to get tossed out of the temple, not the poor and helpless. As for the latter, if I’m a stony-broke homeless guy living in a tent by the creek and a cop hands me a ticket, I’m wiping my ass with it and sending it downstream to Pueblo. Put me in jail for noncompliance and I’m enjoying three hots and a cot, plus regular showers, at taxpayer expense. Shameful and silly, as I said.
Homelessness is a real problem, for the campers and the Chamber of Commerce alike, but there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Some campers are just down on their luck and awaiting better days. Others are mentally ill, addicted to this or that, and perpetually in need of social services that are either stretched beyond the breaking point or simply unavailable. And still others are real, honest-to-God hobos who prefer nibbling along the tattered edges of our consumer culture to diving in head first. Treating them all the same is absurd.
The private sector, various non-profits and individual volunteers are doing what they can. One local businessman sees an opportunity to house the homeless in a former KOA campground off South Nevada Avenue, but the city is standing in his way.
Many a passage from the Sermon on the Mount comes to mind here. Let’s try this one on for size — Matthew 8:21-23:
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Mad Blog Media 
And this one from Luke, with some modernization.
One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
and Jesus answered:
“A New Mexico man was driving up from Santa Fe to
Denver, and he was attacked by thugs. They stripped him of his clothes and money, beat him up, took his car, and left him half dead beside the road near Bibleburg. By chance a born-again Republican came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he averted his gaze and called the cops. A politician drove by, looked at him lying there, and introduced a bill making destitution illegal.
Then an illegal migrant worker in a battered pickup truck came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Stopping his truck, the migrant soothed his wounds with salve and a beer and bandaged them. Then he put the man in his pickup and took him to a Motel 6, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper his wages, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than we agreed, I’ll somehow make up the difference.’
“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
Can’t wait for them to start handing out tickets to vets, who make up about one-fourth of all homeless. That will put their mental gear shift selector permanently in Park, trying to figure out whether a real patriot supports the military or gets tough on crime.
Ticketing the homeless is right along the same line of reasoning that calls unemployment support a “reward for losing your job.”
Oh the vets who get the ‘camping’ ticket will just be subjectively reclassified as somehow undeserving because they don’t meet some new non-rational criteria.
Christ on a crutch: O’Grady is quoting scripture. ‘Tis truly the end of days upon us.
Agreed! Heck of deal with O’G quoting scripture. I thought that was my job. -The Rev. Dr. Bruce 🙂
Its simply a matter of translating O’Grady-ese into language the average Bibleburg or Dysfunction Junction resident might understand and subsequently ignore.
Hmph,
Philistines. I’ll have you know that I am in possession of me sainted grandmother’s Bible, given her by her own mother in 1908, and it hardly burns me at all when I pick it up, especially if I hold it with oven mitts and do my Scripture reading through a welder’s mask.
It is easier to get $$$ from a homeless, drunkard who pan-handles and sleeps on public property than it is to catch a real thief. The same logic which is used to ‘justify’ red light cameras: it’s cheaper this way then that way. As for the “christians” that would be par for the course, wouldn’t it? Much easier to forgive their own idiocy than it is to admit it.
When Ronnie-Ray Guns closed all the mental hospitals and threw those poor folks into the street it made this situation much worse. Sadly the whole Reagan-mentality just won’t die and go away no matter how many times those principles and ideas are proven to be worthless or damaging. Not that things are much better politically here in Italy where Berlusconi’s the right-wing buffoon — but right wing here is a lot different than right wing in the US of A. Sil would probably be kicked out of Caribou Barbie’s “angry, poorly-educated, white folks” party!
POG you could have avoiding all that brouhaha by quoting passages from Torah instead of that new fangled later book. Really much more in keeping with the times. A wrathful, vengeful, ego centric kind of supreme being seems more your kinda of god. Especially since he/she/it is reported to have a devilish sense of humor.
Funny how when Ronnie lost his way due to Alzheimer’s, he got the best care money could buy. That’s the key word here – M O N E Y. Life is no longer affordable, be it health care, groceries, clothing etc. And those that have are fighting those that haven’t with that same weapon – dollars. I know we can do better for those that haven’t, but we just won’t.
An aside note, Patrick, seeing you’re a cat lover and all. My favorite little terror passed away yesterday very suddenly. One day healthy and having a great time, the next he was taking his last gasps. Poor little guy was just short of three years old, he deserved better.http://bikingdiabetic.blogspot.com/
Ben, instead of the Torah I should’ve gone with the Necronomicon … I think I still have a copy from my days with the Campus Crusade for Cthulhu.
And Boz, damn, I’m sorry to hear about your pal. Chairman Meow passed in similar fashion, quickly and way too young. It always breaks my heart when they go, as they (and we) must. Horrible assholes walk the earth for decades while perfectly lovable cats and dogs vanish in a heartbeat. Maybe God has doubts about the critter He made in His image and is trying to corral all the others, the ones without flaws.
The housecat is proof that you don’t have to actually do anything to be vital and important to lots of people.
Sorry to hear the news, Boz. From the four of us, including our two lovable, parasitic fur balls, our condolences.
Boz,
From the dog side of the fence my condolences.
Patrick,
For an example of how our meddling in the natural order of things is not always for the better, Cheney has had 4 heart attacks since what his early 30s? I just keep hearing ‘It’s Nature’s Way’ by Spirit.
Boz, you have our condolences: Me, Meena, Aussie Shepherds Cash (who herds the cats) and Lilikoi, and feline furballs Maile and Puanani.
Yeah, we moved here from Hawai’i, hence the names. Cash was so ADD that we didn’t try to change his name when we adopted him from a dog shelter.
Boz: I hate to hear about your unexpected loss. Condolences from our family: Jake the honor student Golden Retriever, Buddy the frat boy mutt, Marley the one-eyed pretty kitty, Kansas the quarter horse, Nemo the Giant (goldfish), Pongo the Plecostomus, and their human companions who don’t love on them nearly enough.
Ben S: I was thinking about Cheney, too. How many more opportunities will this man have to be a global menace? One really can purchase outstanding healthcare. (Sucks for the rest who can’t.)
Khal: An excellent, most relevant version of the Good Samaritan.
Right Reverend O’Grady: Excellent sermon. Perhaps we can help our wealthy community leaders either remember or learn for the first time the story of Lazarus and Dives. I won’t quote, as we are all computer literate and can find the story in English. Besides, Saint Luke told it first and best. Well, okay. Maddy Prior will lead us in a hymn. Please turn your hymnals to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3JEv4lLsBk
Thanks, Jeff.
I suppose that to more accurately hit the relevant nail, I should have started the story with:
“A New Mexico man, having lost his job and run out of unemployment benefits, loaded his remaining possessions into his car and was driving to Denver to live with relatives and look for work. Stopping for gas on the leg between Santa Fe and Denver, he was attacked by thugs…”
But O’G is the essayist. I shall sit at his feet in this endeavor.
Khal,
I like where you’re going with the revision.
The Jews and the Samaritans really really hated each other. I’m trying to come up with a modern equivalent for your revised parable that brings that level of mistrust and hatred into a modern context, but my brain is dissolving into pudding this evening. Oy. I’ll try again tomorrow–after a bike ride.
We could probably start with Republicans and Democrats…
I’m glad you wrote about this. I was just discussing the (stupid) ordinance with a coworker who was born and raised in Mexico. He commented that he doesn’t understand how Americans are so eager to send (or text) money for disaster assistance — like for Haiti — but, we bend over backward to persecute and shun people who have the most need within our own community. As long as the unpleasantness is out of sight, we can pat ourselves on the back for having compassion toward humanity.
Jeeze, its been a quiet last few days around Patrick’s Virtual Pickle Barrel. Where are the usual suspects?
That’s what I’ve been thinking…maybe Patrick went for a ride and the cold caused him to forget the way back home.
More likely he started with the downhill leg first and is still trying to get back up.
Let’s give it another day and then send out a well stocked search party.
Better pack plenty of moonshine…