What ARE we doing about it?

Question

Non-Believer: "Why doesn't your God feed the homeless?"
Believer: "You should be asking, what am I doing to feed the homeless?"

So what are WE doing. It looks like not enough. There are enough resources in this world to feed, clothe and provide adequate shelter to every human being and then some. Yet in most countries 1% of the population control 90% of the wealth.

On a smaller level I see people in $600 suits pass homeless people everyday without even acknowledging their existance. I do it too, but I try to give everytime I'm asked, if I have no money on me, then I at least apologize for not being able to help my fellow brother or sister.

Truthfully I don't have much in this world when it comes to wealth, though I have been lucky enough to have a great life. One thing I will always have plenty of is my word, so if you're reading this and you are in a better position than me I urge you to help someone near or far, and urge someone else to as well.

Answer 1

Much better to consider this than all of the garbage we can fight about. I was homeless for over 3 years. I actually watched people treat dogs better than me. I can tell you that the money people give is not as important as recognizing another person's humanity. You are correct WE are not doing enough. How can our government destroy Iraq instead of building America? How many homes could we build here for the price of one damn missile? Why is there homeless people in the same cities as boarded up buildings? Why do we not have universal health care when much of the medical technology was developed here? Why can Congress give itself pay raises without raising the minimum wage? How long can we do this before America self destructs? How long before we ruin the world? This stuff is not a joke. Anybody that knows about poverty, war, illness and incarceration firsthand knows that. Everybody else should want to work towards never being in those situations and preventing their children from knowing it. Peace be with you.

Answer 2

You're absolutely right. Those who are in the position to help others out should granted they want your help to begin with. I guess the reason why some might not be willing to help others out is simply because they feel that the person is not getting helped the proper way by handing things to them. Some people live by the motto of "if you hand a person a fish you feed them for a day". "But if you teach them how to fish you feed them for life". And I guess some of it happens to be that people feel that all homeless people are drug addicts and alcoholics when in fact some are simply homeless because they lost their jobs and everything. Homeless people are human beings as well.

Answer 3

Eh, personally I give the majority of my spare money (i.e. not necesary for rent/food) to homeless people, usually only after talking to them for a bit, but actually being achnowledged and talked to isn't such a horrible thing I figure.

And no, this has nothing to do with any god or collection of gods for me, I just can't think of a better use for my money than making someone's life go from horrible to "Not all that bad I guess"... Making my life go from "pretty good" to "currently entertained" certainly doesn't qualify.

(Note: The above lack of involvement of religion claim completely ignores any explanations of Pastafarianism to help those less fortunate in knowledge of his noodly appendage than myself, when I do expouse his truths though, I happen to be very passive about it, as to not violate the first I'd really rather you didn't).


EDIT: To the poster above, please note, if there was only enough food to feed 2/3 the population, then within 30 days, there would be enough food to feed 100% of the earth's population logically (unless there was a LOT of baby-making going on). Now, if you're talking COMFORTABLY feed them, well, that depends on your definition of comfortable, but as most Americans are overweight, that definition could probably be toned down a bit among us.

Answer 4

Well, no. There are only enough resources on this earth to feed 2/3 of the world's population. Because of this, scientists have been selectively breeding crops and have been researching new ways to produce more food per acre in order to help solve this problem.

Answer 5

Several of the answers above are good. David m speaks from the heart. I do help, as the Lord leads me to.

I can't help but to think that the US is on the way to a social revolution. I believe this will happen, unless Jesus comes first. The "love of money" is so prevalent these days... the end must be close.

Answer 6

We do what we can do.

We sponsor a child, we give to the food bank, we have money taken out of our checks to donate.

We do this even when times are tight for us because we are aware of how much we have on a *global* level, even if by American standards we are coasting just above the poverty level.

We do this because we are atheist and we do not believe anyone else will do it. There is no god; it's up to us to do the divine work of caring for one another.

.

Answer 7

Many churches have programs to reach out to the homeless or those in poverty. They are always short staffed and underfunded so you can help through those. You can also spend time in soup kitchens and food banks. The biggest problem I've seen is that people could help but they don't spend the time to do it.
We will never eliminate the poor because some actually choose it or events in their lives happen to cause it but we can reach out to those who desire to improve.

Answer 8

Well said, brother. I think most people are so caught up in their own lives and problems that they don't think they have the time or money to help others .{ "what can I do ? There's too much need ." } And we are fed a constant diet of fear and selfishness in the media that reinforces those ideas.{ "Tell THOSE people to get a job !" } It's a sad state but we have to do whatever WE can.

Answer 9

I applaud you man! I also do the same, However, there is a line , it boils down to the circumstances. How did that happen to them, addiction, act of God, Mother Nature, or PURE LAZYNESS. Find out this question, and help those that are victomized ..... and the ones that are willing to help themselves. But , help them when possible, I must agree.
Feed him a fish, or teach him how to fish?

Answer 10

let them figure out there own problems, everytime we try and help somebody it just turns into a handout and hinders progress, same goes for giving to a bum, why do you think there is signs in the forest dont feed the animals, they were doing a study in africa with a group of monkeys the people of the city were feeding the monkeys so much that they forgot how to feed themselves in the wild