Are 'soup-kitchens', or feeding people from the public for free, a valid method of charitable donation? Do they do any good at all, or are they just what amounts to 'feeding the birds'? I don't really mean to be cold here, but Jesus did have something to say about 'birds' (being satan, gobbling up the misplaced seed) and 'dogs' (begging under the tables, feeding off the crumbs and leftovers). I recently found a soup-kitchen ministry near my residence...some of them don't look so good...and seem to need something healthy to eat. Opinions?
2007-09-22 13:22:42 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
There's that saying 'Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime'. What it doesn't say is if you don't feed him while he's learning, his lifetime may be cut short.
Jesus also said Love your neighbor as yourself-just goes to show that he contradicts himself sometimes. But if he saw a soup kitchen that was falling apart, I guess he'd help if he could pass it off as a miracle.
:-)
2007-09-22 17:58:14 · answer #1 · answered by strpenta 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most soup kitchens work with what they get... scant money from the Gov't as well as donations from the public- of which can only buy so much. I've worked for our local soup kitchen... donating time and money. It's wrong to equate the soup kitchens themselves and the people who go there to the "birds" you have listed here... or the "dogs"... as those descriptions made by Jesus were towards those within Religion... not actual poor people who need help. And as I recall, Jesus himself claimed the only True religion was helping the poor, visiting the sick and the widows, helping orphans, etc......
Granted, the soup kitchens do get those who merely take advantage of them, getting free food when they really can afford to buy their own and they don't exactly have what a working person would call a "good meal".... but the soup kitchens themselves do more good than harm overall. As far as needing something healthy to eat.... work for one and see what it's like before making these base judgements against them. If they look that bad, it's due to the Gov't and the public not supporting them... usually because they have the opinion that all of the people in there don't need the help.
2007-09-22 14:24:02 · answer #2 · answered by River 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I've volunteered at soup kitchens before, and I think it is very rewarding. Those people are so grateful for the food, and the company. That's what they look forward to, and referring to them as "dogs and beggars" is mean.. a lot of them are elderly and have no families and what not.. they aren't all drug addicts you know.
Helping others no matter what, it is is always worthwhile!!
2007-09-22 13:43:52 · answer #3 · answered by *~KingA~* 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
"Give me a fish and I eat for a day.
Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime."
- Chinese Proverb
Soup-kitchens are like 'feeding the birds'.
Quit polluting the waterways
and teach the poor how to fish!
They can use clean water to make their own soup.
2007-09-22 13:36:57 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I do not know how they harmonize the giving away of food to people with the scripture that says, "If a person does not work, neither let him eat.."
2 Thessalonians 3:10 In fact, also, when we were with YOU, we used to give YOU this order: “If anyone does not want to work, neither let him eat.”
2007-09-22 13:35:27 · answer #5 · answered by Tim 47 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It makes a world of difference for the one who is hungry. Obviously, you are asking, though, about a long-term, life-changing experience. Food alone will not do that; it must be accompanied with love, respect, and the Word of Truth to have a total change.
2007-09-22 13:28:37 · answer #6 · answered by hillmenclan 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋
yes Jesus did have something to say about bird, he said that God feed them. and as for the dog, the bible says that a righteous man care for his animals. in recent years Israel has taken this to heart, and take very good care of their animal, and that includes the strays in their shelters.
what Jesus said about about feeding the needy, was I was hungry and you feed me, I was naked and you clothed me therefore enter into my rest, there are rewards for feeding the hungry.
we never know why those that are in need, are there, it is not for us to judge them. but it is for us to care for them.
2007-09-22 13:36:30 · answer #7 · answered by Hannah's Grandpa 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
for some it's the only time that they get a meal.
people don't realize how difficult it can be to find a job if your homeless. a lot of places require proof of residence to even get help.
so, yes. i think it's very worthwhile and necessary.
bb
2007-09-22 13:53:00 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
the most worthwhile thing to do with your life is do find out what you want and chase it . . its differents for everyone . but if u cant think of something else to do . then just do what you want
2016-05-21 02:17:49 · answer #9 · answered by esther 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it. The soup ain't bad and you can meet some really interesting people there.
2007-09-22 13:31:02 · answer #10 · answered by Ask Donna 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋