Character and Success

"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat."
-Lily Tomlin

Church Arrests Homeless

An article from the Associated Press:

November 11, 2008

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Even a church cannot be a home to the homeless.

Police were called to First Christian Church in Corvallis recently to cite homeless men for drinking in public and camping on the property.

Although church officials have been tolerant of homeless men in the area for months, their patience had worn thin by Friday night, when a homeless man became combative.

Assistant City Manager Ellen Volmert said Monday the church requested targeted police enforcement in an Oct. 28 letter.

The church has attracted homeless people because it provides free meals, and because it gave permission for a few disabled transients to sleep there temporarily during the summer.

But Pastor John Evans said the property can't become a homeless camp.

It is true that most churches can't be a homeless camp. Most churches aren't prepared to deal with the arguments from the neighbors, and they wouldn't want to be responsible for the homeless who have substance abuse problems.

But is the answer calling the police? Can't the church deal with the problems that they invited themselves? Honestly, if you invite some responsible homeless to be security, many of the problems would be resolved.

When you get the police involved, you can actually be inviting more problems. See this story on http://www.nowheretolayhishead.org/fearofthehomeless.html

The Recyclable and the Trash: A Translation of Matthew 25:31-46

When the Emperor of God descends from heaven displaying his power, having all the angels of heaven surrounding him, then he will rule from his throne and every person on earth will be collected and will stand before His throne. He will judge them all and will divide them up as a rag picker will separate the useful from the trash. And the recyclable he will stand at his right, and the trash he will stand at his left.

The King will proclaim to the right, “I welcome you, those whom my Father speaks well of. You may now possess the Kingdom—my Kingdom—which has been made ready for you, the righteous of humanity, from the creation of the world. You are worthy of this, because of your assistance to me. I was hungry in your neighborhood, and you gave me food. I was parched, passing by your dwelling, and you offered me some water. I was an immigrant and outcast and you let me in your house for the night. I was walking around freezing, and you give me your coat. I was sick and you nursed me to health. I was in prison and you came and met my needs. You listened to me when I was lonely. You kept me safe when I was fearful. You gave me work when I was in need and paid me at the end of the day.”

These righteous will answer the Emperor thus, “Our Lord, we thank you. But are you sure you are speaking of us? Did we really see you hungry and feed you? Did we see you needing a drink and gave you something? When did we see you—you of all people-- an outcast and bring you into our house? When were you freezing and we gave you clothes or a blanket? And when, my Lord, when were you in prison and we had opportunity to visit you?”

And the Emperor will answer them, “Listen carefully—whatever you did it to these disciples of mine—even these lowly ones— you did the same to me.”

Then the Emperor will turn to his other side. “You will leave me, you whom the Father curses with his every breath. You will be cast into the punishment which was created for Satan and his messengers. Because I came to your town, hungry, and you told me to get a job. I came to your street, parched with thirst, and you wouldn’t talk to me. I was an immigrant, a homeless person, a mentally ill person on the street, a traveler and you refused me entrance at your doorstep. I was shivering in the cold and you passed by me, although you had closets full of coats, shelves full of extra blankets you weren’t using. I became bed-ridden and disabled and you were too busy with your own life to assist me, or even check in on me. I was in prison, through no fault of my own, and in a locked mental health facility and in the state hospital and you didn’t even write to me, let alone visit me. You cannot live with me in my kingdom, since you did not share your life with me when I was with you.”

They will respond, “But Great Lord, I’m sure you weren’t hungry or thirsty! And you couldn’t have been an outcast or freezing. You were never in our neighborhood—I would remember! And you, being sick—I don’t think so. And you would never have been in prison or a mental health hospital. And if you were, we would have been there for you, serving you, Lord!”

The Emperor answers, “Listen carefully, inasmuch as you did not serve these lowly ones, you did not serve me. I was there, through my disciples, as crazy as they seemed, as insignificant as they seemed, and you didn’t let them in your life. Even so, I don’t want you in mine.”

And they will leave the Lord and go to eternal punishment. But those who acted with justice lived with the Lord eternally.

Developmentally Disabled Taxed

Whoo hoo! That's the way to do it, Ontario! Tax those who most need a break but can't do anything about it! That's oppression in action! -SK

Taxing the earnings of the developmentally disabled
The province of Ontario has been working on ways to elevate poverty despite tough economic times. But government admits it may slow down the work.

In looking into ways that government policies can be changed to eliminate poverty. A group has decried a government policy to tax the earnings of the developmentally disabled who find work. Also, half of the unemployed benefits are taken back.

As the Canadian Press reports, Liberal party leaders say these taxes condemn the developmentally disabled to a life of poverty.


The government takes back half the earnings of disabled people who find a job while collecting up to $999 a month under Ontario's disability support program, said NDP critic Michael Prue. The disabled have a hard enough time finding work that pays a decent wage without being punished for trying to better their lives, he said.

"We find this heinous," Prue said.

"What in effect it does, is it said that if you are born with a developmental disability, you for all times are destined to poverty - there's no way out."

Those who receive the benefit actually receive an additional $100 a month if they find work, said Children and Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews.

But the province deducts 50 cents from the monthly benefit for every dollar the recipient earns, she said.

"It's not a pension, like if you have a disability, you'll get it," Matthews said.

"It's a needs-based program, so there are asset tests and so on."

[..]

Of the nearly 250,000 people receiving assistance under the Ontario Disability Support Program, about 28,000, or 11 per cent, had employment earnings, up from eight per cent, or 16,273, in 2003, said Thomas Chanzy. About 41,500 recipients have a developmental disability.

Fleeing War into Death

Sixty corpses wash onto Yemen beach
Some people trying to flee the war and poverty in Somalia and Ethiopia did not make it out with their lives. The aid agency Medicins Sans Frontieres say 60 corpses have washed onto a Yemen beach in recent days.

The people who try to flee, sell all they have to smugglers to give them passage out of the country. If the smugglers fear that they are about to get caught, they spill the people overboard.

As this Reuters story from News Australia reports, the smuggling route across the gulf of Arden is a very dangerous one.

November 3rd, News Australia


In one of two incidents that caused the deaths, smugglers tipped the refugees into the sea at night after noticing lights on land and fearing they would be spotted by the coastguard, MSF quoted survivors as saying.

"They forced us into the sea, even if the water was too deep. Several people did not know how to swim and they drowned," one survivor said. An eight-months pregnant woman was injured by the boat's propeller after being forced overboard, survivors said.

In a second incident, MSF workers discovered a group who had made it to shore after their boat capsized. They said they had buried 23 fellow passengers.

"The boat was stuck almost upside down in the sand, not far from the beach. The fishermen were trying to find survivors underneath but they could not," said MSF worker Said.

"So I had to dive under. I managed to get in the hull and with God's help, we got two women and a man out safe."

According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, about 32,000 people got safely to Yemen from Somalia between the start of the year and October. At least 230 people had died, and 365 were missing.