Church closes food bank because it attracts poor people !

you cant work 3 jobs when you have small children. you might not have noticed, but the economy is in the toilet right now and you're harping on a church for not doing what you won't do yourself.

it's people like you that burn down churches then complain when you get hit by a hot ash.

 

so what's your beef with this church?

 

Many of the poor cannot work... like me... due to a disability.

 

http://jobsearch.monster.com/search/California+Los-Angeles_12?where=Los-Angeles__2c-CA&rad=5

1,000+ jobs with in 5 miles of LA right now as of this post.

Notice the + sign after the 1,000. Moster only lists the first 1,000.

There are jobs out there. Might not be the job you want, but they are out there.

 

Then you should have enough from the government to live on. I have no problem with the government giving the disabled enough to live on.

 

I guess for me it is more symbolic of the failure I see in Christians in general. Notice I said Christians and not Christianity. So many Christians love to preach but fail utterly at the practicing part. Look up the posts I have started here in the religion part of the forum for more on the reasons I take exception to Christians if you like. After a few decades of Christians trying to force me to live by their values... values many Christians do not seem able to adhere to themselves, I guess I just got to the point where I had had enough of it and started pushing back at them but twice as hard.

Christians are rife with hypocrisy. Just look at many of the posts on this forum by self identified Christians. When I read a post dripping with hate and judgment just because someone does not share Christian beliefs... I see hypocrisy not the love of Christ. When I hear of a Church closing a food bank that server the poor because “‘It’s attracting a lot of street people that make it uncomfortable," I see hypocrisy. But when I see a Church ministering to the homeless under the Burnside Bridge in Portland Oregon... washing the feet of the homeless in a symbolic gesture of the teachings and humility of Christ... well... it moves me to the very core of my being.

I believe in God... and have always been drawn to Christianity... just to be turned away by the sight of the hypocrisy of its practitioners... Christians.

 

Brinks, the first listed, has 0 openings at it's location in Flint, MI.

 

you'e aware that they stated that it was making poor people dependent, and they could see it happening, eh?

 

Fair enough.

 

So what? My wife and I depend on the local food bank to augment our food supply. Where I live food prices are extremely high in comparison to the U.S. 1 1/2 Lbs of cheese here is $12 and in my home town Boise Idaho a 2Lbs brick of cheese is $6. Milk in Boise $2.50 a gallon, here $4.50.

Is a person who is healthy enough to work dependent upon their wages? So the poor should not be given food because they depend upon it to live? I am confused here given that you say you volunteer at a food bank. One would think that your experience as a food bank volunteer would make you more sympathetic to the plight of the poor.

 

Oh the irony, an atheist starts a thread chastizing Christians for apparently not doing enough for the poor, and then turns to denegrative comments that show a clear disdane for the poor?

And yet the intent is a reasonable discussion, not just flame bait?

Or is it just the perfect example of the ever changing standards of atheism I mention? You suck because you do not do enough for the poor, I hate poor people though - get a job!

Atheism.

 

if i was handing out the food and people started getting pushy, i can see how i would react like that church and just stop doing it. charity isn't a right.

 

It shouldn't matter how old this is. It is wrong, horribly wrong, to close a food bank because the very people it is meant to help show up for food.

 

People started getting pushy? Where did you read that? From the link provided by the OP, or the Church website?

 

Well, the church was commanded to help the poor. I think the "still in denial" bit is more about not making people feel guilty about turning away the poor. What's really going on is that this church and the members really wanted to help the poor -- theoretically -- and when real poor people started showing up, the middle class people in the pews started getting uncomfortable. So like happens so often, the poor people must go, not the comfortable middle and upper middle class members who don't like being around actual poor people.

 

Try chainging the city to Flint

 

I could not have said it better myself.

I think many good intention Christians like to help the needy from afar, like giving money to a charity... and that is just fine and well needed. But it is another thing to man the line at your local soup kitchen and see the poor close up and hear what they talk about while waiting in line. I am one of those who stands in line at a local food bank. I am a middle aged disabled man with long hair. I do not do drugs, do not smoke, hardly ever drink, and I obey all of the laws of the city I live in... and I am not in the majority when counted amongst the other people standing in line. Often I get approached for drugs or offered drugs, I often hear people talking about drugs, I often see people on drugs, and every once in a blue moon I hear someone talking about turning tricks for drugs. Now when a Christian from the burbs is exposed to this, I can only imagine that it would make them "uncomfortable".

I think if the primary purpose of a Church running a food bank is to convert sinners... then I think that Church will be very disappointing by its ROI. If a Church is running a food bank to help the needy and save those who can be saved... then I think the Church will be uplifted by the experience. Being a fisher of men is not a sprint but a marathon and it can take a looooooong time to see few but very precious results in terms of bringing people to Christ. You may see a person 100 times at a food bank then on the 101st time there they approach a member of the Church and accept God into their life. Most others will never be converted or saved, while some will join the Church in short order.

Helping the poor is not Rated G, it is Rated R, and if a Christian is not comfortable with that, they should not directly help the poor and stick to writing checks to support a charity of their choice if they so desire.

 

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,...
Matthew 25:35

What more needs to be said?