“But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and said ‘Sorry, but city regulations prevent me from helping you.'”

In the City of Houston, compassion is by permit only.

Bobby and Amanda Herring spent more than a year providing food to homeless people in downtown Houston every day. They fed them, left behind no trash and doled out warm meals peacefully without a single crime being committed, Bobby Herring said.

That ended two weeks ago when the city shut down their “Feed a Friend” effort for lack of a permit. And city officials say the couple most likely will not be able to obtain one.

The 20th Century will be remembered, among other things, as the century when people ceded their responsibility for their fellow man to the government. The 21st century may well be the century when government outlawed compassion.

Where compassion is not outlawed, it will be sufficiently redefined to meet with government standards.

Feeding the hungry–illegal compassion.

Counseling the old to die quickly–mandated compassion.