“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.
January 14, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Compassion was not ceded to the government. The government usurped charity because it is jealous of anything in lust for power. Where I live, the "government" turned homeless men into the cold of winter where one man froze to death and another was found hanged in the woods, because there were no "permits". In Hilters Germany, one was put to death for not having his 'papers'. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was not allowed to work in New York City because her nuns did not have an elevator in their building. Persons be damned. They do not realize that when the government refuses basic necessities to man it must provide them itself. Or if that man dies, they are guilty of murder.
January 14, 2011 at 6:12 pm
sometimes it is reasonable to regulate food production and delivery so as to avoid food-related problems. Most municipalities, I presume, have food safety regulations governing food that is prepared in one place and (reheated and)delivered somewhere else.
The Herrings will, no doubt, receive their reward according to Our Lord's promise. In the meantime they could seek out some organization that has a permit, and help them.
January 14, 2011 at 6:13 pm
… A beggar came imploring alms; evidently in a somewhat tactless manner. It was a rude and simple society and there were no laws to punish a starving man for expressing his need for food, such as have been established in a more humanitarian age; and the lack of any organised police permitted such persons to pester the wealthy without any great danger. – From Chesterton's St. Francis
January 14, 2011 at 6:58 pm
Anon,
So you agree that, in order to prevent the one food-borne illness that might occur over a multi-year period, that dozens of people should instead not have a meal for those many years?
Yes, food safety laws have a purpose and a cause. However, our society trades any sense of reasonableness and thought for a series of unwielding regulations that are, by nature, inpersonal and cold.
Certified kitchens, certified food preparers, and certified methods of transporting prepared food are not cheap. That doesn't mean that food prepared outside these perameters are inherently dangerous. An igloo cooler with sufficient ice blocks can keep sandwiches cool enough to avoid growth of bacteria. However, this will not meet regulatory standards because of the lack of a thermometer/thermostat that continuously monitors the interior temperature. And many organizations that have certified kitchens aren't charitable organizations (ie, caterers) and may not be located in the areas where the Herrings minister.
It amazes me to think that someone can be cited or ticketed for giving someone else food. I better check out whether I need a permit to carry a granola bar to my daughters' playdates at the park with their friends. After all, they might share some with their friends.
January 14, 2011 at 8:32 pm
Stupid and rotten, but picture what would happen if by accident a homeless man got food poisoning from something the Herrings gave him.
There would be attorneys all over him urging him to sue them for everything they had, saying they had destroyed his bright future and so on.
Government hasn't usurped as bad as all that. It's the litigiousness of society that has messed it up for the rest of us.
January 14, 2011 at 9:03 pm
This is far from unusual, it's becoming more common every day.
What would happen if the folk providing meals just told the authorities to place it where the sun never shines and continued their efforts?
Imagine the publicity for that, they could keep on with their defiance until incarcerated. The publicity would continue. Imagine if a crop of copycats then sprang up, equally defiant in their charitable work. Suppose it really grew legs and became a nationwide movement.
What would the final outcome be?
We're told to give to Ceasar what is his and God what is His, doesn't that include charitable acts such as this? Couldn't defiance be justified?
As for the (inevitable) lawsuits mentioned by Therese Z, how would extremely negative publicity affect them? Isn't it time to stop cringing before the prospect of specious legal actions?
Just wondering.
Because it's getting way past time to stop genuflecting to every beauracratic busybody that sticks their snoot where it really doesn't belong. It's getting to where we'll stand before the throne of God and tell Him, "Gee, I'd really have liked to have fed you when you were hungry but the government paperwork made it impossible".
I'm sure THAT will go over really well!
January 14, 2011 at 9:52 pm
The question I have is "Why would the couple be unable to obtain a permit?"
January 15, 2011 at 3:32 am
Our government is completely out of control.
January 16, 2011 at 3:10 am
I live in Houston and can attest to the greed of those running this city. Nasty lot of crooks with an avowed lesbian mayor. They also rammed through a sneaky law recently that will be taxing all the churches in the city (flood tax or some such baloney). They are full of underhanded dealings to pad their pockets.. so I cannot recommend anyone moving here.
I am ashamed of our mayor, but that goes for all of the rotten ones we have had that got in made themselves rich and left.
January 16, 2011 at 7:23 am
"So you agree that, in order to prevent the one food-borne illness that might occur over a multi-year period, that dozens of people should instead not have a meal for those many years?"
If I never read another sentence like this again in my life I would be a very happy man.
January 16, 2011 at 9:46 pm
And I'm sure those places with permits never have a problem with food poisoning. Ever.
January 17, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Good on Ya Houston!
I live in downtown Memphis in a converted office building on the perimeter of the city park. I must say that I understand what the City of Houston is doing. Many well-intentioned people come to feed the vagrants this city collects by the dozens everyday. The problem is not the gift of food but the failure to address the full needs of these lost and sick souls. Feeding them enables them to focus the balance of their day on panhandling to afford the cheap blue-cap liquor they consume until they erupt into vulgar arguments and knife fights – right in the park. A major source of revenue for Memphis is tourism. A safe and vibrant downtown is essential for everyone's well-being and provides the semi-skilled hospitality jobs that so many Memphians depend upon for their livelihood. These people must be called to account. 2 Thessalonians – he who will not work, should not eat.
January 18, 2011 at 3:24 am
The government usurped charity because it is jealous of anything in lust for power.
Yes, but stuff like this also serves another purpose: to make legal the marginalization (and eventual outlaw) of religion.
By legislating regulations that stifle non-government charity in favor of government "charity", governments set themselves up to accuse churches (which don't pay taxes, at least in America) of being a burden on the state because we don't pay taxes and don't provide social services (because the government won't let us).
Viola!
The state is working to make religion a "pariah" on society so it can de-legitimize us further.