Friday, January 25, 2008

How poor are America's "Poor"...in the worldwide picture?

I was in downtown Newberg the other day waiting to cross the street when I was approached by a stranger. He looked to be in his late 40's or so, kind of scruffy but no more than me on a weekend. He was riding a Huffy mountain bike. So, he comes up to me and says, "I am trying to come up with 4 dollars, can you help me out?" My first thought was, wow, this guys is direct, un-shy. He would do well in sales; if he actually wanted to work for a living. I actually did not have any money, (just my ATM which I politely said he couldnt have) and I don't give out money to the homeless anyway. I will however help families I see on occasion that seem to be in trouble, get a meal and possibly a ride somewhere. I will even go out of my way to buy a couple double cheeseburgers and bring it back to someone that my intuition tells me I need help. Why do I seem so cold hearted you may be thinking. Especially since I am a Christian. The basic answer is that I am trying to model Christ when dealing with the unmotivated or "poor". If you read the Bible the way Jesus helped the poor was not in handing out money. He fed the hungry and gave them the Gospel message. To be honest, if you any of you have ever seen the commercials about Africa, India, even S. America, you know the ones that are deliberately designed to make you feel guilty....you may be asking the same question I always do when I see people on the street in America. This leads me to a very interesting article I was turned on to while listening to Ronald Dart one day. So what was that question I asked myself when watching one of those commercials? If that is poverty, then what am I seeing in downtown Newberg, or any other city; what the heck is the census bureau using in their numbers?

So check out this article, see what you think. Comment.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg2064.cfm