Religions Should Come Together To Solve The Homeless Problem

[shankara]

Chapter 15 of "The Social Christ" by Samael Aun Weor​

In a newspaper article, we have found the following moving story:

“A little boy, with excessive duties for his age, searches for his father.

“Unable to study since he has to care for his sick mother, the little boy of eleven years, Carlo Alberto Santoya, has dedicated himself to searching for his father, Mr. Luis Santoyo Rojas, who he has not seen for two years.

“The child tries solely to obtain the help of his father to cure his mother, who has a triple fracture in the right leg as a result of a crash. The conditions that the boy and his mother live in, now that she cannot work, are the most precarious, because in the day she is permitted to rest a little in a home, but in the evening she and the little boy have to sleep in the street because there is no space to sleep in that apartment of Zaragoza 79.

“Carlos Alberto says that they cannot have a roof to sleep under because they cannot pay the rent:

“The few cents that I get doing errands or in other small occupations, because they don’t give me work as I am very young, we use to be able to eat at least once a day.”

“The boy doesn’t know where his father is, for this reason he wants to make use of the columns of the newspaper.”

Thus ends the article.


We are very surprised that this newspaper can make such a touching story and yet remain so impassive. It is the most powerful newspaper in Mexico, its owners or owner must be millionaires, and yet they do the story and remain so tranquil, as if nothing had happened, as if that poor homeless mother and that poor little boy were dogs. There is no pity for the homeless.

Nobody is capable of offering them a roof or bread. That powerful newspaper, after listening to the story of the child, had to give them somewhere where these poor homeless people could spend the night, even a miserable room, winter is coming and if these unfortunate homeless ones do not get a roof they will die of cold. A poor mother with a little boy between her arms froze to death in a park of the city already last winter. The unfortunate homeless mother had nowhere to spend the night, she tried to sleep in the park and there she died.

Homelessness exists in the middle of modern civilization. Is hardly believable that there be so many cruel and inhuman people. While in the palaces and in the rich mansions the powerful of the land sleep peacefully, on the streets mothers wander with their children looking for an eave big enough that the rain does not soak them, or a wet and cold park where they can sleep for a while. How can these unfortunates have a fatherland? Which fatherland? What fatherland? A fatherland where they do not have a roof? A fatherland where they do not have protection? What do the religions do? Where is the charity that they preach so much? Why don’t they apply it? We see sumptuous cathedrals and rich mansions everywhere but the homeless continue as always… there is no human charity, the priests of all the religions preach it, certainly, they preach it but they do not practice it.

It is necessary, it is just, that religions set the example. We need to accomplish the Social Christ on the face of the earth, in practice. That religions look after the homeless is essential, it is urgent for the priests of all the cults to teach charity in practice. The different religious cults could have special houses for the homeless. It is precisely the priests of the different religions who are called to look after the homeless.

And the state? What does the State do for the homeless? It is hardly believable that the governments of the Earth can rest easy knowing that on the pavements and in the parks of the cities mothers and children who do not have anywhere to sleep wander about; old people are dying of cold, and sick persons are without shelter. They must have the hearts of hyenas, to sleep so peacefully having on their shoulders the responsibilities of government.

The grand lords seem to ignore the tremendous truth that all human beings regardless of their social position or religious beliefs, belong to a large family, nobody can be more than anyone else in this great family. It is therefore absurd to leave any member of the human family in distress.

The results of such cruelty are bloody revolutions, violent dictatorships, political extremism, religious persecution, attacks on religious sects, etc.. Never has cruelty had good consequences. Political extremisms are a consequence of lack of comprehension and charity.

We need nations to live in peace and this is impossible while human cruelty exists, we should fight against cruelty with the weapons of charity.

The religions require temples in which to pray and celebrate their rituals. However it is necessary to understand that there are cities where there exist an excess of temples. We have seen two or three temples on one street. That is no longer right. We need to be charitable, the money that would be invested in so many temples can be invested in houses of shelter for the homeless. This is the road to the accomplishment of the Social Christ. Religions need to teach the world to live by religious principles, they must start a great social reform.

At present the world is in crisis. There is religious persecution in some countries. The time has come for religions to overcome this worldwide crisis by teaching humanity in practice the true path of the Social Christ. Today it is no longer enough to preach theoretically. Today the religions should teach practically.

The religions should give the example in order that individuals, the people and the states, should follow it.

When religions as a vehicle of eternal values teach in practice the need to give shelter to the homeless, then there will be sympathetic men who bring to the governments in-depth projects and foundations to create in an effective way the SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEM.

Who can resolve definitively and forever the problem of the homeless?

There is a need to begin to solve this problem right now. Let religions begin, fewer cathedrals and more houses for the homeless.

The state will continue, imitating the example. Someone should begin; let the ones that preach charity begin.

 

[rainerann]

This isn't specifically about homelessness, but since using World O Meters to look at coronavirus numbers, I have learned some other interesting facts about the world. One of them being a number of people living without safe drinking water. It is over 800 million people. That is truly disturbing to think about. It makes many things seem very trivial.

There are a bunch of other interesting statistics World O meters collects. https://www.worldometers.info/

So you have to face a problem in order to solve a problem and there is no reason a person should have to wait for the state to lead by example.

"There is a need to begin to solve this problem right now. Let religions begin, fewer cathedrals and more houses for the homeless.

The state will continue, imitating the example. Someone should begin; let the ones that preach charity begin."

 

[shankara]

I love how all the "no, MY God is the one true God!" threads get hundreds of responses while a thread suggesting coming together to do something for the common good gets literally one response...

 

[Aero]

There are 1.5 million non-profit organizations in the United States alone. Of course, it should be noted that the majority of those organizations only exist a tax loophole. The actual amount of charities in the U.S is more like 300-500k. In my mind, that's still a large number of charities. It certainly seems like enough to make a dent in the homeless epidemic.

I'm not saying charity doesn't work in practice, but there is clearly some disconnect there. In fact, Americans gave over 400 billion dollars to charity in 2017 alone. So where does that money actually go? Does anyone keep track, or is there any public oversight whatsoever? I'm going to guess the answer to those questions is a resounding NO, or I don't know.

As far as Churches go, I don't think they have done enough. Now a church can be well-meaning, and righteous, but they will still fall into the status-quo of maintaining and overvaluing their monstrous property. To take that a bit further, the church I went to as a kid was more like a church/school in one. One could literally get lost inside the place. My point is that money could have gone to local communities in need.

Vacation bible school was great, but I think the kids would be fine without it. Basically what I mean is, less talk more action is necessary on all fronts.

 

[shankara]

There are 1.5 million non-profit organizations in the United States alone. Of course, it should be noted that the majority of those organizations only exist a tax loophole. The actual amount of charities in the U.S is more like 300-500k. In my mind, that's still a large number of charities. It certainly seems like enough to make a dent in the homeless epidemic.

I'm not saying charity doesn't work in practice, but there is clearly some disconnect there. In fact, Americans gave over 400 billion dollars to charity in 2017 alone. So where does that money actually go? Does anyone keep track, or is there any public oversight whatsoever? I'm going to guess the answer to those questions is a resounding NO, or I don't know.

As far as Churches go, I don't think they have done enough. Now a church can be well-meaning, and righteous, but they will still fall into the status-quo of maintaining and overvaluing their monstrous property. To take that a bit further, the church I went to as a kid was more like a church/school in one. One could literally get lost inside the place. My point is that money could have gone to local communities in need.

Vacation bible school was great, but I think the kids would be fine without it. Basically what I mean is, less talk more action is necessary on all fronts.

It pains me to see how they spend millions building these "megachurches" so they can rake in the dollars, when that money could go to, say, building affordable housing for the poor. Not only Christians, I've seen mosques with domes covered in actual gold plate. What purpose do such things serve? Surely it's more glorifying to God to help the poor than building an extremely opulent temple. Sure, some architectural beauty can inspire us and remind us of the presence of Divinity, but sheer extravagant decadence doesn't really uplift the soul.

 

[Aero]

It pains me to see how they spend millions building these "megachurches" so they can rake in the dollars, when that money could go to, say, building affordable housing for the poor. Not only Christians, I've seen mosques with domes covered in actual gold plate. What purpose do such things serve? Surely it's more glorifying to God to help the poor than building an extremely opulent temple. Sure, some architectural beauty can inspire us and remind us of the presence of Divinity, but sheer extravagant decadence doesn't really uplift the soul.

Yeah, it's like those megachurches exist in two different worlds.

I've talked before about the inner world vs the outer world in a psychological sense. But I think this case has more to do with social and cultural norms. Like "going to church" is the social norm, whereas bringing that doctrine outside of the church is not.

Take any religious preacher for example. Put them inside the church and they will be surrounded by an aura of authenticity, or authority. However, if you take that same preacher and have them preach on a busy sidewalk. That aura is now gone, and people may think, who the hell is this lunatic?

The same theory applies to every institution and seems to play out exactly as I've stated. A cop without a uniform is just some random dude. A judge outside of court is just a random person. So what's the solution? I really don't know. What I do know is we need to find some real balance between the inner and outer worlds. Or at least an awareness of how much these two worlds have become disconnected.

 

[Lisa]

Instead of just housing the homeless..wouldn’t it be more important that they get work training so they can find jobs and help themselves? I think that is more of a helping hand then just giving them housing. Help them help themselves. Sounds like the women in the story needs to get her leg healed then she could probably take care of her son...and he wouldn’t have to look for his dad who doesn’t care about him anyway.

 

[shankara]

Yeah, it's like those megachurches exist in two different worlds.

I've talked before about the inner world vs the outer world in a psychological sense. But I think this case has more to do with social and cultural norms. Like "going to church" is the social norm, whereas bringing that doctrine outside of the church is not.

Take any religious preacher for example. Put them inside the church and they will be surrounded by an aura of authenticity, or authority. However, if you take that same preacher and have them preach on a busy sidewalk. That aura is now gone, and people may think, who the hell is this lunatic?

The same theory applies to every institution and seems to play out exactly as I've stated. A cop without a uniform is just some random dude. A judge outside of court is just a random person. So what's the solution? I really don't know. What I do know is we need to find some real balance between the inner and outer worlds. Or at least an awareness of how much these two worlds have become disconnected.

Social roleplaying, this is a bit part of the Symbolic Interactionist sociology. Perhaps this relates in a way to the point made in the original article. The priests are "playing the role" of being priests, they do their thing, the government does it's thing. Because they don't see helping the homeless as their role, or primary role, they don't do so. Well, actually I've known priests who do have genuine concern for the poor, but not to the point of really striving to make a movement and struggle against inequality and poverty.

Of course there was the "liberation theology" coming out of Latin America. The Catholic church didn't like it at all. But I think that if they had the courage of their convinctions, priests and religious leaders could do a great deal to make a political struggle for justice. Of course, they might end up like Archbishop Romero... (coincidentally, "Romero" is a great film, if you haven't seen it).

 

[Douglas Summers]

There is a need to begin to solve this problem right now. Let religions begin, fewer cathedrals and more houses for the homeless.

Religion is the problem for the homeless, and many other things that have corrupted this world society. You are right about the huge church buildings and the money spent to make them splendid spectacles, Pastors make million dollar salaries. Religion is a prideful and money making business. I was homeless, no one to turn to or help me out. But God loving and born again believers do more than the religious. A kind person and the U.S. Government helped me more than any of the religious. There are some Good Christian organizations that do a lot (Salvation Army, Second Harvest Food Bank, and local town missions) all work with the homeless.. Part of the homeless problem are the mentally ill that are cast out into the streets, And then you have the alcoholic's and dug people that are trapped in a viscous cycle out on the street. You can blame President Ronald Regen for the homelessness of the mentally ill, He closed all the mental institutions when he became president of the USA.. If the religious would listen to the Lords prayer instead of just repeating it, Especially the part that says, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in Heaven." What a better place this would be.

 

[floss]

Instead of just housing the homeless..wouldn’t it be more important that they get work training so they can find jobs and help themselves? I think that is more of a helping hand then just giving them housing. Help them help themselves. Sounds like the women in the story needs to get her leg healed then she could probably take care of her son...and he wouldn’t have to look for his dad who doesn’t care about him anyway.

Sadly many homeless preferred not to labor (perhap that is why they became homeless in the first place). They don't want to help themself, it's much easier to receive handouts. The root issues is a spiritual one, throwing money at them is not going to fix anything. They need to beg Jesus not man.

 

[Lisa]

Sadly many homeless preferred not to labor (perhap that is why they became homeless in the first place). They don't want to help themself, it's much easier to receive handouts. The root issues is a spiritual one, throwing money at them is not going to fix anything. They need to beg Jesus not man.

Sure I know that...but so many think that its mean to think like that...that we need to think that people are homeless through no fault of their own but through someone else’s negligence..like the corporation or the mean uncaring people who want to not give a hand out but a hand up. I’m always arguing in the homeless thread with the usual suspects that we are just perpetuating a problem with the homeless not helping them.

 

[Douglas Summers]

They need to beg Jesus not man.

First they need to see Him and hear about Him. And How shall they hear Him unless preachers are sent (By Christ) not the religious, But even still, there are those who will just not accept Christ. All we can do is pray and support. I have even seen the homeless use religion to get money. Many of the homeless here in Tennessee will wear a cross, or a sign that says God Bless You. I usually stop and give, But when same people are there day after day, They are probably making more money then you think, but Tennessee has many homeless missions with beds, clothing and free hot meals. I was walking out of a WALMART one day and a middle aged women in the parking lot said she was hungry and had no food. She was wearing clean clothes and did not look like a homeless person, so I gave her a $20 and told her to go to McDonalds which was right next door and I would be back. I drove home to take my groceries, I was not gone more than 10 minutes, and when I came back, she was gone. I drove down to the corner Mapco station where I would spend time talking to the clerk to pass time. Soon I saw that same lady walking around the parking lot, and I said to the clerk, that's the lady I just helped, I was looking for her to buy her some groceries, He said, she was just in here to buy a pack of cigarettes' ,and he said, the expensive kind too. I never bothered her after that, I did what was in my heart....you just never know.

 

[Aero]

Social roleplaying, this is a bit part of the Symbolic Interactionist sociology. Perhaps this relates in a way to the point made in the original article. The priests are "playing the role" of being priests, they do their thing, the government does it's thing. Because they don't see helping the homeless as their role, or primary role, they don't do so. Well, actually I've known priests who do have genuine concern for the poor, but not to the point of really striving to make a movement and struggle against inequality and poverty.

Of course there was the "liberation theology" coming out of Latin America. The Catholic church didn't like it at all. But I think that if they had the courage of their convinctions, priests and religious leaders could do a great deal to make a political struggle for justice. Of course, they might end up like Archbishop Romero... (coincidentally, "Romero" is a great film, if you haven't seen it).

Yeah roleplaying is a good way to describe people with titles and socially generated authority.

I don't know much about symbolic interactionist sociology, but I've read it has lead or extends to constructivism. Of course, I fundamentally disagree that reality is as simple as constructs. I see constructs as the stories people tell themselves, and nothing more. Now I'm not saying there isn't value in a deep dive down someone else's rabbit hole. My point here is I don't need to know anyone's subjective social garbage.

This thread is a great example of why I talk about universals, and holism as a philosophy. Proper worldwide teaching of universals would eliminate the drives that keep people homeless. Like I would tell the average constructivist that sorry, you are not special. And that "their truth" is exactly the type of mentality being used to screw them in the long run. Maybe my philosophy reduces subjectivity a bit, but the following of constructs completely reduce objectivity.

It's not ironic you bringing up the assassination. Because a look at constructivism gives a clear example of the type of person that would take part in such a thing. Some wack ass dude who thinks they are special. We don't know who killed Archbishop Romero, but we can reasonably deduce the killer probably met the same fate. No loose ends and all that.

 

[shankara]

Instead of just housing the homeless..wouldn’t it be more important that they get work training so they can find jobs and help themselves? I think that is more of a helping hand then just giving them housing. Help them help themselves. Sounds like the women in the story needs to get her leg healed then she could probably take care of her son...and he wouldn’t have to look for his dad who doesn’t care about him anyway.

You have a point, housing is not everything. But it's really difficult to hold down a job if you don't have a place to sleep.

Also, are you suggesting there should be free healthcare? Like there is in the UK, for example.

Sadly many homeless preferred not to labor (perhap that is why they became homeless in the first place). They don't want to help themself, it's much easier to receive handouts. The root issues is a spiritual one, throwing money at them is not going to fix anything. They need to beg Jesus not man.

Wow, what a compassionate attitude towards your fellow human beings. There are also people who are born into rich families who don't work and just live off of the capital of whatever enterprises or property they inherit. So I guess you would also say that those people don't deserve to have any of life's basic comforts? Perhaps their wealth should be confiscated and redistributed to working people, I'd probably be in agreement with that.

Also you are making generalizations, and failing to grasp why a person might develop an attitude like that. Obviously a lot of homeless people have some psychological trauma which either leads to addiction or causes them to have difficulty living a normal life in itself. A part of helping them would have to include some way of helping them to deal with problems like that.

As for your assertion that they "prefer to live on handouts", I don't think anyone in their right mind would choose to sleep on the streets or in a homeless shelter. Both are hellish places.

 

[Kung Fu]

Lisa, doesn't believe in helping the homeless. But that's not surprising considering she believes in slave labour.

 

[floss]

You have a point, housing is not everything. But it's really difficult to hold down a job if you don't have a place to sleep.

Also, are you suggesting there should be free healthcare? Like there is in the UK, for example.



Wow, what a compassionate attitude towards your fellow human beings. There are also people who are born into rich families who don't work and just live off of the capital of whatever enterprises or property they inherit. So I guess you would also say that those people don't deserve to have any of life's basic comforts? Perhaps their wealth should be confiscated and redistributed to working people, I'd probably be in agreement with that.

Also you are making generalizations, and failing to grasp why a person might develop an attitude like that. Obviously a lot of homeless people have some psychological trauma which either leads to addiction or causes them to have difficulty living a normal life in itself. A part of helping them would have to include some way of helping them to deal with problems like that.

As for your assertion that they "prefer to live on handouts", I don't think anyone in their right mind would choose to sleep on the streets or in a homeless shelter. Both are hellish places.

I had multiple bad experiences with homeless folks: throwing away food I bought for them, use money to buy booze, ciggs...etc "you don't even have a dollar?" I got played by them too many time, they have lost my support. What surprised me the most lately is the increase of young capable homeless man in their 30s. I'm definitely not falling for that tricks again.

Here is a great example on why they need to beg Jesus not man. If I were to support homeless again it will start with preaching the Gospel to them.

The Man With the Golden Voice_15 June Newsletter – Sovas

www.sovas.org

 

[shankara]

I had multiple bad experiences with homeless folks: throwing away food I bought for them, use money to buy booze, ciggs...etc "you don't even have a dollar?" I got played by them too many time, they have lost my support. What surprised me the most lately is the increase of young capable homeless man in their 30s. I'm definitely not falling for that tricks again.

Here is a great example on why they need to beg Jesus not man. If I were to support homeless again it will start with preaching the Gospel to them.

The Man With the Golden Voice_15 June Newsletter – Sovas

www.sovas.org

We all have addictions. The street is not the best environment to quit drinking, if an alcoholic just stops dry they can go into severe Delirium Tremens and even die from the withdrawals. I'm sure homeless people are by no means perfect and don't always do much to help themselves. On the other hand, if you were in a situation like that, do you think that you would be the same person? It's a pretty traumatic experience, not having a home. Not having any kind of stable living conditions can have a severe psychological impact on people. As for the shelters etc., they don't always treat the people well, call the police if they make a slight noise after curfew or something. They're not very humane environments, and such an experience is also traumatic.

If you were in that situation, don't you think you would be grateful to be given some kind of home? Sure, it might take some work after that to help the person become a productive member of society, both psychological and educational help. But having a home is the basis for the person being able to develop in that way, it's a basic comfort required in order to have the possibility of the healing necessary for the person to eventually be able to improve their own situation.

 

[justjess]

Maslow heirarchy of need. You can not address the mental illness or the addiction or trauma or whatever if the person doesn’t first have a stable place to sleep and food to eat. It doesn’t work like that.

 

[Lisa]

You have a point, housing is not everything. But it's really difficult to hold down a job if you don't have a place to sleep.

Also, are you suggesting there should be free healthcare? Like there is in the UK, for example.

Nothing in life is free..not even free health care..the money has to come from somewhere..so we get taxed more to get that free healthcare..and its substandard from what I’ve read...pretty much like everything the government does. The better way seems to be the way we have it now..though you do have to work to have healthcare.

Sure, I get that it’s difficult to hold down a job when you don’t have a place to sleep, but some people do. I don’t see why we can’t offer assistance until someone gets back on their feet..I just don’t think providing a tent helps people get back on their feet, or providing someone with free accommodations helps incentive. Why work when you get it for free?

 

[justjess]