Michael Spencer, the redoubted iMonk, posed an explosive question--"Should I give money to people on the street who ask for it?"--then noted, a couple days later, "I’ve had to delete more comments from this post than I’ve deleted in 7+ years of writing at Internet Monk." I think this topic is often approached with equal amounts of visceral emotion and raw credulity. Spencer avoids both, as he dishes out some measured advice. This post will be a big help for those of you looking for ways to marry compassion and discernment in your giving.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Give Money to Street People?
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2 comments:
This is always a problem for me.
Cheers.
A few years ago I went to the hardware store. A kid, probably 12-14, approached me. He as asking for gas money on behalf of his parent(s), who were a couple parking spaces away. If I remember right, they were kicked back in the car.
I felt really bad for the kid. he sure didn't look like he wanted to be doing what he was doing. And it's just wrong for parents to exploit a kid that way. I guess they figure people will be more likely to give money to a kid. I had doubts that the money would go for gas. How do you run out of gas in a hardware store parking lot?
I think I gave him five bucks.
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