For the umpteenth time, a Christian complained about the fact that socialists force people to give money to help the poor. Rather, he said, we should let people give of their own free will. Like the church does. And he mentioned some homeless ministries in his area. The argument is that we should look to the church to support the homeless; we shouldn’t force people to do it through taxes.

I looked up the stats for his area — Flagstaff, Arizona, in Coconino County.

I found out that, last count, there were about 388 or so homeless people in his county (which contains about 136,000 people), and last year alone the federal government had to spend $945,000 dollars helping them, in addition to extra help from the police and other “socialist” services.

I asked him how many homeless people he’d housed in the past year. How many homeless convicts of, say, aggravated assault or attempted murder had he housed under his roof?

The answer, predictably, was “none.”

So I said:

“I’ll make you a deal.

“When churches put homeless people in apartments and provide them with social workers and jobs so that there are no more homeless — when your County, for example, does not need $945,000 of government assistance (in addition to other state resources funded by tax dollars to help the homeless) to house the three hundred or so homeless in its ranks, because churches are helping homeless people without forcing them to pay for their food by listening to a sermon or converting to Christianity (sometimes, as I saw when involved in homeless ministry as a Christian, multiple times a month) so they can brag about converts, when they won’t hold back food or shelter for outspoken dissents and will take care of all homeless needs without government intervention — then I’ll think seriously about cutting off government tax dollars used to help the homeless and more socialist programs.

“But as long as Christians like you talk the talk in air conditioned offices and heated apartments without housing homeless people who have been convicted of aggravated assault, etc… I’ll be damned before I say state support shouldn’t be a thing.”

He didn’t really have a response to that.

Most Christians don’t. Most Christians seem to think that the poor are here for people to feel good about helping them from the kindness of their heart — so that people can show them Christ’s love.

I don’t think that’s true. I don’t think God gives us the homeless as a gift so that we can be nice to them. I think the homeless are here because shit happens, plain and simple. And if I were homeless — or if I ever become homeless — I would want to make sure there’s a safety net for me. So I try to ensure it’s there for other people.

It’s up to us, guys. There’s not a God who’s gonna come along and make things better.

As Bernie Sanders put it:

The problems we face did not come down from the heavens. They are made, they are made by bad human decisions, and good human decisions can change them.

So, here’s the thing: I am not willing, even remotely, to sit around and wait for the church to get its act together to help the struggling. No.

This is the one and only life we have, and I’ll be damned before I stop insisting that we should do everything within our power as a nation to help the homeless and hungry. Quitting government help and depending solely on the woefully insufficient efforts of charities — especially those that too often attach religious strings and obligations to assistance — leaves people waiting, living miserable lives for the only life they have.

We are only on this planet for a short time, relatively, and then, if the projections are right, the sun will go into supernova and we will perish. While we are here, I think it is of paramount importance to ensure that we are able to live as vibrant lives as possible. There is no heavenly happy-ever-after; it’s up to us. As Sander said yesterday when asked if he believed in God:

What I believe in and what my spirituality is about is that we’re all in this together. That I think it is not a good thing to believe that, as human beings, we can turn our backs on the suffering of other people.

If the church ever gets its act together and throws its religious agenda away in helping people fully and completely so that government help is not needed (I’m not holding my breath), I’ll have some food for thought.

But until then, I’ll be damned before I say that government help should not be a thing because of arguments from people who talk about a God-based utopia that they don’t even embody themselves. Because I’ll think you’re just trying to get out of helping people, and aren’t serious about ending homelessness. If you were, you’d be working harder to make government help unnecessary.

Thanks for reading.

[Featured image via Jseliger2 under CCL 2.0]