Kamryn Anthis | Staff Writer
“I don’t give homeless people money because they’ll just buy drugs with it” is a common, but flawed argument. Not giving someone money, in the same way people protest giving away free clean needles, does not end drug abuse. Drug addiction ends with support, love, and grace, not neglect or judgment.
Giving in its nature is to be Christ-like, pure and should be unconditional. Someone who gives to be rewarded or to monitor the subsequent actions of the recipient is perverting the gesture.
According to Matthew 25:35-40, “For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in. The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Drug addiction is a crippling disease, one that this country seems to suppress rather than truly address. If someone decides that the biggest need in their life is drugs, not food, water or shelter, I think it’s safe to say they need drugs badly.
Less than half of homeless people actually have drug habits, and most of those with drug dependencies developed them because of being homeless. Blaming a homeless person for their circumstances is productive to nobody.
When a celebrity develops a drug habit because of their “stress,” the public doesn’t hesitate to sympathize, but when someone in a dire situation of acute or chronic homelessness turns to substances, it’s nothing but shame and blame.
60% of the homeless people in Waco have a monthly income that isn’t enough to cover housing due to affordable housing crisis. Homelessness is a crushing cycle, especially considering the tendency of those with housing insecurity to suffer from mental and/or physical illness. Additionally, 67% of homeless people worldwide have mental health disorders.
People treat our most vulnerable neighbors like spectacles rather than people in a horrible position — one that is often not their fault.
Some may argue that giving money to a drug addict is enabling their habit. However, it’s a much more nuanced situation. I plead that we as a society should stop blaming the poor for their plight and offer them grace. Whether that’s a meal, a conversation, or simply a kind mindset towards them.
Additionally, telling someone who is unhoused to “just get a job” is a logical fallacy. Without a car, Social Security card, home address, computer or email, the task is much more complicated than simply filling out a job application.
If your sympathy ends at, “that’s someone’s son or daughter”, the implication is that someone needs to belong to someone else to have value. Each and every human on this Earth was made in God’s image and deserves grace.
My parents have been homeless, and I see their faces in every man or woman I see on the street. The world would be a much kinder place if people were more capable of empathizing with those who struggle most.
It is an absolute privilege not to sympathize or empathize with homeless people. People in general, especially Baylor students, need to take it upon themselves to step out of that privilege, enter the real world and do as God commanded us: giving to those in need.
The next time you see a homeless person around the grease pit, try to put yourself in their shoes. Treat them as God intended we treat our neighbors.
Proverbs 19:17- “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for what he has done”
