Would Florida Arrest Jesus Too?

Rather than finding ways to help the homeless, a number of cities in Florida, including Fort Lauderdale have passed ordinances against feeding the homeless. And a leading scofflaw who has been cited for violating the ordinance is 90 year old World War II veteran Arnold Abbott…an advocate for the homeless who has been providing them with food for twenty years in honor of his late wife. The penalty for feeding the homeless is 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. So this certainly isn’t a little municipal ticket to be taken lightly.

But despite interference from the police, Mr. Abbott and his group, Love Thy Neighor, continue to feed the homeless and have garnered a fair amount of support for their efforts.

It seems to go against Southern Christian tenets and the GOP movement to replace government ‘hand outs’ with local private charity…and it just seems flat out mean.

So how would a long haired bearded man with brown skin fair in Fort Lauderdale if he started handing out loaves and fishes?

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34 thoughts on “Would Florida Arrest Jesus Too?

  1. Ed, thanks.

    I guess they don’t read scripture.

    Matthew 25

    41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

  2. It’s time for Democrats to label hateful anti-poor measures like this for what they really are: “Un-Christian.” For some reason liberals let the GOP wear the mantle of being “religious and moral” when many of their policies are anything but. Put them on the defense and make them somehow defend laws like this as being “Christ-like.”

    1. Agree, but Dems have allowed GOP to paint them as the party of “pity-liberalism.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The real “job creators” are consumers with money to spend. You can’t have mass production without mass consumption. It’s the wingnut policies that are eviscerating the 99%. State and national Dems, running as “GOP light,” have failed to articulate that.

      We’re losing people to the Socialist Party, the Green Party, and apathy/despair.

      Social destruction is taking place on a massive scale. Folks under 35 have less chance than their parents of ever affording a home. College is unaffordable, and people can’t afford to retire.

  3. The late columnist Mike Royko, the late columnist for the Chicago Tribune (among other papers) wrote a Xmas column called “Joe and Mary – Chicago Style”. It summarizes what happens when homeless travelers encounter a Fort Lauderdale-like situation.

    1. “Federal Job Guarantee”

      “….The government could serve as the “employer of last resort” under a job guarantee program modeled on the WPA (the Works Progress Administration, in existence from 1935 to 1943 after being renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939) and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942). The program would offer a job to any American who was ready and willing to work at the federal minimum wage, plus legislated benefits. No time limits. No means testing. No minimum education or skill requirements….”

      http://ineteconomics.org/blog/institute/plan-all-detroits-out-there

      The federal government doesn’t borrow money from China or our grand children.

      “(Federal) Taxes For Revenue Are Obsolete”

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/warren-mosler/taxes-for-revenue-are-obs_b_542134.html

      State and local government can’t issue their own currency. Their budgets have to balance, just like a family’s.

      FICA taxes (payroll tax) and federal income taxes on the 99% are what economists call “Demand Leakage.”

      “…Demand leakages are unspent income. For a given currency, if any agent doesn’t spend his income, some other agent has to spend more than his income, or that much output doesn’t get sold. So if the non government sectors collectively don’t spend all of their income, it’s up to government to make sure its income is less than its spending, or that much output doesn’t get sold. This translates into what’s commonly called the ‘output gap,’ which is largely a sanitized way of saying unemployment. …”

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/warren-mosler/demand-leakages-the-800lb_b_1646916.html

      http://lostoutputclock.com/ is the “output” we’ve lost since the 2008 crash.

      We need consumers spending those dollars. Obama and the Dems should be demanding the holiday be brought back on both sides of the federal payroll tax. Lowering federal income taxes on the 99% also makes sense.

      Raising federal taxes on the elites makes sense, because they have far too much control over our political and judicial system. The federal government, however, doesn’t need their money.

  4. MM, exactly!

    The GOP “pro-life” definition primarily consists of claiming to be anti-abortion. It is so phony, so deceptive, so hypocritical as they ignore or oppose or restrict other critical “life” issues such as:

    legislation to prevent expanded gun clips
    legislation requiring gun show background checks
    food stamps
    universal health care
    unions
    a living or minimum wage
    social security
    low interest educational loans
    other forms of life-enhancing or sustaining measures for the vulnerable

    And how contradictory or false is it that many of the “pro-life” Republicans and red states are in favor of the death penalty?

    Yes, the “pro-life” claim by Republicans is misspelled; it should be “pro-lie.”

  5. What is the purpose(s) of “these” ordinances?
    Is it to insure safe food and sanitary conditions for all involved? Or is it so that the homeless all die of starvation?
    Mr. Abbott and others are certainly well intended, but who is responsible when a bad batch of food sickens or kills people?
    Even regulated food suppliers have issues occasionally. With unregulated food it is not a question of if a problem occurs, but when.

    p.s. References to Jesus, scripture, etc. do not add value to the discussion.

    1. ig,

      On the food safety binge? What’s next, you’re gonna want ranchers and farmers not feeding anti-biotics to their livestock?

      Are you Joel Salatin and his pasture-fed beef? http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=joel+salatin+pasture+fed+beef&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=8817976C8BC0CCBDC8DC8817976C8BC0CCBDC8DC

      Whew, good thing you included that post script. Otherwise, I might have included all these scriptures.

      Matthew 19:21

      Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

      Proverbs 19:17 ESV

      Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

      Luke 14:12-14

      He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

      Matthew 5:42

      Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

      Proverbs 22:9

      Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

      Isaiah 58:10

      If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.

      Luke 3:11

      And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”

      Galatians 2:10

      Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

      Deuteronomy 15:7-11

      “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

      Deuteronomy 15:11

      For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

      Matthew 25:34-46

      Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?

      Proverbs 14:21

      Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.

      Proverbs 14:31

      Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.

      Matthew 6:1-4

      “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

      Leviticus 19:9-10

      “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

      Leviticus 25:35

      “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.

      Luke 12:33

      Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

      Deuteronomy 14:28-29

      “At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

      Exodus 23:11

      But the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.

      Proverbs 28:27

      Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.

      Psalm 140:12

      I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy.

      Psalm 12:5

      “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

      Luke 21:1-4

      Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

      Luke 10:30-37

      Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

      Ezekiel 16:49

      Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

      Luke 1:53

      He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

      Isaiah 58:6-7

      “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

      Proverbs 29:7

      A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.

      Luke 16:19-31

      “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

      Ezekiel 22:29

      The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.

      Jeremiah 5:28

      They have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy.

      Isaiah 25:4

      For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,

      Acts 4:32-35

      Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

      Luke 7:22

      And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.

      Matthew 6:24

      “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

      Hebrews 13:3

      Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

      Deuteronomy 15:7

      “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother,

      Isaiah 58:7

      Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

      Psalm 41:1-2

      To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.

    2. Most of you already know this, but, please disregard JC’s attempted reply. He cannot seem to answer the most simple question(s) or stay on topic.

      1. John did stay on topic – he’s attacking the immorality of these ordinances. If you disagree with him, then why not comment on how the ordinance benefits society, how it is practical and how you disagree with the take by other commenters that it is immoral (if you can)? Defend your views – aren’t your views worth defending?

        1. Emma,
          I asked what I thought was a valid question with regard to the topic, JC clicked reply yet did not answer the question. I do not have a view or view to defend. Just looking to discuss the Florida issue. And though Ed provided Jesus a cameo I don’t really think he intended for this to be Christian discussion. Maybe I am wrong.

      2. Then you believe the words and teachings of Jesus Christ and the Old Testament are not relevant to this discussion!

        If so, IG, you miss the social and humanitarian failings of the unjust laws and actions primary to this topic that need exposure and correction.

        1. Duane, I get it, Christianity drives many lives. Maybe me too, but you don’t know me well enough judge. Not everyone that comes to BB or governs Florida is necessarily Christian. Or are we a nation of Christian laws now?

          So I’ll ask you, what is the purpose of an ordinance such as the one in Florida? There is/was a purpose and until that is understood one cannot really work with “the system” to accept, modify or toss it out. JMO.

          1. ig, you’re sounding mighty pro-choice. It’s as though you don’t think government should be able to compel birth.

            You’re also making the arguments for deeper funding for PUBLIC education, that’s consistent with the FIRST AMENDMENT.

            “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

      1. Emma, I don’t want hungry homeless people either. As with Duane, I get it. Christianity drives many lives. But many other people of many other faiths don’t really want to hear about “Christian laws” or Christianity driving government’s laws. Separation of church & state can be tricky, we are human.
        I am just trying to understand the origin of the policy, potential options and hopefully move the topic forward.

  6. EmmaR, I haven’t seen anything to suggest that the Florida ordinance was a GOP initiative. Do you know it to be or are you referring to other GOP policies and if so, which ones?

    1. Denis, has anyone at the Florida GOP come out and criticized the ordinance? If not, why don’t you call them. Here’s their site http://rpof.org/

      Tell them they need to make a public statement about the need for the Florida Republicans to promote Christian values, such as feeding the hungry, visiting people in prison,…

      After they get that published, you can post a link to it in this thread.

      1. Yes John, it suggests a complete lack of evidence tying the ordinance in question to the Republican party.

        1. Denis, I’m flattered you’d confuse me with Duane.

          Ed hit a nerve with this post.

          On this one, we’ve got both Denis and ig trying desperately to insulate the GOP.

  7. John, I gather you don’t know if the ordinance was a GOP initiative. I don’t care to get too involved in local Florida politics, so I won’t be contacting them. Ironically this issue first came to my attention via Fox News I believe, so I don’t suspect that the GOP was primarily behind it. Anyway, if you or others want to pin this on the GOP, please provide evidence.

  8. No burial JC. Fox has a rightward tilt, no question. Doesn’t mean they aren’t credible though. Are you prepared to bury all the left leaning news organizations?

  9. Would encourage everyone to at least view the first 20 minutes of This Week video:

    http://www.fortlauderdale.gov/Home/Components/News/News/132/16?backlist=%2fhome

    The move is not so much about feeding as it is about removing the homeless, as much as possible, from public view, especially at tourist beaches. Mayor Seiler is a former Democratic State Rep, not sure about the rest of the 5 city commissioners or the appointed city manager.

    Lotta yacking here with nobody looking too far for answers. This topic is an example of another diversion by the PTB (owned media being wholly complicit) to inflame public discourse and to completely avoid looking at a key feature of unregulated capitalism, its abject failure to feign even a pretense for equitable distribution of resources, IOW, socioeconomic inclusion in even basic terms.

    My 2 minute search and opinion FWIW. There’s No War but Class War.

  10. ‘Is it to insure safe food and sanitary conditions for all involved?’
    Oh, IG, now you’re just being contrary. Unless you want to shut down every 4-hour Saturday morning soccer brat-fry fundraiser and every 6-hour mystery-meat church pasta supper that argument won’t fly. You sound like you’re concern-trolling and I’ve seen you be better than that.
    Besides, you live in a state that is working to legislate ever-easier ways to spray liquid cow manure around like a water cannon at the Wilderness. Let’s clean our own house first.

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