About Dr. Gary Scott Smith 2 Articles
Dr. Gary Scott Smith chairs the history department at Grove City College and is a fellow for faith and politics with the Center for Vision & Values. He is the author of Religion in the Oval Office (Oxford University Press, 2015), Faith and the Presidency From George Washington to George W. Bush (Oxford University Press, 2009), Religion in the Oval Office and Heaven in the American Imagination (Oxford University Press, 2011).

6 Comments

  1. One third are down on their luck and will likely recover.
    One third are mentally ill and need medical attention.
    The remaining third are simply too lazy to care. Nothing will help them, except themselves.
    Nevertheless, we are not called to solve their problems. We are called to feed and clothe them and to give of our substance not just our abundance. Easier said than done.

  2. I never give to pan handlers in this busy city…except ths big black guy recently whom I confronted about all the trucking jobs that are going unanswered…so why wasn’t he doing that ( I’m built like a defensive end….praise God)? He answered with indecipherable words and a hellish speech impediment and I gave him ten dollars and apologized profusely. Ordinarily I give nada to them.
    The Pope’s advice? It could be the final drink that destroys their liver. The mentally ill are probably not asking for money….the drinkers are. I did one year of welfare work when I was waiting for an answer from the military.
    And when their clothes are clean, they’re on welfare and you are already paying for their rent and food and tv bill…like I told one recently…” I’ve been paying for you all my life”. Give that identical money to Catholic Medical Mission Board and you’ll really be helping the actual poor. As to the Pope and your secret pleasures as manipulative leverage to get you to agree with his “destroy their liver further” theory…words fail me.

  3. I think what the Pope is saying is correct. However, Give food not money and let God be the Judge of them and you.

    of course there are a lot of People who have no true need but the person that you are missing that has one is the one that you would be truly helping. yes it is a though call and where I would help before I now may just drive by. My goal is to get a program started where a group of mderchants could give food and other resource information to these people.

    • Your heart is is the right place, however have you been in the situation when you couldn’t Help?

      Confession is required of us each day. A silent prayer for the unfortunate never goes amiss.

      God bless you, He has given you a heart for the downtrodden.

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