Homeless People, the Right to Work and Other Good Ideas . . .

The other day in downtown St. Petersburg, the City Council passed a much needed expansion of protection of personal property that would keep homeless people from amassing piles of trash or sleeping on public walkways.

As a resident of St. Petersburg I am growing quite frustrated with this problem, especially since churches dot most urban landscapes and there will literally be people begging at the front door of a church, but refusing to actually enter in and join the worship . . .

This situation is in stark contrast to my time in South Bend, Indiana in which I was a Ph.D. student in Ethics at the University of Notre Dame and also an associate pastor in an urban church that had a soup kitchen and a live-in drug and alcohol rehab program.

In South Bend, the 'transient' population (one man who even moved from Gary, Indiana to escape the addictive atmosphere there) was INVITED IN and worshipped, some even coming to adult Sunday School.

Whereas in St. Petersburg, Florida some people literally will dig in the trash can, yet refuse SPIRITUAL HELP, in Indiana, the outreach was not just to get them off of the street, but to get them closer to CHRIST!

BUT, where the CHURCH is, so is mercy. The CHURCH and not the state is the solution to this problem. In fact, it is the CHURCH that actually RUNS most of the ministries in the downtown St. Petersburg area.

BUT, in spite of what the CHURCH can and does accomplish, the Government must do a better job at protecting the RIGHTS of the WORKER! If someone is laid off unjustly, there is LITERALLY nothing the disadvantaged worker can do, except of course apply for another job. PROTECTION against discrimination (ESPECIALLY religious discrimination, but also other forms of discrimination as well . . .) MUST BE IN PLACE.

ONLY by the Government doing ITS part will this problem be fixed.

VOTE FOR JESUS CHRIST, not for a cheap slogan or some guy (or woman) who gets all of the media coverage just because he or she 'knows people.'

LOVE IN CHRIST, ROB J. KING