but are seriously down on their luck. I hire them to do yard work when they bang on my door since I can't do it any more. I guess you could say I'm deeply grateful to them for their help, which I am, and my rate now is ten bucks an hour because anything less isn't worth getting up for.

If they're really in pathetic shape, I just feed them. No questions.

if you consider yourself a Christian. That's a very Christian attitude, which I applaud. Well, Christian in the theory of Christianity. Not Christian in practice as far as what I witness. The devout Christians I know generally spend one hour a week in Church and 167 hours a week thinking that it allows them to be selfish, self-serving and judgmental.

Okay, that is a major generalization and my "sample" is not statistically significant. It's anecdotal. But it just makes we wonder if someone who treats the down-on-their-luck folks with dignity, respect and appreciation would call themselves a practicing Christian.

If that's too private of a question, feel free to ignore this.

I just know what kind of world I'd prefer to live in and that's one where somebody will give you a sandwich if you're hungry and down on your luck.

I hope I end up near your house -- and that you need your grass mowed.

I live in NYC and get asked all the time for help... for more help than I can afford. But I do try to keep some food in my bag during my travels to pass out to people who ask. In spite of the stereotypes, not everyone wants loose change so they can buy crack. It's really the opposite. They're hungry. They'd rather have a banana than a quarter.

Although, a couple times, I've gone into a grocery store to get a sandwich for someone who's hungry, and they got pissed off at what I bought. One particularly hostile guy was really angry that I bought a sandwich on whole wheat bread rather than a roll. Another guy asked to get something for him at McDonald's. I came out with fries. He got mad because he's trying to watch his cholesterol. I tried to explain that there is, then, nothing he should eat at McDonald's. That didn't go over well.

But those are the exceptions.

Seems to me like it's a current events post and deals with socioeconomics, philosophy and cultural attitudes related to a recent news story that happens to have been triggered by a Christian church that bought a piece of art.

So I put it in "general discussion."

I don't see how this is a story merely about religion. If I'm wrong, please let me know and I'll take it down.

Unless the source is your blog.

Yes, it is my blog and an original compilation with links to sources on the blog, which the article above links to.

I didn't know that posting an excerpt with a link was better etiquette. I thought it was kind of annoying to drive people away from DU. But it would be a lot easier. In the future, if there is a blog post on my blog that I feel would the DU group might be interested in, I'll post a snip and a link.

you can just note that in the OP, so id doesn't get alerted on.

be preferable. Comments are not allowed on my blog because I don't have a community like DU to monitor comments. But it's interesting to see what people say, hence the occasional repost over here. If I posted here and then sent people to a blog without comments, it would actually defeat the point (or at least might). So, I like this approach. Thanks again.

Not that the sculpture isn't well intended and thought provoking, but it's a much better charity business model to get money from your wealthy church members and distribute it to people in need, rather than spend the money trying to change the attitude of people who are comfortable in their lifestyle and its rewards.