The only time I consider the comfort of the homeless is when I let my dog outside for the last time at night, before going to bed. I open the sliding glass door to my home, feel the temperature as I’m grabbing for the chain and imagine how the cool or the heat feels on the dirty faces of the beard stubbled homeless of Columbus, OH. For some reason, they are always stocking-capped in my mind–even if it’s hot outside. I see them in the blazing sun with an orange stocking cap, standing on the freeway exit with whatever signs they come up with and my pity for them only extends to their exposure to the weather.

Sometimes life is a matter of simply showing up, being present when opportunity arises. Did you know that if France had just shown up and looked like an army when Hitler crossed the Rhine in 1937, that the German generals were given orders to immediately retreat?

All they had to do was show up.

Where does this drive for global altruism come from? The Christian Golden Rule? Even a cursory glance at the history of Western society will prove unequivocally that Christians with military power have done everything but live by the Golden Rule.

I think this is an important question because we are currently fighting a war based on the precept that we are pre-ordained as a nation with a mission to free the individuals of the world from tyranny of all sorts.

But what about the tyranny of the symbol? What about the murder that the idea demands? Pick an idea. Pick a symbol. Whether it’s a flag or a cross or an idea of 72 virgins in paradise; it all equals violence.

So maybe I am cold and callous in my brief thoughts of the homeless in my own city when I let my dog out into the night to crap another load I’ll have to pick up when I mow that weekend; but at least my egotistical ignorance of their plight doesn’t end in murdering them to save their souls or displacing them because the truth of the modern world dictates that the ground they stand on is more valuable than their presence on this planet.

So who is really lying to themselves?

[Post to Twitter] Tweet This

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

You Should Also Check Out This Post:

More Active Posts: