24 March 2014

Why doesn't the Church do more to help the poor?

The Catholic Church alone does more throughout the world to alleviate the needs of the poor. Still, there is always more that can be done. Most of the Church's great efforts were initially begun by one or two individual members of the Church, which became institutionalized, if you will, as the efforts grew. The same, I suspect, is true of the efforts to assist the poor being done by the Protestant communities.

Almost a year ago, I raised the question of why the Church doesn't do more to help the poor. Without intending to compile a comprehensive list, I suggested one of the reasons - if not a principle reason, at least in the United States of America, is government regulation and I cited a story as evidence of my claim. Today, I have another story to put forth as evidence for the same:
The Apostolic Pentecostal church in Rockford, IL has been told by the city they can no longer provide help to the homeless.
Apostolic Pentecostal church has been providing the homeless a warming center and temporary shelter in the cold winter months. The city has put a stop to their generosity because of zoning issues and safety hazards [more].
If the government would allow it, the Church could - and would! - do a great deal more to assist the poor and alleviate their plight.

Update - 14 May 2014

A Florida couple has been fined and threatened with imprisonment for feeding the homeless.

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