The God-given Ability to Panhandle
Atlanta has just passed some local legislation outlawing panhandling in some of their prime "tourist areas" downtown. Some protestors are pissed. Elisabeth Omilami (a protestor) says: "The ability to ask for alms is a God-given ability. You can pass laws to protect trees, but what about human beings? God help us!"
Wow...I never thought about that before. Panhandling is a God-given ability. I suppose she's right. I regret that I don't have a theological argument ready for it and I can't give you chapter and verse...but yeah, I suppose the ability to ask for things is something God gave us...when he gave us fucking vocal chords and the ability to move air across them to make sounds! Geez...what does she want, a fuckin' Rhodes Scholarship for that argument? I guess she got a little self-conscious when the reporter came around and she didn't want to say God-given right because she thought "you hear that all the time" and so she thought she would spice it up and use a different word that means the exact same thing...only it doesn't.
Anyway, I don't think the ban is a bad idea. Many people who actually spend time in downtown Atlanta don't seem to think so either. Some are hoping for similar legislation in L.A., San Francisco and elsewhere. Someone online pointed out that none of those protestors even mentioned the new multi-million dollar Gateway Center, recently built in Atlanta with the intent of impacting "chronic homelessness." I guess in-between giving all their money to the poor and volunteering at local shelters and such, these guys though they could squeeze in a little protest of injustice before smoking a cigarette and watching C.S.I.: Miami.
Wow...I never thought about that before. Panhandling is a God-given ability. I suppose she's right. I regret that I don't have a theological argument ready for it and I can't give you chapter and verse...but yeah, I suppose the ability to ask for things is something God gave us...when he gave us fucking vocal chords and the ability to move air across them to make sounds! Geez...what does she want, a fuckin' Rhodes Scholarship for that argument? I guess she got a little self-conscious when the reporter came around and she didn't want to say God-given right because she thought "you hear that all the time" and so she thought she would spice it up and use a different word that means the exact same thing...only it doesn't.
Anyway, I don't think the ban is a bad idea. Many people who actually spend time in downtown Atlanta don't seem to think so either. Some are hoping for similar legislation in L.A., San Francisco and elsewhere. Someone online pointed out that none of those protestors even mentioned the new multi-million dollar Gateway Center, recently built in Atlanta with the intent of impacting "chronic homelessness." I guess in-between giving all their money to the poor and volunteering at local shelters and such, these guys though they could squeeze in a little protest of injustice before smoking a cigarette and watching C.S.I.: Miami.