People in the world should be empathetic to the homeless because no one is immune to being homeless. Given that the homeless are often segregated in the community because of their physical looks, they have no one to turn to. People who are homeless are often associated with negative stereotypes constructed by the society at large. As a Christian I strongly believe in the golden rule because as humans we do not choose our way of life, but God does. Thus, it is my responsibility as a Christian to help put whichever way I can. In Luke, Jesus asserts that those who help the poor will be rewarded in the afterlife because of their good ethics and generosity (Luke 6:20). In addition, Christians follow Jesus way of life because he was a Son of God and he attributed good Christian virtues by feeding the hungry and mingling with the segregated in the community. Due to this, I believe that it is my responsibility as a Christian to practice my Christian values by not segregating the homeless but be a figure to give them a sense of hope by providing food material. This paper will examine how Christian ideologies relate to the art of one being homeless.
Poverty is one of the major things that bring about homelessness in that these people can hardly afford social amenities such as housing, food, and water. Thus, these people who are homeless are in a desperate position. According to the National Law Center of Homelessness and Poverty, “there are approximately 3.5 million people, 1.35 million of them children, are likely to experience homelessness in a given year (National Law Center of Homelessness and Poverty).” This indicates that there is a high risk of people being homeless as a result of high social standards of living in a given society. There are a number of factors that promote homelessness such as disease, domestic violence, people with different sexual orientations apart from heterosexuals, abusive homes among others. In addition, it is important to note that these people who end up being homeless, tend to work minimum wage. However, they cannot support their basic need and utilities such as rent and give their children education. Thus, these people turn to social welfare programs for help, which are not guaranteed that everyone will qualify. One of the things that has brought about homelessness in when President Reagan cut back on public housing as a way of promoting private investors and improving the general economy because people will spend more giving the government more funds (Camilas). Thus, when people were forced out of their public homes, people were forced to look for work so as to support themselves. However, employment is not something that is guaranteed because one has to be educated and skilled. Given that there are a number of people who lack these attributes, they end up working in a minimum wage job. In addition, the country has been hit with a number of economic recessions that offset people’s income in that some are laid off, forcing them to the streets as a result of no job.
Jehovah's Witnesses leaders like Joseph Rutherford used the brave deeds of these victims as an example to influence the Jehovah's Witnesses within the United States not to salute the national flag .Orden gives a contemporary example whereby a twelve year old girl named Lillian Gobitas and her younger siblings listened to a speech given by Joseph Rutherford via radio transmission encouraging Jehovah's Witnesses not to salute the flag using the experiences of Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany as an exemplification of courage. The main claim was that saluting the flag was a form of worshipping graven image. When the kids went to school the next day, they refused to salute the flag causing them to be sent away from school. It is clear from this example that the leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses were the perpetrators of the idea of not saluting the national flag. In addition, the experiences of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany under the Nazi regime played a key role in bringing the idea of not saluting the national flag in the United States.
The Jehovah's Witnesses support their idea of not saluting the national flag by referencing to Exodus 20: 4 that states “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below” Jehovah's Witnesses believe that they should only worship “Jehovah” who they believe to be the only living God. In their opinion, saluting the flag is a form of worshipping graven images which the Bible warns against in Exodus 20:4.They believe that saluting of the flag means that they are practicing politics and religion at the same time which is against theocratic government of “Jehovah” However, though the Jehovah's Witnesses do not salute the flag, they do not engage in active rebellion against the flag or the government. They respect governmental institutions but do not actively participate in them by running for political offices or voting because this would be combining religion and politics which is against their doctrines and dogmas. In addition, the Jehovah's Witnesses also use 1 John 5:21 that advise Christians as children of God to keep off from any forms of idolatry.
The Jehovah's Witnesses have experienced many challenges in their endeavour to adhere to their belief of not saluting the national flag. The most remarkable challenge that emanated from their beliefs was a conflict between school rules that implements the salutation of the flag and their religious beliefs that prohibited the salutation of the national flag that had been manifested in their children. According to Bergman Jerry, one of the remarkable challenges that the Jehovah's Witnesses experienced with their belief of not saluting the national flag was that there children were either suspended or expelled from academic institution because of not saluting the national flag. In addition, Jehovah's Witnesses lost their jobs for not saluting the national flag. Jerry Bergman gives various incidences in various states where children had to be expelled from school for not saluting the flag and also incidences where Jehovah's Witnesses lost their jobs for not saluting the national flag. To be in a position to understand the magnitude of the controversy that existed between academic institutions and the children of the Jehovah's Witnesses, it is important to explore a couple of incidences from different states within the United States.
Works Cited
"Camillus House." Camillus House. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. <http://www.camillus.org/>.
"Chapman Partnership | Empowering the Homeless from the streets to hopeful futures." Chapman Partnership. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. <http://www.chapmanpartnership.org/>.
"Currently 3354 Homeless Shelters and Social Services.." Homeless Shelters. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. <http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/>.
"National Coalition for the Homeless." National Coalition for the Homeless. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. <http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/index.html>.
