Unworthy?

Does God only help those who help themselves? What is the point at which a human being ceases to matter….we find so many who seem at face value to be their own worst enemies; have they forfeited their right to assistance? Where may a person’s individual right to liberty be impeded by state or community intervention? Should those who are unwilling or– perhaps affected by substance abuse and/or mental instability– unable to proactively seek relief, be subject to the uncertainty of not having a safe haven to stake their claim on what is left of their lives? How does our society feel about the confrontational relationships with law enforcement that result from the inevitable intransigence on both sides, when the compassion training officers might receive to help deal with society’s outliers breaks down? 

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At the scene of an encampment raid which resulted in several arrests and incarcerations, a young LAPD officer remarked that he and his fellow HOPE officers were “social workers with guns.” That most of those arrested that day have been engaged in an endless cat-and-mouse game with authorities in the same location since that incident (of last December) raises questions about not necessarily the intention but the efficacy of the effort there. In the media, the urban poverty and homeless problem has devolved into a dystopian morality play. Unmediated, it is laden with harshness. That is why it is so good to find so many well-intended, even passionate people working on untying this most Gordian of knots.