A case where caring for needy is actually selfish

Taken from The Jason Rantz Show on KIRO Radio.

A woman in Kent refuses to stop helping the needy in her community despite getting repeated complaints from city officials and the folks who live in her neighborhood.

“I want to just be left alone to do what God wants me to do. If this is wrong, I don’t want to be right,” Sharon Carter tells KIRO 7. The 65-year-old has set up a food bank in her backyard.

“Get the rapists and get the kids that are killing the other kids,” Carter said. “Don’t get the little old lady here that’s feeding the people, really?”

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She’s obviously doing a lot of good, specifically for these needy folks in her area, but she’s wrong here.

In her charity, she is acting selfish. To pretend that it’s not risky doing what she’s doing in a neighborhood, that’s just naïve. She’s got no idea who she is inviting into the neighborhood. She’s not doing background checks. She has no idea who she’s dealing with.

When you’re giving food away to the needy, the needy include the homeless. And with the homeless, you’re dealing with some element of mental illness for a good portion of that population. That’s just a fact. You may be comfortable inviting them into your home, but you shouldn’t put your neighbors at risk.

We can pretend all we want, but most people don’t want to live next to a halfway house or a shelter or a soup kitchen. Those neighborhoods tend not to be the most safe. They tend not to be the most clean. I lived next to a tent city for a while. It was not a nice place to live for that month and a half where they were set up.

It’s OK to admit that. I’m comfortable saying I did not like living next to a tent city, yet in the same breath be able to tell you that I actually do care about the homeless. I’ve committed enough money and hours of my time to that cause to be comfortable saying that.

It’s OK to say that ways others go about helping people make you uncomfortable and may not be the best way to do it. It doesn’t mean that because you’re critical that we should stop helping people. It certainly doesn’t mean that this woman shouldn’t do what she can in her call from God to be charitable. But it does mean we should be a little more considerate of others.

Charity does not negate selfishness. It does not negate your disregarding everyone else’s feelings in your neighborhood. If you’ve got a lot of people complaining, why are they any less important to listen to? Why do you not listen to them as well? Why do we have to pretend that because you’re doing something good, it means there are no negative consequences as a result?

Taken from The Jason Rantz Show on KIRO Radio.

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