There is plenty of times when I don't agree with innocent until proven guilty...
If a robber comes into your home to steal and gets hurt in the act and can sue the homeowner for the 'accident'... I don't agree with innocent until proven guilty.
If a man is beating a woman and if the woman protects herself she goes to jail.... I don't agree again.
....but yesterday I saw a bum in the street, so drunk he was swaying as he walked down the middle of 2 lanes of traffic, looking at the people, showing the sign to them.
I was thinking the man was going to get hit and was in a dangerous spot and looking at a car full of men driving by him and I got the 'feeling' that they were going to do something bad to the bum. I also was wondering how I was going to get out of the parking lot because the bum was standing right in our entranceway... when out of the corner of my eye came an old man who owned a business on the street corner. He pushed the bum and stole his sign. My husband and I got out of our truck and went to stop the business owner from stealing this bums sign. Why?
It is the man's only possession that MIGHT bring him a meal. The businessman and my husband went head to head. This was the businessman's point.
He had called the police plenty of times and saying that the man was going to get hit and then the person who hits him will be in trouble. He also kept saying to take him off of this street.
So to me, he was worried about his business and having a bum near his business was bad for business. I have seen bums at the corner of streets that are like Wall St. and the Hollywood Strip... People seem to continue to go to those places even with the bums.
The problem is the government that has allowed this degradation of our society and instead of blaming the culprit (government) we blame the victim of this degradation; the bum.
The large city (Flint, MI) I live near has let go almost all the police force and the fire departments. They have left victim after victim angry and frustrated. This is why the business man attacked the bum. I was angry with the man but I understood his frustration and told him to not attack the victim of his frustration. I told him to go to City Hall and the way he is handling his frustration IS GROSS!!
I got the sign back for the bum .... and told him that the businessman was right that he is putting himself in danger. The bum said and I quote " ...I am soooo hungry".... it made me sad.
I gave him some money but it wasn't enough to lift him out of the slump he was in because even though I pointed him to another street that would have been safer he just went to the other side of the same street and started again.
There was other people ready to kick the butt of the business man in cars that seen him take the sign of the bum. I am glad they let me and my husband to take care of the matter. I am hoping that this will disuade the business man from going out there and attacking the man (bum) again.
I think the business man needed a real dose of what Jesus would have done to the bum.... It truly is the only way we will survive this coming turmoil. Jesus gave us the answers to solve these problems we face today.
Giviing a helping hand up can be all one person needs to not become the burden we are all getting ready to face. Help your fellow man don't tear him down.