Food Aid to Homeless Deemed Illegal in Certain Parts of Dallas

A USA Today article reported that a group called "The Lord's Table" that gives food to the homeless in Dallas, Texas is breaking the law. What is it doing wrong? It's serving food outside the city's nine "designated food sites" for the homeless. Now I understand that there are several different influences and sides to such a problem. It would be unwise to read such an article and jump to a position without taking time to understand an alternate perspective. On one hand we have the perspective of the group "The Lord's Table". Then we also have the perspective of the city, which passed the ordinance.

Many of us when reading this article would probably take the side of the Christian charity and quickly fill our minds with attempts at righteous indignation. And who's to say we wouldn't be justified in taking that approach? Indeed that was my first inclination when reading the article, thinking "How dare the city fine charities who just want to help and who are only giving out food?" It seems to fly in the face of not only what is taught by Christ, when he says "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40 (NIV), but also common compassion. Indeed, Christ is talking about those who are considered the least in society - the hungry, the poor, the sick, the disabled. So who is considered the 'least' in our society? Without a shadow of a doubt it is the homeless. They are treated as scum in America.

So why do I caution from jumping to conclusions when it seems so right to detest Dallas' new law? Because to do so would lead to misunderstanding and possibly hatred for misunderstood intentions. I believe that a majority of people have good intentions, even if their actions are harmful to others. Thus I believe that the most Christian thing to do is, before jumping to conclusions and becoming 'holier than thou', one must at least try to understand the city's perspective. Thus I am offering a chance for alternative thinking.

So what could the city possibly be thinking? I do not speak for them, but having some experience with seeing how city governments treat homeless I believe I can offer some reasonable scenarios. First of all, homeless are often (consciously or not) considered a blight on a city. Also any big food give away, especially regularly scheduled ones, will attract homeless people in a city. This could possibly create more litter or trash around, and in the city's eyes lead to a possible blight on the area. The city also cites food safety as a concern - notably because the city does not monitor the preparation or give away of the food. One city spokeswoman said this could lead to the unwanted passing of diseases through improper food storage or preparation. Indeed, part of the city ordinance requires people to register with the city and attend food safety classes. Thus it is important to at least know where the other side (the city) might be coming from.

That being said, there are many inherant problems with this ordinance and the justification behind it. I would say that it would be a reasonable assumption to believe that most people in the US know how to somewhat safely prepare or store food - otherwise we would see a lot more people with food poisoning. Therefore I believe in this case civil disobedience is an ethical and morally right choice for those charities.

What are your thoughts on this? Is it right that the charities have sued the city of Dallas over this matter? Is the city justified in this ordinance?