Should I give money to the beggars of Manchester?

I have been troubled by what I did, or rather didn’t do, and what Jane did over the last few days.

We were on our way back to the car park having been out with our two girls for our eldest’s 18th. We were accosted by a beggar, and i did what i always do, politely said no, moved on, moved faster, and encouraged the others to hurry up too. Jane wanted to give him something, but moved on; and then we argued; and then she went back, and gave him a note or two, rather than loose change. Who was right?

In parenthesis, we have noticed a marked increase in the number of homeless and the number of beggars in Manchester: a week before, in the one mile or so from theatre to car park, we had been asked five times, always politely, but far far more than even a year ago: i wonder why that is; i suspect it is recession affected coupled with some change in local services provision.

Firstly, we know that we are in the very fortunate minority. We can afford everything we need, and most things that we want (but see my posting some months back on ‘how many handbags does a woman need?’

We are mindful of this good fortune, and therefore do give regularly and sizeably to charity. But does charity begin at home, and if so, does that include the homeless beggar?

i turned to google, and, naturally, there are thousands of articles on the subject. The one I looked at first was from the Oxford University philosophy department:

http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2012/09/dont-give-money-to-beggars/

This article appealed to me: it approaches the topic from an academic perspectve, which accords with me. Essentially it concludes ‘no’ since there are better ways to give, and also because some beggars will be more skilled than others at collecting gifts, so better (fairer) to pick the right efficient charity. However, just because it agrees wth my conclusion, doesn’t mean it is right.

Next, a fast skip over several of the miscellaneous postings which are on line: most respondents say ‘no’, many say NO, a lot say NO. Many are quite nasty; people should remember Warren Buffett’s comment that (misquoting) people in England won the lottery by not being born in Bangladesh.

I also had a look at a few charity websites, and some Christian ones. These tend to be ambivalent. I found this one well written http://christianpf.com/dont-give-to-the-poor

but it’s conclusion, to me as a non believer, is a fudge: whilst in general ‘don’t give’, there are times that you should give, and you will be guided by the Holy Spirit to know when such occasions arise.

The tricky thing about this is that we never know the whole situation and we have to be led by the Holy Spirit when making these decisions. After all, who are we to judge? God knows what is going on in the beggar’s life and what will help them the most.

Conclusion

I think where I get to is ‘normally don’t give’; but you can on occasion as an exception if you want to, for a case you think is deserving. I was wrong to try to dictate what Jane chose to do, but since she doesn’t read my blogs, she will never know. Except of course, she can read me, and she said in the car back that she knew that I knew i had done wrong; I think my mistake was not not-giving, but seeking to choose for her.

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