wildernesse

People of faith should let those homeless people rot on the sidewalks. Because homeless people are crazy criminals who are intent on doing harm. It would be better if homeless people were incarcerated. The world would be a better place.

Anyone who thinks that homeless people (or poor people in general for that matter) should be treated with decency or helped off their lazy tails are sick freaks who deserve what they get.

Who could think that this is doing good? Any atheist in his right mind knows better.

--tibac

It's all too sad that many people (faith or not) think these very things about people who are homeless.

brighid

No one can really say with any certainity that the Smarts particular interpretation of faith was THEE reason they assisted homeless people and some of those instances were successful. I don’t doubt that it played a part in their reasoning and I agree that I would not take a drifter into my home whilst children were present. I think that was a very foolish and naïve choice, that obviously put their family in unnecessary and foreseeable danger. They could easily have chosen to assist these homeless men and women in a number of different ways, especially given their obvious wealth that would not have placed their family in danger.

What I have found profoundly absurd and offensive were the comments the family made about God, Jesus and the help they gave. I do not remember the exact wording the father used but I remember feeling angry that he thought God helped his child, but thought so little of all the other families (that prayed equally as “hard”) that lost their children to homicidal pedophiles, serial killers, or other lunatics. God didn’t save those children. It was the random alertness and bravery of strangers that lead to her return. They were fortunate that this man and woman hadn’t disposed of Elizabeth a long time ago, as usually happens in child abduction cases. Furthermore it is more likely that they were caught because they acted so bizarrely. They could easily have continued to avert suspicion and capture had they done more to blend in, or simply acted more discretely. I wonder how they would have felt about God had they prayed so hard and still lost their child?

It is a horrific and unimaginably painful to lose a child and I am pretty sure (as a parent) that the kidnapping of a child is even worse as you do not know if they are alive or dead. The uncertainty must play havoc with a parent’s psyche. They may also be so relieved that they simply cannot think straight, or act judiciously. Although I agree their faith probably contributed to the situation, their faith did not methodically plan and execute the kidnapping of their child. They are probably negligent, but only the man and woman who committed this crime are responsible for those actions.

If anything it should send a message to parents to be VERY careful of the people you entrust your children and family to. Unfortunately, more often then not it is a beloved family member, trusted neighbor or friend that ends up harming, abducting and murdering your child which also seems to be the case with the Smarts.

Brighid

tdekeyser

I just watched the news conf with the dad.

He was asked if he ever thought Mitchell would ever do such a thing.

His answer: "I never, ever thought a soft spoken nice man of god could ever do such a monstrous thing."



What did I tell ya!

Shake

or does anyone else find it ironic that their name is Smart?!?

spurly

I guess none of us are supposed to help drifters who are down on their luck because they might turn on us. What a sad world we live in, if that is the case.

I am constantly trying to do things to help the homeless in our area - and I will keep doing it - but I do it with my eyes open at all times.

Kevin

christ-on-a-stick

Kinda like Gary Ridgway (yes I realize he hasn't been convicted but you get my drift).

Hi tibac,

I must have missed the part where somebody said that. HOWEVER, as Brighid sez: Homelessness is not the overriding factor.

wildernesse

coas,

No one did say that in so many words. But "drifters" is used, and what can you deduce from previous posts about drifters (who are usually homeless and poor)?

OP: It is stupid to help people in need. "Drifters" are robbers and kidnappers.

Post 3: Drifters are "wacko".

Post 6: Drifters steal from rich people who try to help them. They are trouble. They are starving "animals" who when you put them in good situations will rape and pillage to survive. You can't trust their moral values.

These are perceptions about drifters/homeless people IN GENERAL and not contained to the kidnappers themselves. An entire group of people in society are lumped together as people who are crazy and are criminals. This is simply untrue. While people who are homeless/drifters are not paragons of virtue or have perfect mental health any more than the rest of humanity, they do not deserve to be depicted as insane criminals who are dangerous to society.

--tibac

southernhybrid

I agree with Bree, Wildy and Brighid. The Smarts made a poor judgment in offering to help that particular man but it can hardly be blamed on their Xianity.

The fact that the Smarts think their daughter's safe return was an act of god is the disturbing part. In any event it's nice to hear some good news once in awhile. It's nice to see a happy ending to such a harrowing ordeal.

I've worked with impoverished clients most of my life and I've found that most of them are very ethical people who are not interested in hurting anyone and who have learned to live with dignity while deriving happiness and satisfaction from things other than material wealth.

Must we atheists blame every last social ill on religion? I find that to be extremely narrow minded and fanatical.

brighid

Homeless people in general aren’t out to get anyone. Some are criminals, vagrants or mentally ill and some are not. They deserve to be judged on their merits just as we all do, without making erroneous generalizations about the characters of people who find themselves without a home. The mentally ill homeless are a tragic reminder of the deficiency of mental health care in the US. Obviously these kidnappers had a few screws lose, which likely led to their wacky beliefs and their state of homelessness. Perhaps this man wasn’t always in such a deranged mental state. It seems more likely that he has been struggling with a mental illness and it simply got worse of the years of his employment with the Smarts. His homelessness didn’t cause him to kidnap this girl, but most likely his deranged mental state. If it were some sort of way to relieve his financial and living conditions you would think some sort of ransom would have been asked for, and this is not the case.

The guy is a whack job who happens to think he is Jesus, and he could just as easily thought he was the IPU. He isn’t the first to have such delusions, nor will he be the last. It also seems relatively little harm came to the girl (considering the circumstance, but I no means mean to downplay the severity of this traumatic experience) and at least doesn’t appear to have been physically abused (according to preliminary medical examination.)

As much as I think there is something amiss in this whole situation, and that the Smarts are rather ignorant in certain respects I would caution against trying to attribute this unfortunate situation to Christian beliefs. We need to know more, even if some of the initial information points in a specific direction.

I also don’t find it all that surprising that someone would find it difficult to believe that a soft spoken, mild mannered person (regardless of faith,) that one had a long-term relationship with would be capable of kidnapping ones child, or harming others in any sort of violent way. Just as one wouldn't think a beloved parent or grand parent, or trusted authority figure would do such things either.

Brighid

wildernesse

I don't think they had a long-term relationship with the kidnappers. I think from news reports, that he only worked for them one day--cleaning their roof and doing minor repairs.

--tibac