The bible belt point is that increasingly in the US (yes, I know this forum is about Spain, SORRY Ben! This is the last I’m posting on this) the religious beliefs of others are directly affecting a woman’s control of her body, and of knowledge about it. It’s not about “government” giving you birth control or anything else, its about government putting up barriers to your education.

I guess my bottom line point is this (and this is not directed at you Skip): how can ANYONE know the reasons that the person you are passing on the street is there. Just leaving that wiggle room for allowing humaness towards humans, empathy if not sympathy, would go a long way to break down the smugness that exists about homeless people, the kind of thinking that causes homeless people to be beaten for fun by kids who videotape it. They aren’t real people, they aren’t LIKE ME. Therefore I don’t have to have any compassion for their situation as human beings. Mans inhumanity to Man, justified through the idea of the “other” is the cause of so much strife in this world, why add to it?

A simple search in Google – display’s plenty of Planned Parenthood organizations in Florida, all over Florida… It is not true that somehow the evil Religeous Right has destroyed someones access to free services in Florida. Regardless, I don’t see how the negative “bible belt” conotation is relevant to what My point was.

I certainly wasn’t trying to make a point about PP org’s, My point was that Why is it people’s attitude, that the Government is supposed to take care of them? Maybe this approach leads to people feeling Helpless and thus contributes to more homeless people? In other words, Maybe if Society taught people how to be more self relient, and not to depend on the government or hand outs, that homelessness would be less of an Issue.

And I have never said that because someone is homeless that it is their fault! However, I have tried to highlight things that might lead others to have this perception… I think everyone agrees that there are many factors that can lead to someone becoming homeless, some that are truely outside their own control, like Mental Illness. In saying that, I think it is also true that there are some people who are living with the consequences of their own decisions. So I think the question remains, how does Society address this issue? Give a man a fish and you feed him (or his habit) for a day, teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime…

Next: Skip, just a couple of misconceptions that I feel are important to speak to; first you said “The fact is, in the US, a women can go down to the local "planned parenthood” clinic and recieve education and contraception or an Abortion.” That may be true in most large US cities, but not in most rural areas, and not even in all big cities. My friend just moved to Florida from San Fransisco, and is unemployed currently, so she thought she would go down to the local Planned Parenthood and volunteer. Turns out there IS NONE. There is nothing even remotely close! I think you underestimate the bible belt and many evangelicals who make access to contraception, and safe abortions nearly impossible for someone who hasn’t the means to travel hundreds of miles to find help. Sex ed classes have been cut down to abstinence only education. Kids don’t even know anymore WHAT or HOW to care for their sexual health. They are taught that condoms aren’t effective.
Second, you say: “We see drug addics, alchoholics, and others who have made bad choices standing on the corner just wanting money… and it is hard to justify feeding thier habit… I have actually seen people give them meals… and they just throw it in the trash!?” Well I too have seen street kids in Kenya do the same thing, I bought them a loaf of bread, and they sold it to get money to buy glue to sniff. These were 7,8,9 year old kids. I think that people really don’t understand how homelessness and addiction are connected. Were those kids glue addicts, and therefore became homless? Of course not. But you assume that those you see living without shelter, who might also have addiction issues, became homeless due to their addiction.

Here is a story. A friend of mine was living with an abusive man, in a community she had just moved to, where she knew noone, and was isolated in the suburbs. She finally got the guts to leave him, and in a matter of weeks went through what little she had, hadn’t been able to find a job in that time, and ended up on the streets because she had no money, no place to live, and no support system. She was pregnant at the time. She was having a difficult pregnancy, partially due to being on the streets in winter, and partially becase of what Rebecca mentioned: Being beaten by #1 kids #2 men in business suits, who just got a kick out of it. She got enough change together to take the bus to the hospital because she went into early labor. They gave her medicine to stablize her condition, put her in a wheelchair and said to her: Get the fuck out of here, this isn’t a shelter. Through the help of a program she eventually found, thanks to the kindness of people who saw her for who she was, a human being, she was able to get temporary housing, and counseling so that she could get back on her feet and get a job. She is now a motivational speaker, and helps other women who were in her same position. So, here is a woman who didn’t want to be homeless, who eventually did get the help that was available, BUT SHE STILL SPENT TIME BEING HOMELESS. The tone of this discussion is that someone is either homeless, and just isn’t trying, or that they are NOT homeless, ever. People can become homeless and eventually get out of that, but it takes time, and all of the red tape and barriers there are out there that Elizabeth so eloquently pointed out, makes it harder as time goes by. So for those of you who pass homeless people on the street and don’t feel anything, because obviously it was THEIR fault….. maybe you should think again. .