Mary and Joseph were not homeless
“In the first moments of His (you failed to capitalize the “H” in His) life, (He) was, Himself (again failure to use respect), homeless.” (Our View, Dec. 9) Not true! I urge who ever wrote this opinion piece to read Luke, Chapter 2. Mary and Joseph weren’t homeless when Jesus was born. They left their home to go to the City of David in order to pay their government demanded taxes. He was born in a manger because all the inns were full.
While you’re at it, (You do have a Bible to read, don’t you?) continue reading. The Wise Men did not visit the Baby Jesus while He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. The shepherds did. The Magi visited the Christ CHILD, not the Christ BABY, indicating that He was at least a toddler when they presented Him with their gifts.
Another myth we Christians love is that they rode their camels to the manger. Being (probably well-off and) important, they most likely rode Arabian steeds, as befitting their status, to the home of Joseph and Mary. It’s probable they had an entourage of servants with supplies, riding on camels.
Jesus wasn’t “homeless” for the last few years of His life. He traveled about, teaching, preaching, and performing miracles.
Now, I agree that homelessness is a grave problem, and there are many causes for it. Being homeless isn’t always the fault of the homeless: drugs, alcohol, or being lazy and shiftless — or the fault of some evil company going out of business or some greedy CEO exercising his hardheartedness. I think the reason for a lot of people being homeless can be attributed to government interference and intrusion on the “free” market system.
Our government really needs to stay within, make that return to, the constraints imposed by the Constitution of the United States of America. A lot of the problems we face, including homelessness, will subside. Politicians are the world’s worst when it comes to actually solving problems, but they’re extremely adept at creating them. We don’t need career politicians, but do need public servants whose interest is in benefiting the public instead of themselves.
Cameron Triplett
Brooksville
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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