Florida leads nation in attacks on homeless

Florida leads nation in attacks on homeless
Kate Santich Sentinel Staff Writer
April 30, 2008

Florida leads the nation in the number of violent attacks against the homeless -- a trend called "bum bashing" fueled largely by teenage boys targeting homeless men for sport -- according to a new study.

The increase nationwide in violent attacks, including a 40 percent rise last year in the number of homeless people killed by such violence, was detailed in a report released Tuesday by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

"If these brutal attacks were committed against any other religious or minority group to the same degree, there would be a national outcry," said Michael Stoops, acting executive director of the national coalition.

He and other advocates for the homeless urged federal and state lawmakers to classify violence against the homeless as a hate crime, which would carry stiffer penalties and help keep better track of the problem.

The report's authors say their numbers likely underestimate the problem because they had to rely on tracking down the details of individual news accounts of attacks against the homeless. Yet in recent years, those numbers dramatically outpaced all categories of hate crimes combined.

Last year alone, there were 29 attacks on homeless people in Florida -- six of them fatal, the report said. Only attacks perpetrated by people who were not homeless themselves were counted.
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Yes but, this is such a "Christian" state the legislators think we should all drive around with the cross on the ass end of our cars!

No it's not a joke.

Florida's 'I Believe' plates hit roadblock
Story Highlights
Religious license plates not in legislation passed Tuesday in Florida

Proposed "I Believe" plate would feature cross, stained-glass window

Similar plate being considered in South Carolina, recently won state Senate approval
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/30/license.plate.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

There was a time when being a Christian was something so sacred that it lived within us, in what we did and what we said as well as how we treated each other. No one needed to slap a fish on our cars or a bumper sticker to prove we were "Christians" at the same time we flipped someone off on the road, ran a red light because we were in a hurry or refused to stop and help someone who was unfortunate enough to break down in our lane.

There was a time when we really noticed the fact that Christ said out of his own mouth that he was the new covenant between God and man and he was dying for our sins because no one sin was worse than another but yet again Florida legislators would rather take the easy way out and appease fraudulent advertisers wanting to make a buck off a "show of faith" instead of actually supporting things that Christ stood for.

They should all be ashamed of themselves. I guess it wasn't bad enough the police were ordered to get the homeless off the streets and out of sight so that the tourist wouldn't have to see how little this state takes care of the most needy among us. Now we have one more sign of just how low these people are willing to sink.

Maybe they figure that homeless people cannot donate to their campaigns and the probability they would vote is far fetched but what they don't understand is the rest of us are paying attention and we're tired of being humiliated on the national news. This may be the land of Disney and amusement parks but this is not fantasy land. It's about time they started to act like the good Christians they pretend to be and actually live up to what Christ taught. Drive down any main street in Florida and you'll see more churches than you can count. Don't they understand that most of those churches have real Christians in them who actually do care about the homeless, the poor and the needy? Isn't that what being a Christian is supposed to be?


Chaplain Kathie Costos