Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Happy holidays, Phoenix-style

Presumptuous busybodiness knows no particular season. The arrogant assumption of the right to boss people around is a year-'round affair that has bureaucrats patrolling for bacon-wrapped hot dogs in the heat of summer and chasing down joyful sledders in the cold months so they can jam helmets on their heads and force them to sit upright. But every now and then you get a perfect storm: nannystaters who meet the demands of the holidays with an uber-authoritarian frenzy wrapped in a bow. Then, public officials issue just-in-time-for-Thanksgiving orders to churches and synagogues in Phoenix, Arizona, to stop feeding the homeless on their own property because ... well ... slapping down a few warming trays to serve free food in a church utility room counts as operating a business in a residential neighborhood. And rules are rules, you know.

For now, the CrossRoads United Methodist Church -- the House o' God at the center of the decision, though it applies everywhere in Phoenix  -- is continuing its Saturday morning breakfasts, pending the hearing of its appeal in January by the Board of Adjustment. That means Christmas meals will be served, perhaps sparing the meddlers the worst possible press over their intrusive -- not to mention Grinch-ish -- ruling.

But  come January, doers of good deeds in Arizona will have to go hat in hand to a bunch of government seat warmers to find out if they'll be allowed to continue feeding hungry, poor people at their own cost, and under their own roofs.

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2 Comments:

Blogger akaGaGa said...

It must be the season. At least you have nice weather there, so your homeless will just starve. Here in the frigid Northeast, we freeze them to death.

Last year at this time in NYC, churches were banned from providing beds for the homeless, unless they did it for more than 5 nights a week. Apparently, they were providing unacceptable competition for government-run shelters.

http://tinyurl.com/5f5bh6

December 15, 2009 3:01 PM  
Blogger liberranter said...

More Nazi news from Arpiggoland. My only hope is that it stays contained in Maricona County and doesn't spread to the rest of the state.

December 17, 2009 4:07 PM  

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