Doing Good

The times they are a changing: William Booth discovered dozens of people sleeping under the London Bridge in the winter of 1887. He then told his son to bring the people into a heated shelter for the night. The Salvation Army, founded by him, gives testimony to the help many poor and homeless people received due to his initiative. But it seems that what is understood as doing good has changed since then: Not too long ago someone filed criminal charges against a governmental office of failure to provide assistance because he saw homeless people sleeping outside. Although it’s just an individual case, it stands for a change of mindset in society: Away from personal responsibility and acts of charity done by responsible members of society towards an idea that the state has to provide heaven on earth, and if it fails to do so, has to be held accountable for it.