Why is it painful?

I’ve seen Pawlowski and his supporters out in front of City Hall every week, feeding anyone who wants a free meal. He is there aiding the city’s poorest, and his actions are obviously a painful thing to watch.

Why is it painful?

I don’t think that it is because of the words he is shouting, rather it is the fact that he is exposing the failure of our society to adequately aid the few who clearly can’t survive on their own. Be it physical impairment, mental illness, addiction or sheer laziness, there will ALWAYS be a tiny percentage of our population that will never be productive or able to support themselves.

It is very much a Calgary culture to cast judgement on anyone who isn’t successful. Purse strings are not something that are open in response to the needs of this group and Pawlowski’s actions expose this city’s greed and insensitivity.

Some Calgarians feel that it is a good thing to leave this part of our society to fend for themselves, after all, they are getting what they deserve or have earned (nothing), and that we have coddled them too much already by building all these ‘homeless Hiltons’.

Such an attitude has a pretty nasty end for these individuals and an ugly road there for the rest of us. Our city is not improved by failing to house the homeless. We are not more secure when we abandon thousands of mentally-ill people to whatever life they can sustain on welfare.

It will cost us to feed, clothe and house these people. They are a drag on those of us who do produce. Most of these people will never improve enough to escape to ‘normal’. They all need our help. Until we do our part, Pastor Pawlowski will probably continue to feed, clothe and aid this wretched group to our collective embarrassment.

To his goals and effort I say God bless him.

Stampede organizers said rejecting the church’s application was about following the rules and had nothing to do with religion.

Had this been the Calgary Islamic Society, we would have had muslims coming out of the woodwork protesting.