Free Booze Helps Homeless Drunks

Ok, after that last post, I can be a pietist again...

Somehow, this story on CNN's site doesn't sit well with me.

"Once we give a 'small amount' of alcohol and stabilize the addiction, we are able to provide health services that lead to a reduction in the unnecessary health services they were getting before," said Dr. Jeff Turnbull, one of the authors of the report.

That "small amount" is 15 glasses a day. One glass an hour from 7am-10pm.

I can see doing this to "stabilize" these people initially. But the way the article reads, there is no concern for dealing with the alcohol adiction even in the long run. That's the part that makes me cringe. Sure, it get's the crime down and keeps the medical bills for these people down, but it doesn't really help THEM.

Of course, this is only the type of "love" that "the state" (or any "institution" for that matter) can give -- what ever is least costly for the institution becomes "loving."

Praise God that in Christ, God loves us better than that. Jesus died to give us the ultimate freedom -- even freedom from our addiction to sin. While we won't attain this freedom in our sojourn through this fallen creation, it is a freedom He has won for us and a freedom we will enjoy in full in the new creation.