Beggars: what should Christians do?

Surely, Christians MUST give to street beggars. Christ would have required it of us all. Wouldn't He?

Well - er - yes - er - no. Tricky.

I am sure that He would have desired compassion but would not have wanted us to fund the drugs culture.

Hmm.

You might want to try what I have done when faced with a placard claiming 'hunger' - I have given food!

You might be astonished how ungrateful recipients are!

Well done Thames Research. Well done Brighton where campaigns pointing out that giving money to beggars makes situations worse have seen reductions in street begging of 91%.

PS. I don't buy a certain street magazine for similar reasons.

If I feel that I am being mean I'll simply donate to a charity which knows what it's doing instead! (Try the Cathedral Archer Project, Sheffield, for instance.)