Yeah, you're eternally damned. Unless......there isn't a god, or there is a god, and that god doesn't mete out infinite punishment (or infinite rewards) for finite actions or inactions.
So.....if there is a god and he/she/it is a petty, evil, unjust immoral monster, you're in trouble. Otherwise, don't sweat it.
I work surrounded by pan handlers. We are advised not to give them money. Once a pair of pan handlers asked me to take them to an expensive restaurant and get them something to eat. I declined.
The next day on my daily walk I saw one of them behind a building drinking a beer. I won't say I was vindicated. Begging is a terrible profession and possibly the drinking helps. But I can't say that giving anything to pan handlers I see daily is being good. Karma may get me though.
No one seems to know, and neither do I.....but I’d like to venture a guess. Maybe a derisive term for a dishwasher?? Maybe because they had to supplement their income thru begging? I dunno, just a guess. Maybe Wiki knows.
That beggar was Jesus Christ himself, posing and disguised as a beggar. Didn't the long hair and sandals give it away? That was your chance to see what you what do, and you failed. F*** yeah your going to hell. Christ doesn't put up with s*** like that. On the other hand, hell really isn't that bad. No taxes. Lots of ho's, etc.
My personal policy is not to give food or money to beggars. Plenty of people do, so the beggars do not go without. I remember years ago the beggars took over Grand Central Station in New York City. There was a large crowd of them and they took up every single bench. Paying passengers had nowhere to sit. Eventually the authorities booted them out.
I choose where I wish to put my time and money. I have often said, my classroom is my charity. Occasionally I give very small amounts elsewhere. I shut down my universities as soon as I get the call. I paid full freight at both and have no qualms telling callers to hit up the wealthy alumni instead. If a charity sends me address labels or some other guilt-inducing gift, I use the gift and toss out the solicitation. I'm sure many people donate to those charities, but I am not one of them.
Choose what you wish to do with your resources and make your peace with it.
There was a beggar woman in the coffee shop near where I work recently standing in the line in front of me. The barristas were telling her to go as she was asking the customers for spare change.
I thought maybe she wanted some coffee and a roll, and was hungry standing there, so I dug into my pocket and came up with a handful of change. I gave it to her as she turned and left the shop. The barristas asked me if I saw her holding the wad of cash in her hands? I did not lololol.
She was loaded, apparently, according to them. She had enough dough on her to buy a round on the house for the rest of us working stiffs.
I took it on the cuff that day, made my purchase then made my way back to work.
I have on occasion bought a meal for a homeless person, but don’t usually give them cash. My daughter told me that a guy asked her for money once, and she said no, but she would buy him a sandwich if he liked. He agreed, and she went into a 7-11 or some place like that. He waited for her outside, and when she came out and gave him the sandwich, he looked at her, looked at the sandwich and looked back at her. He said, “Well, isn’t it heated?” She retorted, “You’re welcome!” and stalked off. No good deed...
I once encountered a "beggar" outside the grocery store. She asked if I could buy some food "for the children." I said, sure, I can get some bread, luncheon meat, milk… she said no, she wanted me to buy STEAK. Yeah right, kids are always clamoring for steak. I laughed in her face and told her that no one is going to do that. So she turned down free food for her (non-existent) "hungry children" because it wasn't expensive enough!
She was there the next week, asking for $$$, again "for the children." I knew what was up so I ignored her. A guy nearby gave her $3 or so. Did she thank him? No, she asked him for $10. And all this while sipping a $5 Jamba Juice smoothie. Right, your "children" are hungry and you're buying smoothies? Give me a break.
A friend of mine was entering a McDonald's and a beggar asked him for some money. He said no but I will buy you a hamburger and fries. The beggar thought for a second and said "will you super-size it?"
and was he wearing a goofy yellow jumpsuit and over-sized shoes?
You did the right thing. Never give a burger to that guy. His racket is to get free burgers from strangers and then turn around and sell them at one of his restaurants. He's a fraud. Don't let his goofy smile fool you.
I was looking all scuzzy and worn out one day. Dressed in walking shorts, t-shirt and old tennis shoes without socks. I'd been working cleaning out my storage unit when a good client called me & wanted me to show her a couple of homes she'd found on our company's website. "Can we go right now?" "Sure, but I look like hell."
So after the home showings I was really hungry and stopped at a hole in the wall Chinese restaurant next to the gas station. I had NO money on me, except for the $1 or so in change I'd pulled out of the car ashtray. I knew this place served "off menu" small plates of food for $1. I asked for $1 worth of Chow Mein.
Sitting down to my feast, a lady walked by and dropped a $5 bill on the table and told me to get a real dinner. I was dumbfounded, but managed to say thank you to her as she was going out the door.
I must have looked a lot worse than I thought. And I hope she received blessings many times over!
The action is not absolutely good or bad, but the attitude can be. You can say "no" with love or with irritation, fear, rejection. That says more about you than the behavior itself.
It's always a hard call. Nothing to do with heaven and hell, just with what is best for them or me. I'd certainly be more likely to buy someone a hamburger than give them money. But I also do volunteer work with a couple of non-profits focused on homelessness and my views have changed a lot with my experience.
I do try to look them in the eye and smile. One thing I've learned is that the hardest thing for them is people who just don't want to see them, no matter whether they're alcoholics, drug addicts and/or mentally ill.
I should add that no one contributes to every charity or every person who asks. Everyone makes choices in that matter. So even if you have a soft heart, you still need to make choices. I don't think that anyone should feel guilty about that.
For a number of years my school has participated in a charity that specializes in soliciting small donations from school children. In return the children get various small gifts and gizmos for donating.
Personally I'm not a fan of asking for money from kids and families who are already struggling. I researched this charity on Charity Navigator and found that the charity spends roughly double the amount on the gifts than would normally be spent by another charity. I figured, okay, that's the charity's angle. But then I found that the charity director draws a salary of more than 500K a year. That is not okay with me, to ask for money from low-income families and then to reward yourself handsomely to do so. So I've shared my concerns with administrators, and they are taking a hard look at this fund-raising program.
I had a homeless person ask me to buy them a cup of coffee so I said sure. When I came out he was gone... wanted the cash I assume. I saw another homeless person and knew he was going to ask me for some money. As I was reaching in my pocket to hand him a fiver he asked for 10. Pulled my empty hand out of my pocket and kept on going. I bought a sandwich for a homeless person who preceded to chew me out while she was munching away. I always remind myself that the majority are mentally unstable and off their meds. The others just want the money to buy drugs. I never deny food to someone that is hungry if I have the means, but have learned to never give money!
Not knowing what is right or wrong, not knowing how to choose and feeling guilty about it is a degree of hell. People blindly assume that this condition, so common on earth, is a kind of norm. But what if absolute bliss and ecstasy is the true norm, the quality of our essential being? Isn't anything less than that "hell"? A hell we habitually perpetuate moment to moment.
In Chattanooga the government has asked that folks do not give money to beggars or pan handlers. Two reasons were given. They want the homeless to go to the shelters for food so they can be observed for medical needs as well. The 2nd reason is that some are very aggressive and have attacked women walking alone when opening their purses. I am currently in st Pete Florida. You will be fined if you give money to a pan handler. Please give money to homeless shelters, women's shelters and food banks. That is money far better spent than tithing to the Mormon corporation. My wife and I give our largest charitable funds to a local food bank. You can help the hungry and homeless better that way in my opinion.
Local media determined that most of them were making $12-15 an hour (tax free), and weren't homeless in any manner whatsoever. The city has passed new laws against it.
It could be worse than you realize you will probably just end up as a fading headstone.
To me hell would be living for all eternity. Imagine the monotony after being aware for 15 billion years. How many times will you have tried to end your existence after 30 billion years?
I always say: If hell is real, I'd rather be there with my ilk than in heaven with religious people. Bring it.
I live in NYC, and I would pass the same young woman at my regular subway stop who had a sign that said: "Pregnant and Homeless. Please help." She did not look visibly pregnant the first time I saw her. Nor the last, when I quit that job one year later!