Love Is Not Against the Law

My friend Josh informed me of a quite interesting story developing in Orlando, FL. A 22-year old guy named Eric Montanez has been arrested for feeding homeless people. What’s interesting is that Eric didn’t simply hand out an apple or a bottle of water here and there. Montanez, along with the group Food Not Bombs, basically set up shop in a park and provided a cafeteria-style meal for anyone who wanted it.

This story has been developing since the city of Orlando passed an ordinance that bans feeding en-mass in one area back in ‘06. Now the ACLU is getting involved and Orlando’s homeless and Montanez’s lawyer are calling the law itself illegal, a violation of Montanez’s civil rights. You can read the full story here.

As city ordinance’s go, I believe that generally, they must be passed by the popular vote of the city’s residents. So my question is, who heads on down the voting booth, and upon arrival, reads about the proposed ordinance banning giving food to the homeless on the ballot and thinks to themselves, “yeah, that sounds pretty good.”? Would those same people prefer Salvation Army’s and soup kitchens to be closed as well? Why stop with the homeless and food, why not stop the distribution of clothing en-mass as well — might as well close the Good Will’s while you are at it.

Whoa, OK, let me step down of my soap box here. I don’t mean to get carried away, but I really have to wonder what people were thinking? Assuming that most laws are in somebody’s best interest, or are protecting someone, who’s best interest was this law in; who exactly was this law protecting? Are there health concerns? Worry over possible lawsuits?

As I read this article again today, a song on Derek Webb’s record Mockingbird started playing in my head:

Are we defending life
when we just pick and choose
lives acceptable to lose,
and which ones to defend?

‘Cause you cannot choose your friends,
but you choose your enemies.
And what if they were one
one and the same?

Could you find a way
to love them both the same,
to give them your name?

Love is not against the law.