I often find myself confused by the things the Christian Right says and does but one of my biggest peeves is the way these fanatics treat others around Christmas. Why do we let this hypocrisy take place year after year? The hypocrisy is the way they treat the poor, especially the homeless.

Eleven months of the year the poor are considered lazy, worthless, good-for-nothing moochers. But every year for that 30 some-odd days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the poor are miraculously transformed into the downtrodden, the weak, the unfortunate, the receivers of bad luck.

For 330 days of the year we listen to some people vent about not wanting their hard-earned money going to support some lazy bum that should just go out and get a job. But for the other 35 days, we listen to them brag about the one time they took their grade school-aged children to serve at the soup kitchen or they donated to a family in need.

How exactly do the sick, the hurting and the needy become replaced by the lazy moochers every Jan. 1? Perhaps I'm reading an outdated version but my copy of the Bible does not read "He who gives to the poor between Nov. 25 and Dec. 25 each year will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses." (see Proverbs 28:27.)

These people need our help every day, not only during the one season magically deemed the time to be nice to your neighbor. Why are these people in such bad shape? Are they mentally ill? Perhaps we could help by finding them a hospital. Perhaps we need to open more hospitals.

Or maybe, like me, they once were doing well then were diagnosed with cancer and lost everything while trying to keep up with medical debt.

I went from financially stable with a good job to homeless in slightly over six months. Too bad for me I hit the streets in the wrong month! If only the cancer had waited for Christmastime, maybe things would have been different.

If we spent 11 months working on getting people off the streets and keeping children clothed and fed, perhaps we could take the one magical month to reflect on all the good we did during the rest of the year.

Instead, they'll do one or two good things during one month and reflect upon it for the next 11 months, and then even worse, try and make me believe they are a good person because they did this one nice thing one time.

If I have to hear one more right-winged religious fanatic believing the poor are lazy tell me about how they donated to charity and it made them feel so good to help during this time of year, I might just be sick right on the spot.

Devidyal Givens
Gainesville