“There was even something more in addition to these evils, namely that his [meaning Lazarus] reputation was slandered by foolish people. For most people, when they see someone in hunger, chronic illness, and the extremes of misfortune, do not even allow him a good reputation but judge his life by his troubles, and think that he is surely in such misery because of wickedness.”
– Saint John Chrysostom , in On Wealth and Poverty
We do not help because of who they are, we help because of who we are. In doing so, we sometimes help foolishly, but at least we help.
If more Christians would react to a pregnant teenager with the true compassion of traditional charity instead of the false compassion of the abortion clinic, maybe we would actually make a difference.