A thankless new video criticizing Christian churches was all the rage on social media throughout Thanksgiving and the ensuing weekend.

The 30-second video shows homeless people camped out on sidewalks of urban streets with words on the screen designed to make churches appear selfish and uncaring.

“There are over 350,000 churches in America,” the video states. “So why are there over 200,000 homeless people sleeping on the streets?”

Christian bashers shared the video and helped it spread like wildfire. By Monday, one posting of the video was approaching 3 million views and copycat versions were also doing well. Comments in discussion threads scolded Christians for not following the example of Jesus, who cared for the poor.

The assumption of the video could not be more off base.

Recent data collected by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development lead us to wonder what the urban landscape would look like without churches providing housing for the homeless.

The federal numbers, resulting from a study of 11 American cities, show 58 percent of emergency beds for the homeless are provided by faith-based organizations – mostly churches.

We don’t need data to tell us what seems obvious along the Front Range of Colorado. In Denver and Colorado Springs, all major homeless shelters are Christian organizations. That includes the Denver Rescue Mission, Samaritan House in Denver, the Springs Rescue Mission and all Salvation Army homeless shelters and services throughout Colorado.

And that’s just emergency shelters. Most food pantries, soup kitchens and private social programs that aid the homeless are associated with churches throughout the state and the rest of the country.

“Faith-based organizations meet a critical need for the chronically homeless,” concludes a report by Seattle Pacific University. “Faith-based providers, such as the Gospel Rescue Missions and the Salvation Army, along with many smaller local but important providers wrap services around people being sheltered, with everything from alcohol and drug rehabilitation to employment . “

This does not account for churches that allow homeless people to live in their school gymnasiums and basements on cold winter nights, or on their lawns when city governments forbid camping in public. Local governments sometimes intervene and tell them to stop.

The city of Dundalk fined Patapsco United Methodist Church in Maryland $12,000 last year for allowing homeless people to set up camp on the church lawn.

The city of Rockford, Ill., told the Apostolic Pentecostals Church to stop sheltering the homeless, during a week when temperatures dipped to 20 below zero, because the church lacked adequate permits.

In a lot of cities, churches organize around sheltering and caring for the homeless. In the small city of Moorhead, Minn., 60 congregations formed Churches United for the Homeless to pool resources and give aid, shelter and comfort to the homeless.

Colorado Springs faith-based nonprofits constantly coordinate efforts to improve services to the homeless. Imagine how many homeless would have no place to eat without Catholic Charities and the Marian House soup kitchen on the edge of downtown.

Don’t believe every accusatory, mean-spirited meme that pops up on Facebook. Sometimes they place blame on those who deserve thanks and praise.