Who cares? Religion is so flexible a thing these days that I'm sure they could just create their own brand of nomadic buddhism where the main tenet is not having a roof to live under and living as long as the people around you are charitable.

Its really terrible that the author mentions alcohol; that's already an established stereotype of beggars. Including that only reaffirms a person's belief about beggars and reaffirms that we should shun this activity. Who knows why they beg? Some that were mentioned in the article were sleeping out in the open, a common sign of homelessness. What if they are not boozing up by trying to get on their feet? As for why the con, people are far more charitable to a holy man than they are to the common man.