It's no secret that I'm a Christian. Every view that I have is filtered through that lense and I make no apologies for it. This entry is designed to take certain parties to task and set the record straight about where politicians get it wrong.
There's been much debate about things like health care, "welfare", and pretty much every issue, political and otherwise, that's come down the pike. Within this debate there are a lot of my fellow Christians who insert themselves into the discussion by adhering to one party or the other. The problem that arises with this is that no singular politcal party gets all the answers right.
One of the big issues that seems to come up is the issue of the poor and what can, and should, be done to help them. Well, if you call yourself a Christian and are against any measures to help the poor, then you're missing some crucial information. Back in ancient Israel it was a matter of law that when grain was harvested a portion had to be left for the poor. This was on top of the ten percent tithe that people were also required to give. The community was expected to take care of one another and to care for the sick, the widows and the orphans. It wasn't just something that the Temple priests taught, it wasn't just expected culturally, it was something that was required by law.
Now if a person was able bodied and just chose not to work rather than just being in hard straights, then that person wasn't helped. Hence the verse "If a man DOES not work, he should not eat." Men, i.e. husbands and fathers, were expected to take care of their families. Again this was something that the community enforced, and while there were very likely people who tried to game the system those people were ostracized. The poor recieved help but the lazy did not. (As we all know there is an important difference between the two)
As a people we have to realize that we aren't just responsible for ourselves, we are also responsible for our brothers and sisters. We have to help those who need it, while also making sure that those who try to abuse the system and are just using it to get off easy are punished for hurting the poor over all.
We also have to realize that there will always be the poor and the sick among us. Christ, Himself, said as much. There are millions of people who are sick, not through their choices, but from outside influences or by chance of birth. Those who make no differentiation between those people and those who are genuinely guilty of making nothing but bad health choices, (i.e. eating nothing but fast food and then complaining over the heart attacks they've had) are in the wrong here. We can have rugged individualism AND a sense of community. It's been done before, just look at the Bible, the ancient Isrealites seemed to pull it off.
That's all for now.
May the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you. Amen and Amen
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cheerful
angry
contemplative