Christians and poverty

Originally posted by @thinkofone
Anyone with true compassion and love for his neighbor cares not about the reasons their neighbor needs help, but only that they need help.

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

For the most part, Christianity has little to do with the gospel preached by Jesus during His ...[text shortened]... serving beliefs that underpin Christianity are Christians whose world-view is also self-serving.

We're not talking about charity or one-on-one relationships. We are talking about government rule. The government is a non-religious entity anyway. Right?

Originally posted by @tom-wolsey
We're not talking about charity or one-on-one relationships. We are talking about government rule. The government is a non-religious entity anyway. Right?

<<Anyone with true compassion and love for his neighbor cares not about the reasons their neighbor needs help, but only that they need help. >>

Clearly " charity or one-on-one relationships" are not able to provide that help to everyone who needs it. Anyone with true compassion and love for his neighbor cares not the source of the help, but only that the help be given. The help could be given by the government. However there are those who do not have true compassion and love for their neighbor and advocate against having the government provide that help. Many of them are Christians like you.

Originally posted by @thinkofone
<<Anyone with true compassion and love for his neighbor cares not about the reasons their neighbor needs help, but only that they need help. >>

Clearly " charity or one-on-one relationships" are not able to provide that help to everyone who needs it. If they need help, they need help. Anyone with true compassion and love for his neighbor cares not the ...[text shortened]... advocate against having the government provide that help. Many of them are Christians like you.

And finally you come out with it. "Christians like me," "advocate against government providing that help."

There is more to it than that and you know it. The government does provide help to those who truly need it, as do local churches and other nonprofit organizations, and no Christians are complaining. What Christians have every right to voice our opinion on, is the government forcibly taking an inordinate amount of money out of our pockets; filtering it through a giant, bloated, inefficient bureaucracy; netting the actual poor pennies on the dollar; and dangling those pennies in front of citizens as extortion for votes.

Originally posted by @tom-wolsey
And finally you come out with it. "Christians like me," "advocate against government providing that help."

There is more to it than that and you know it. The government does provide help to those who truly need it, as do local churches and other nonprofit organizations, and no Christians are complaining. What Christians have every right to voice ou ...[text shortened]... r pennies on the dollar; and dangling those pennies in front of citizens as extortion for votes.

<<And finally you come out with it. "Christians like me," "advocate against government providing that help." >>

That's right: Christians like you do "advocate against government providing that help." And you continue to advocate against it.

<<The government does provide help to those who truly need it, as do local churches and other nonprofit organizations, and no Christians are complaining.>>

Yet there are still many who do without adequate food, clothing, shelter and / or health care and so on. As I pointed out, it's not enough. If it were, everyone would be have them.

<<What Christians have every right to voice our opinion on, is the government forcibly taking an inordinate amount of money out of our pockets; filtering it through a giant, bloated, inefficient bureaucracy; netting the actual poor pennies on the dollar; and dangling those pennies in front of citizens as extortion for votes.>>

Now you've gotten to the heart of it. It's about love of mammon.

As I said earlier:

Anyone with true compassion and love for his neighbor cares not about the reasons their neighbor needs help, but only that they need help.

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

For the most part, Christianity has little to do with the gospel preached by Jesus during His ministry. The fruits of the self-serving beliefs that underpin Christianity are Christians whose world-view is also self-serving.

Originally posted by @thinkofone
<<And finally you come out with it. "Christians like me," "advocate against government providing that help." >>

That's right: Christians like you do "advocate against government providing that help." And you continue to advocate against it.

<<The government does provide help to those who truly need it, as do local churches and other nonprofit org ...[text shortened]... beliefs that underpin Christianity are Christians whose world-view is also self-serving.[/quote]

I don't know where you live, but I assume--that is, if you're not a total hypocrite which would surprise me--you give every single spare penny you have to your government so they have the extra money needed.. since they don't have enough to get the job done.

Originally posted by @tom-wolsey
I don't know where you live, but I assume--that is, if you're not a total hypocrite which would surprise me--you give every single spare penny you have to your government so they have the extra money needed.. since they don't have enough to get the job done.

As as way of evading the points of my post, it seems you've opted to create a straw man. Nowhere have I advocated that anyone " give every single spare penny [they] have to [their] government" or anything of the sort. It's been about advocating for or against government providing help to those who need it and you know it.

I don't expect that you actually will address the points of my post. The power of the love of mammon can not only render some without true compassion and love for their neighbor, it can render them unable to engage in rational argument.

Originally posted by @thinkofone
As as way of evading the points of my post, it seems you've opted to create a straw man. Nowhere have I advocated that anyone " give every single spare penny [they] have to [their] government" or anything of the sort. It's been about advocating for or against government providing help to those who need it and you know it.

I don't expect that you actua ...[text shortened]... ompassion and love for their neighbor, it can render them unable to engage in rational argument.

You are framing your argument like this:

Either

a) be willing to give the government everything they ask for, let them line their pockets with your money, and maybe a few legitimately poor folks will get some of what they ask for, or

b) you are a fake Christian that revels in the suffering of those in need.

As such, and as I have exhaustively demonstrated, your argument is disingenuous if not outright dishonest. Believe it or not, a Christian can display and act on love for our neighbors without gleefully writing blank checks to a greedy, corrupt government.

Originally posted by @tom-wolsey
You are framing your argument like this:

Either

a) be willing to give the government everything they ask for, let them line their pockets with your money, and maybe a few legitimately poor folks will get some of what they ask for, or

b) you are a fake Christian that revels in the suffering of those in need.

As such, and as I have exhaustively ...[text shortened]... n love for our neighbors without gleefully writing blank checks to a greedy, corrupt government.

You are framing your argument like this:

Either

a) be willing to give the government everything they ask for, let them line their pockets with your money, and maybe a few legitimately poor folks will get some of what they ask for, or

b) you are a fake Christian that revels in the suffering of those in need.

Actually YOU've framed my argument like that. That's not the way I framed it and you know it.

As I posted earlier:
<<I don't expect that you actually will address the points of my post. The power of the love of mammon can not only render some without true compassion and love for their neighbor, it can render them unable to engage in rational argument.>>

Let's see if you can actually address the points of my previous post.

As such, and as I have exhaustively demonstrated, your argument is disingenuous if not outright dishonest.

Wow. What nonsense. How low are you willing to go?

Believe it or not, a Christian can display and act on love for our neighbors without gleefully writing blank checks to a greedy, corrupt government.

Yet somehow when it comes to things like military spending, police protection, immigration enforcement etc. many Christians are not only not opposed - they advocate for more spending. So clearly it's not really about not wanting to give money "to a greedy, corrupt government". That you frame it as "gleefully writing blank checks" serves to underscore the disingenuousness of your position.

Originally posted by @fmf
I've met some wealthy conservative American tourists over the years who have started blabbering on after a few beers about how their wealth was God's direct reward for being virtuous and for their strong faith. And then a beer or two later... blabbering on about how poverty is caused by a lack of virtue and faith. Interesting people to talk to, for sure.

I was called 'gay' then a 'gay - hater' in the same sentence in a txt recently

Wrong on both accounts

People are parasites