Dear Liberal Christians, It's Not The Government's Job To Give To The Poor. It's Yours.

[GURPS]

There are legitimate reasons to criticize the GOP tax plan. Here, on the other hand, is a very illegitimate reason I've heard countless times from liberal Christians: The Bible wants us to pay higher taxes in order to help the poor. By receiving a tax cut, we are taking money away from the poor. Especially by cutting entitlements, which is supposed to be the next step for Republicans in Congress, we are shirking our Christian responsibility to care for the least of these. This is the "Christian" argument for Socialism, and Christian socialists have been making it for decades.

It hasn't gotten any better with age.

As I see it, there are two very serious problems with the idea that we fulfill our Biblical duties by paying high taxes in order to fund a vast and wasteful Welfare State:

1) The people most likely to make this kind of argument in favor of high taxes are also the most likely to reject this kind of argument in favor of any other law. But if we are required to shape our tax policy according to Our Lord's divine edicts (sounds good to me), then it follows that we must shape other public policies by the same standard.

So, goodbye abortion. For the Ten Commandments clearly forbid the taking of innocent life. Jeremiah 1:5 explicitly affirms the humanity of the unborn, as God declares, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." And the Incarnation makes the issue as plain as can be. Our Lord became a "fetus" Himself. He was conceived in His mother's womb and He developed through every stage just as every other child in history. Liberal Christians claim that Jesus never said anything about the unborn. Nonsense. He didn't need to say anything about them. He became them. He elevated and sanctified human life at every stage by taking its form. End of discussion.​

Walsh: Dear Liberal Christians, It's Not The Government's Job To Give To The Poor. It's Yours.

 

[mAlice]

There are legitimate reasons to criticize the GOP tax plan. Here, on the other hand, is a very illegitimate reason I've heard countless times from liberal Christians: The Bible wants us to pay higher taxes in order to help the poor. By receiving a tax cut, we are taking money away from the poor. Especially by cutting entitlements, which is supposed to be the next step for Republicans in Congress, we are shirking our Christian responsibility to care for the least of these. This is the "Christian" argument for Socialism, and Christian socialists have been making it for decades.

It hasn't gotten any better with age.

As I see it, there are two very serious problems with the idea that we fulfill our Biblical duties by paying high taxes in order to fund a vast and wasteful Welfare State:

1) The people most likely to make this kind of argument in favor of high taxes are also the most likely to reject this kind of argument in favor of any other law. But if we are required to shape our tax policy according to Our Lord's divine edicts (sounds good to me), then it follows that we must shape other public policies by the same standard.

So, goodbye abortion. For the Ten Commandments clearly forbid the taking of innocent life. Jeremiah 1:5 explicitly affirms the humanity of the unborn, as God declares, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." And the Incarnation makes the issue as plain as can be. Our Lord became a "fetus" Himself. He was conceived in His mother's womb and He developed through every stage just as every other child in history. Liberal Christians claim that Jesus never said anything about the unborn. Nonsense. He didn't need to say anything about them. He became them. He elevated and sanctified human life at every stage by taking its form. End of discussion.​

Walsh: Dear Liberal Christians, It's Not The Government's Job To Give To The Poor. It's Yours.

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there, does it make a sound?

I live in the bible belt now, so I know a lot of people who are very active in their churches and communities. The majority of Christians are very giving, in many ways. It is not limited to food and shelter. People volunteer their time to sit with, transport, paint, repair, cook, clean....the list goes on and on. Folks are busy down here.

 

[GURPS]

Folks are busy down here.

yes but Progressives believe in the POWER OF GOV. not Churches

 

[vraiblonde]

Most progs aren't Christians anyway, so you can't expect them to understand the Bible. They're just repeating what their masters tell them to say. If they knew what they were talking about, they'd know that you tithe to your church, not the government. And if they were smart, they'd whip out the old, "Render unto Caesar..." line. But they're not.

 

[Lurk]

Most progs aren't Christians anyway, so you can't expect them to understand the Bible. They're just repeating what their masters tell them to say. If they knew what they were talking about, they'd know that you tithe to your church, not the government. And if they were smart, they'd whip out the old, "Render unto Caesar..." line. But they're not.

Jesus said "Sell all that you have and give it to the poor." He did not say "Sell all you have and give it to Rome to disperse as they see fit."

 

[b23hqb]

Jesus said "Sell all that you have and give it to the poor." He did not say "Sell all you have and give it to Rome to disperse as they see fit."

That's what He said, for sure. You can take it literally, or more reasonably, figuratively, like His parables. Give freely of what you have and can give - no need to make yourself as poor as others because that just puts you in their position, and you would not be able to help out at all.

Let people "volunteer" on their tax returns to "donate" a specific amount out of their own income to help the poor via govt programs. That will go over big, I'm sure. Right?

Schedule A is a great tool, but you had better have all donations documented.