Proverbs 14:31 "He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God."
Today in Washington D.C., 300 religious activists anticipate being arrested when they kneel in prayer to protest House-passed cuts in food stamps, Medicaid and other programs that help the poor. According to Proverbs, this could be called honoring God. Noticeably absent will be James Dobson, Tony Perkins and other prominent, allegedly Christian leaders, who have a number of reasons for not participating. For Focus on the Family, it's a matter of priorities:
Conservative Christian groups such as Focus on the Family say it is a matter of priorities, and their priorities are abortion, same-sex marriage and seating judges who will back their position against those practices.
James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
I think it's safe to say that the religion of Dobson and his ilk is neither pure nor faultless...hell's bells, it's not even Christian...
Tony Perkins, of the
Family Research Council says that:
"There is a [biblical] mandate to take care of the poor. There is no dispute of that fact," he said. "But it does not say government should do it. That's a shifting of responsibility."
Now I've been confused by exactly what a mandate is since last November, but I digress...my question here is, who is shifting responsibility?
Deuteronomy 15:7 "If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother."
And what do those good Christian ladies of the Concerned Women for America say? Well, they seem to be taking the practical approach, because they:
"...know that the government is not really capable of love."
Now my thinking is, we're talking about food and medicine for the poor, not hugs. But they insist that:
"You look to the government for justice, and you look to the church and individuals for mercy.
Just don't look to those Concerned Women for American, who could perhaps take a few moments to brush up on their Bible.
Isaiah 1:16-17 "Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."
And what do our good Christian, GOP leaders think? They believe that these misguided, leftist Christians are not "intellectually right." Leaving aside the obvious oxymoron contained in those two words, one has to wonder if, while justifying cutting taxes for the rich, the GOP and their Christian supporters ever stop and consider the words of Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 5:28 "'Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it, they do not defend the rights of the poor. 'Should I not punish them for this?' declares the LORD. 'Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?'"
If I was a religious person, I'd pray that the avenging happens to the GOP, their supporters and their pick-and-choose Christian values. Bring on the lions...