Religious Leaders Arrested Protesting Immoral House Budget

Where, in the Bible, does Jesus say to raise money for the poor by government taxation?

Hi Gary:

Budgets, including the taxes that fund them, are moral documents that reflect our values as a society. It might be more appropriate to ask: where in the Bible does Jesus say take resources from the poor and give them to the rich? It is this exact opposite of his message.

One of the very first things Jesus says is that he came to bring good news for the poor! At a minimum, this budget is not good news for the poor. And, unless you you are so literal minded that you intentionally miss his meaning, he says it here:

Let's start here.

Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Merry Christmas,
FP

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, released this statement today following U.S. Senate passage of the budget reconciliation bill:

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) steadfast opposition to the budget reconciliation process has had a direct impact in the U.S. Congress. Countless people of faith, including myself and all 65 ELCA synod bishops, spoke out against the process, which threatened cuts to food stamps, Medicaid, student loans, and other programs that help people living in poverty throughout the United States. We were appalled that these cuts were proposed in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest 3 percent of Americans, and that the deficit would actually increase, contrary to the stated purpose of the reconciliation process. As people of faith, we found tax cuts for the rich paid for by slashing safety net programs to be immoral.

Our voices of opposition were heard, and have provided a tangible sign that the Church is living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ and "proclaiming the greatness of the Lord" in our own day. Though some spending cuts ultimately passed in the Senate, food stamp cuts were eliminated from the final version. For this, we give thanks to the ELCA leaders and members who spoke out, including the ELCA Conference of Bishops, and all Lutherans who have called and written to members of Congress. We also give thanks for the broad ecumenical partnership among Christians working together from the shared scriptural values of justice, compassion, mercy and hospitality. And finally, we give thanks for those members of Congress who heard our cry on behalf of the poor and who voted against this process, in some cases under great pressure and at great political risk. We thank them for their courage and compassion, while we continue to pray for all public officials.

Despite the food stamp victory, the remaining cuts - including cuts to Medicare, child support enforcement, and student loans - are devastating to the "least among us." In the current version, people living in poverty across the United States will see shrinking Medicaid benefits coupled with increased out-of-pocket costs many will be unable to afford. Less money spent on child support enforcement means less child support money going to the children who need it. And cuts to student loans will prevent many from breaking the cycle of poverty through the pursuit of higher education.

The budget reconciliation measure needs to be reconsidered by the House of Representatives due to a substantive change made by the Senate. It is unclear when this action will occur in the House of Representatives.

The 2006 budget process is not over, and the 2007 budget process will begin soon. The deficit increase resulting from the budget/tax reconciliation process will create more pressure in next year's budget to make more cuts in spending for safety net programs. As people of faith, we will continue to fight for an honest and moral budget in 2006, 2007 and beyond.

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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My question remains unanswered.

fp,

If we assume that the scripture passage you quoted is applicable to this discussion, why is it appropriate to have the civil government enforce religious teaching? I have been told repeatedly on this site that such action is unconstitutional and immoral.

The Republican congress and GW Bush and the religius right are religious but they are not Christians they are just seeking the dollar very religiously and Feeding the Christians to the grave {BY starving them and denying them medical)instead of feeding the poor as Christian do.

Actually, Jesus doesn't threaten those who turn their backs on the poor with damnation only once in the scriptures, but numerous times. In addition to the best-known "It is easier for a camel to travel through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven", there is also "Woe to the rich, for they have their reward", as well as the story of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus. When the rich man dies, he looks up from Hell at Lazarus (who is now in Heaven) and Abraham, who is standing there with Lazarus. He screams for mercy, but it is too late. He had his chance to do what God actually commanded him to do (to be generous to the poor and needy), and he ignored it.

And this is the interesting situation with many neocon "Christians". The general belief among them is that, as long as you shout things like "I am washed in the blood; Jesus is my personal saviour; Praise Jesus" etc. etc. etc., that that is enough to get them into Heaven. They basically believe that, so long as they profess loudly enough their salvation, they can be as intolerant, nasty, and mean-spirited as they want; they can hoard wealth; they can turn their backs on the poor, etc. Thomas Merton, the famous trappist monk writer once made a wonderful comment regarding the fundamnentalist mentality and the "saved" crowd. He said, "To be "saved" is to fall into the ludicrous and satanic flippancy of false piety". I've never heard it put better.

Like the Pharisees and Saducees before them these necon "Christians" believe that dancing around and shouting Jesus' name is in and of itself enough. But that's not what Jesus said. The Master said, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments", and by this we know He is talking about HIS direct teachings and not stuff from the Old Testament (and certainly NOT anything from Revelations, which was NOT part of Jesus' teachings, but rather a DREAM St. John had, so that those who have raised that apocryphal book to an equality with The Master's teachings are in point of fact and quite simply apostates and blasphemers), because Jesus told us that His teachings supercede those that had gone before ("You had the Law and The Prophets UNTIL John(the Baptist), BUT SINCE THEN you have the Good News of God's Kingdom and people thirst for it"). In denying Jesus' directives, they deny Jesus Himself, His Divinity, and His paschal sacrifice on the cross. But then, if they REALLY believed in Jesus, His teachings would be enough, and they would never have felt a need to patch together their own "version" of Christianity from bits of the Old Testament and Revelations.

As to the question of whether it is right to raise money for the poor, or to at least not rob the poor to pay for tax subsidies and exemptions for the wealthy...well, apparently to many necon "Christians" it is alright to raise hundreds of billions for a war that has cost tens of thousands of lives (Blessed are THE PEACEMAKERS for THEY shall be called The Children of God), has made the terrorist threat actually WORSE than before, and is resulting in a fundamentalist theocracy replacing a dictatorship (so which is worse?). Human rights abuses from this new government aren't just on the way, they're ALREADY HERE (Abu Ghraib), and sadly our own government is aiding and abetting those who would torture and use the Constitution as so much toilet paper. But of course the REAL purpose of the war has been achieved, and hundreds of billions of dollars handed over to no-bid defense contractors, and the "rights" of the oil companies have been protected. And on the homefront, while necons obsess over gay marriage, anti-choice issues (while showing precious little concern for the children that are already HERE and born into poverty), and flag desecration, over 45 million go without health coverage, banks and insurance companies enjoy a totally unbridled capatalist feeding frenzy, the poor get poorer, the rich get yet more tax breaks, and our government continues to hand out upwards of 150 billion (and over some years) to the corporations in the form of often-times ludicrous tax subsidies and exemptions. All of this seems "OKYDOKY" with the religious right, just so long as its all done with a generous helping of pseudopatriotic nationalist shouts of glee (while wrapped up in the flag and waving a Bible around of course). Pharisees and Saducees move over. There are some new a&&&^*%s on the block. And they've made Satan a VERY happy Devil.

Merry Christmas, Peace and Blessings.

Brother Damien, OCCA

Damien,

What must one do to get into Heaven?