If you are Christian, why are you supporting the modern Republican party?

Is it Christian to let other people do good deeds for you instead of doing them yourself? Social services undercut many peoples ability to practice their own moral choices.

Actually I'm pretty sure that's exactly what Jesus had in mind when he tells us to give up our earthly possessions and follow God, trusting in him to take care of us.

>> ^GeeSussFreeK:

Is it Christian to let other people do good deeds for you instead of doing them yourself? Social services undercut many peoples ability to practice their own moral choices.

>> ^Mikus_Aurelius:

Actually I'm pretty sure that's exactly what Jesus had in mind when he tells us to give up our earthly possessions and follow God, trusting in him to take care of us.
>> ^GeeSussFreeK:
Is it Christian to let other people do good deeds for you instead of doing them yourself? Social services undercut many peoples ability to practice their own moral choices.



Trusting government is trusting God? That is a stretch I don't think that is what you meant, but it is what you seem to of said.

>> ^GeeSussFreeK:

>> ^Mikus_Aurelius:
Actually I'm pretty sure that's exactly what Jesus had in mind when he tells us to give up our earthly possessions and follow God, trusting in him to take care of us.
>> ^GeeSussFreeK:
Is it Christian to let other people do good deeds for you instead of doing them yourself? Social services undercut many peoples ability to practice their own moral choices.


Trusting government is trusting God? That is a stretch I don't think that is what you meant, but it is what you seem to of said.


I'm no theologian, but nobody's ever cited to me the part of the Bible where Jesus makes a distinction between people helping others through an institution (like churches, non-profits, or government), or on their own as an individual.

It is more akin to the idea of WHICH good thing you wish to practice, or the thing being done that is said to be good not being good in your own moral judgement. One might say feeding the poor isn't done properly unless accompanied by a health dose of soul food. I am no one to tell them they are wrong. The hard part of doing good with other peoples money is we don't have the same idea of what good is, so any attempt is muddled in personal bias and dogma. Which is why I support more community based charity than national.

>> ^NetRunner:

>> ^GeeSussFreeK:
>> ^Mikus_Aurelius:
Actually I'm pretty sure that's exactly what Jesus had in mind when he tells us to give up our earthly possessions and follow God, trusting in him to take care of us.
>> ^GeeSussFreeK:
Is it Christian to let other people do good deeds for you instead of doing them yourself? Social services undercut many peoples ability to practice their own moral choices.


Trusting government is trusting God? That is a stretch I don't think that is what you meant, but it is what you seem to of said.

I'm no theologian, but nobody's ever cited to me the part of the Bible where Jesus makes a distinction between people helping others through an institution (like churches, non-profits, or government), or on their own as an individual.

>> ^GeeSussFreeK:

It is more akin to the idea of WHICH good thing you wish to practice, or the thing being done that is said to be good not being good in your own moral judgement. One might say feeding the poor isn't done properly unless accompanied by a health dose of soul food. I am no one to tell them they are wrong. The hard part of doing good with other peoples money is we don't have the same idea of what good is, so any attempt is muddled in personal bias and dogma. Which is why I support more community based charity than national.

Again, I'm not a theologian, but does Jesus say something akin to "don't help people at all if you're uncertain whether you'll succeed?"

Do you really dispute that providing medical treatment to people who're sick is a good thing?

I'm not religious, and I don't think we should base our morals on what we read in the Bible, but what little I do know of the Bible is that Jesus doesn't sound much like Ayn Rand, or any other right-wing ideologue on this topic.

Is there any passage of the bible that supports the libertarian case against state-sponsored distributive justice? Does Jesus say property is the sole enforceable moral obligation we have to one another, and everything else must be considered a matter of personal choice? Does he say tax-funded welfare programs are morally worse than letting the poor starve or succumb to treatable illness through individual negligence?

If he did, it'd resolve what I see as the biggest cognitive dissonance present in American culture, but I don't think the Bible says anything of the sort.