Who are the Poor?

I think the poverty issues might be the most complex one that Matt brought up in his last post. Living in a free society we must always make room for those who chose to be poor. Either because they are minimalists and value freedom over working, or because they chose not to pursue more in life.  And then there are those amongst us who are truly poor, those who Jesus said would always be with us, and James admonished us to care about as a true sign of saving faith.  Yet I am not sure if I would agree with Matt in thinking that James would see things so black in our society.

I find it a difficult to so broadly apply James rebuke of the rich to our day and age. Not that James caution to the rich has no place in our culture,  but I do not think it does the majority of the time. Truth is “poor” is like the biblical word “slavery” they meant different things to the authors of the Bible then they do to us. When we think of slavery we think of tyrannical oppression and massive abuse of Africans pre-Civil War. Paul would never have thought of slavery in this way, in his context it was more of indentured servant hood, in which many found themselves in because of massive debt or other unfortunate circumstances. Also when Paul or James used the word “poor” they were referring to those who were in such dire straights and circumstances that actual starvation was a real possibility. There was no hope of education, property ownership, and familial security, in fact the poor that James refers to had much more in common with the colonial slaves than the poor of today.

My concern is much more in line with a John Edwards populist type platform which is predominantly concerned about the working class. You know those folks who are having their jobs shipped overseas, working sixty hours a week and still cannot afford to put gas in the tank, food on the table, pay for health insurance, and pay the mortgage because all are rising at absurd rates. I think James would say his concern was not for those who sat around waiting for the rapture and mooching of the labors of others, but for those who are working as hard as they can yet because of sinful systemic structures find themselves coming up short.

Point being that we need to be cautious in formulating a biblical ethic of the poor when it comes to country such as the United States, things are much to complex here to simply think that all who are poor are there for the same cause or reason. Instead we should focus on making sure that those who are working hard and wanting to raise a family and own a home, live in a country that allows them to do so. As it stands now with 1 percent of the USA population getting 22 percent of the income we are actually headed toward a Marxist proletariat and bourgeois.

Voting by the Book

My wife brought up a good point in the comment section of Mr. Lee Goes to Iowa. I thought I would address it.

Voting according to scripture in America is like dating according to scripture. The institution is in direct opposition to Christian ideals. Dating consists of foreplay without sex, emotional intimacy without commitment, and in the end is practice for divorce becuase you bail out when you are no longer happy. Voting for Christian ideals under a capitalist democracy (free market with supposed Judeo/Christian values) falls short for two main reasons:

1. If you let the market determine the culture (ie. What people want and need: healthcare, schools, donations, etc.) then people, being mostly greedy, tend to hoard and not share resources: creating a society in direct opposition to Christian values.

2. If you seek to regulate the culture (ie. governmental control of health care, lack of states control, etc.) then people, being mostly lazy, take advantage of the system draining it of progress and personal change: creating a society in direct opposition to Christian values.

Once again I will be labeled a idealistic Judeo/Christian socialist, but I am also a realist. I believe that we need to vote based on at least a three-tiered system based on:

1. Efficacy
2. Our Values
3. Change

Our values must be primary, but when it is not efficacious to do so we must reexamine. For example: if I am pro-life, but there is no pro-life candidate, or the pro-life candidate is so polarizing as to not be able to get a pro-life judge nominated (Ron Paul), then it would be foolish for me to vote for a candidate that works for the “pro-life” party or one that is pro-life but is impotent to actually accomplish what I would vote them in for. Or as Vicky clearly points out, the pro-life candidate actually promotes a international policy that kills more babies than a non pro-lifer would (like Bush).

Now, what are the next set of issues that we believe in. Well the Bible clearly warns us not to favor the rich while ignoring the poor (I say warn, James basically says your not a Christian if you do this). The Bible gives us many examples of taking care of the poor which we would consider enabling. This is where voting according to ideals hits a major roadblock. A government needs to take into consideration the issue of enabling, even when Jesus did not (yeah, I just wrote that, but it’s true). What do we do?

We walk the thin line. We screw up. But ultimately we need to realize that our government will not save people. Living more environmentally sustainable lives will not save a world that, as much as Brian McLaren dislikes, God will create a new version of. The gospel will save people, and as much as we are called to seek the good of the societies we live in, the gospel will not save those societies in this life. Jesus will create a new heavens and new earth where people from every tongue tribe and nation will live in the greatest government ever: a theocracy led by a good God who dwells with his people forever. Can I vote for that?

matt

NOTE: The comments on this post have been discombobulated due to a time change I made on the blog. Even I am not sure what posts are responding to what anymore. I would advise that future comments should specifically address a person, and their comment.

Will Ferrell is a Prophet

Little did I know when watching this hillarious Bush impersonation many years ago that it was actually a prophecy to be fulfilled today.

And the prophecy comes true:

“Asked if the president planned to stay up to find out who wins the opening contests of the 2008 election season, White House press secretary Dana Perino said Thursday: “What time do all the results start coming in? Because he goes to bed early.”

Amazing.