Family Research Council: Christians should not want the government to care for the poor

[nitasee]

“The government has a responsibility to care for the poor? That’s not what Scripture says"

The Family Research Council has some interesting ideas about Christianity and poverty.

Last month, FRC senior fellow Kenneth Blackwell said there was “nothing more Christian” than kicking 4 million people off food stamps, and FRC head Tony Perkins echoed his

Comments

[seishin]

Have these people even read the fracking Bible? O_o

[schexyschteve]

Probably not. Or at least not the entire thing. They just pick the parts that apply to their needs.

[rkt]

someday, i'll write a book about how 400-500 years ago, people didnt read the bible because they literally couldn't - no access (thank god for the printing press..) and no literacy (in the spoken language or the ancient language of most then-bibles)

today - people just plain don't fucking read it and intentionally read hate between the lines.

[chasingtides]

Not to be pedantic, but to pedantic: While 1450 marked the Gutenburg printing press, glorious machine that it was, literacy rates were not at the stunning lows so many modern people assume before 1450. The printing press did not magically make everyone learn to read. Literacy rates in medieval England for example - especially if we're talking English basic reading comprehension and not Latin literacy, not the ability to write, not the ability to construct complex language forms - were fairly high. And plenty of people, even those not able to read Latin, memorized the Bible anyway.

I'd argue that they were illiterate and knew the Bible better than these jokers.

[betray802]

I've heard there's a movement afoot that the layfolk SHOULD NOT read the Bible, as we're "not properly trained" on how to interpret what God actually meant, as someone who has studied theology *obviously* would be. We Godless peasant swine are supposed to go to church, listen to what we're told, nod when directed to, and fork over our wallets.

[seishin]

So basically, they want none of this...

[betray802]

Pretty much!

[nitasee]

I have only heard vague rumours of such a movement. But it wouldn't surprise me either. There certainly are a lot of demagogues out there who fear that people might actual figure out that the Bible contradicts what they tell them.