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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul Smith who wrote (152112)	12/12/2010 12:44:41 PM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 542907

You are welcome to your interpretation of the NT. We could spend some time here throwing scripture back and forth but that is not the point. Your assertion that yours is the only interpretation is simply wrong. There are several long running theological traditions that argue the social justice theme. You are now asserting yours is the better interpretation. That now becomes a theological argument. One of several and not the major one in both Catholicism and Protestantism. One more thing. All readings of scripture are interpretations of scripture. The very text you read is an interpretation because you are reading a translation. So it's always an argument about the viability of interpretations.

To: Paul Smith who wrote (152112)	12/12/2010 2:17:18 PM
From: Katelew	Respond to of 542907

Instead I have actually read the Christian gospels. No mention of outsourcing compassion to the government, seemed to be all about personal behavior and personal responsibility. If you have found any passages in the gospels about outsourcing to the government, please share them. I can't hang around today to get into this very much, but basically you are correct. Niebuhr himself when asked about the role of the church in fighting for social justice took the position that he believed churches had the responsibility, through their members, to push for laws that advance civil rights and opportunities, i.e. justice. At the same time he said that the ethic of Jesus himself was an "individual ethic" and that Jesus was apolitical personally (refused to be made king) and was silent on politics and government in general. The Christian Gospels are about individual, not collective, charity, responsiblity, and morality. A personal change of heart leading a person to true benevolence is the ideal. In fact when it comes to collective charity and morality, Christ attacked the then Jewish institutionalised notions of charity and morality as empty and self-serving. This is what got him crucified. Personally and speaking as a Christian, I don't have a problem with government safety nets that are temporary and clearly defined and that are funded by the collection of taxes. One can argue for this on the basis of efficiency, clarity, and the fact that not everyone is going to willingly share. But I don't find much of anything in the scriptures to support such a system so I don't know how someone could legitimately argue for government welfare as a religious imperative.

To: Paul Smith who wrote (152112)	12/12/2010 6:46:39 PM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 542907

>>Instead I have actually read the Christian gospels. No mention of outsourcing compassion to the government, seemed to be all about personal behavior and personal responsibility. If you have found any passages in the gospels about outsourcing to the government, please share them.<< So according to your view of the Christian gospels, should governments, which are essentially collections of people, behave with less charity toward the downtrodden than individuals do?