THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 3, 1996 TAG: 9602020034
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Issues of Faith
SOURCE: Betsy Wright
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
LAST WEEK'S Issue of Faith: How can people of faith help the poor? Also, how does one's faith influence which public policies regarding the poor one supports.
This week's Reader Responses:
From Mary E. Heilig, no residence given: ``You wanted a brief answer to your column of January 27: You are sick!!''
From Tommy Steel of Virginia Beach: ``Read Acts 6:1-4 . . . (We should) pick seven men of honest report, (who are) full of the Holy Ghost and (have) wisdom, who we may appoint over this business. That system worked then and it will work now if we put honest men and women (into office) to oversee the operations that are in place today to look after the poor in our com-munity.''
From Kathleen Self of Norfolk: ``You seem to have this typical liberal approach to Christianity by continually asking, `What would Jesus do?' and then selecting a few Bible passages to paint your picture of the non-judgmental Jesus. . . . Throughout the Bible, the value of work is taught and laziness condemned. Jesus upheld the commandment `Thou shalt not steal.' Not to work when you are able is actually a form of stealing. Likewise, loafing at your job is a way of cheating your employer of the labor he/she is entitled to. Work is a duty, but it can also be redemptive.
``Of course we should help the poor, but we must be careful not to provide a free ride or condone what St. Paul called idlers, not to mention those who `shack up' (fornicators), and all of the other fallen behaviors we are asked to shun throughout the Old and New Testaments.
``Yes, liberals say Jesus walked among the fallen, he didn't shun them, but Jesus certainly wasn't advocating hanging out with these people. . . . Jesus requested that people discontinue lifestyles that broke the commandments.''
From Pat Stultz of Norfolk: ``My faith stirs me to challenge our government to define worth as it applies to all our people of the United States. . . . We must promote the general welfare. . . . (We must) recognize as of equal value the poor and the affluent. As people of faith, our trust in God's help should enable us to lovingly and wisely assist or direct those in need. I hear many in my government talking the talk of remedy for the poor. I hope my government will walk the walk of God's direction, remembering that `the greatest of these is charity.' For if we will not help the poor and love the poor as part of us, then where is our faith?''
From Kip Gardner of Norfolk: ``I believe that Scripture supports the idea that a people, through its government, as well as individually, should demonstrate compassion and support for the poor. The Old Testament laws regarding forgiveness of debt every seven years, and return of property in Jubilee years, were clearly attempts to make the lives of the poor of Israel less burdensome, and to minimize the concentration of wealth. As for the New Testament . . . it is a tenet of Christianity that `the hope of the poor should not be taken away.'
``In this context, I think it is essential that government be involved in easing the burdens of the poor in a significant way, and that this is in line with a Judeo-Christian understanding of individual and governmental responsibilities. Unfortunately, I think far too many Christians . . . currently practice what I call `free-market prosperity Christianity.' Its primary tenets seem to be that if one leads a `proper' life, you will be materially rewarded, and if one is poor, then you must in some way be behaving immorally and deserve the punishment of poverty unless you shape up. . . . This is demonstrated by their advocacy of the flat tax, corporate downsizing, support for breaking strikes by firing workers and a refusal to consider an increase in the minimum wage so that the poor can have jobs that would support their families. As far as I'm concerned, none of these policies has anything to do with Christ's admonition to `feed my sheep' and everything to do with Pharasiac greed that is profoundly un-Christian.''
From Portsmouth Christian Church's interim pastor, the Rev. Richard Laslo of Virginia Beach: ``If I am to believe what I've read in the papers about the efficiency of the current welfare system, that only 27 cents of every dollar goes to the recipient, then give the money to the Salvation Army (of which 97 cents goes to the poor) or to Week of Compassion, supported by several faiths (96 cents) or to the Bishop's Fund of the Catholic Church (94 cents). . . . I think we could probably give the money to these groups and know that they are adding about 65 cents of value to our tax dollars. . . . Private industry - being the church - can handle this, because the church is concerned with the whole person.''
From David H. Smiley of Virginia Beach: ``The fact that bureaucratic government force (state, as well as federal) is a wasteful way to help the poor does not mean that `welfare as we know it' can be successfully dismantled. Until Christians take up their calling to preach the Gospel to the poor, materially and spiritually, such a default will only intensify social strife. In the meantime, Christians should support policies that minimize character erosion and reward initiative and responsibility.'' by CNB