Steve, I don't mean to diminish the significance of poverty and its effects, but I really have to ask how closely you read that article. Do you really believe that a woman and two children can polish off 12 lbs. of turkey, 2 lbs. of green beans, 2 lbs. of carrots, 5 lbs of potatoes, 4 lbs. of sweet potatoes, an undefined amount of cranberry sauce, stuffing and cornbread that would go with all that, an entire pumpkin pie and a whole POUND of butter at ONE SITTING? That's enough food to feed that family for at least a week! If that's the case, I'd say that spending 1/8 of the monthly budget for 1/4 of the monthly food is a pretty good bargain.

I used to live in an area of Charlotte where there were a lot of "low income families" who used to eat a lot better than my family. I would stand in line at the Bi-Lo grocery store and watch the people in front of me buy all sorts of tasty name brand foods with theie EBT cards (food stamps that look like a credit card) while I stood there with my generic staple foods paying out of pocket. This happened time and time again and disgusted me. To make matters worse, they often got into cars much nicer than mine.

I realize that there are plenty of good people out there need our help, but lets get rid of the "system" abusers before we start pumping more $$$ into an extremely flawed food stamp/welfare system.

BTW- That Thanksgiving dinner on the "Hunger Report" was much better than what my family had this year.

Rev. Mike,

Your point is well taken, and yet ... I grew up in a household of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids), and our Thanksgiving meal was pretty much all that you see on that menu from the Bread for the World site. Our family of 4 ate that in one meal -- with leftovers, of course, that would last for a few days. But regardless, many of us (of course, not all, but many) eat a large Thanksgiving meal that would essentially feed a low-income family for a week or a month.

I'm not advocating that we should accept press releases from humanitarian organizations uncritically, but it just makes me wonder when it seems we're so quick to try and find a reason to dismiss a basic reminder that we have so much more than the poorest among us. And that was my point in posting this, really. Just a reminder.

You're a conscious brother (as are most of the people who read my blog), so I'm probably preaching to the choir, but I thought it was worth posting anyway. Thanks for taking the time to "push back" a little bit. I do appreciate it. Iron sharpens iron and all that good stuff.

Shalom,
Steve K.

Hey Rich,

I feel you, bro. No doubt the system is flawed in many ways. But what is the solution? To just take money out of system? I honestly don't know enough about the issue to speak intelligently. I really don't. I'll need to read up more on it so I can have a really informed opinion.

Despite the food involved, I hope your Thanksgiving was indeed a Happy one.

Shalom,
Steve K.

Steve,

I found some of the thoughts here interesting. Its a worthy discussion. Those that are in favor of no longer throwing money at the system I am sure are in favor of no longer throwing money at large corporate subsidies as well...right? I mean...there are 'system abusers' there as well...not just at the bottom of society. Why don't we talk about the 'system abusers' at the top? You'd think by listening to these kinds of conversation only those on the 'bottom' abuse the system. Such a view only reveals the privileged position...no matter how hard one denounces it.

Actually, I'm all for getting rid of every way possible to "work the system."

Before there was a Welfare system run by the government, churches and synagogues did a lot more to help the poor. Now everyone just relies on the government to take care of us. Rich or poor that is definitely the WRONG way to think.

Churches aren't the only enities that need to "emerge." There are a lot of parallels between the current state of the Church and the current state of the government. But that's a story for another time...

Rich,

I definitely agree that gov't assistance can create a habit of dependency...whether rich or poor. But I don't think libertarian social ethics is the complete answer. I think poverty in our society is alot more complex than libertarianism and conservatism oftetimes assume.

In the early part of American history the church and other voluntary organizations did the charity thing among the poor...and to some extent do so to this very day. But a 'biblical' concern, I think, lies beyond charity and includes a vision of economic justice as well. Economics in regards the poor in the Bible extended beyond simple charity...it also included justice. Which brings me to another thought. I have read people like Marvin Olasky who wax nostalgic about how the church and other NGOs provided charity for the poor in a more golden age of American society...but he always fails to mention the age of the Robberbaron. While I am all for the church doing charity work we also have to recognize that poverty is also the result of unjust economic practices as well. We neglect this to our own peril...especially as Christians.

The problem is that the govenment does a lousy job of just about everything. I agree that there are a lot of problems that need to be addressed in society, but having the gov throw $$$ at the problems is not a good or even fair solution.

The Catch 22 here is that the Church has become much like the government. This world (& the KOG) need people like Anthony, Steve, Rev. Mike, myself, and others to reform the Church and pray the gov follows suit. We may not agree on a lot of things, but I think we agree that change needs to happen.

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

URL:
Remember me? YesNo

Comments: