Giving Unto the Poor

THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, (SNAP), is the formal name for "food stamps". Never an unclever acronym. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, not surprisingly, are attempting to cut the roughly eighty billion dollar program by about three per cent.

Approximately one out of three americans relies on food stamps. Under the current system, its fairly easy to apply for and receive nutrition assistance; the republicans, not suprisingly, want to make it more difficult.

Democrat representative McGovern tried to give the repubs a little of their own medicine by quoting the bible: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you watered me", or something of that nature, and got nowhere.

Helping people must be done on an individual basis, responded some typical conservative tightwad. We must not coerece anyone into generosity, regardless of what the bible says, and the government must not be involved.No biblical passage was cited to support this.

Conservatives never want the government to render assistance to people in ndeed. That should be left to provate charity, and should be voluntary. Yet Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar". Or "go thy way, and sell whatsoever thous hast, and give unto the poor."

Seems like that could be accomplished privately, or publicly, and that it really shouldn't matter which, as long as it gets done. Making it mandatory gets 'er done. Would jesus have rendered unto caesar for the purpose of purchasing weapons of war, or for giving unto the poor?