Friday, June 19, 2009

Politics - Random Thoughts

Welfare

I am amazed at how people sit in judgement of those who take part in government programs.

I hear people say "God helps those who help themselves" (not Biblical) all the time. I have a hard time thinking this is a Christian way of thinking.

Side note: "God helps those who help themselves" is probably the most often quoted phrase that is not found in the Bible. This is actually a quote from Ben Franklin and it appeared in Poor Richard's Almanac in 1757. In fact the Bible teaches the opposite. God helps the helpless! Isaiah 25:4 declares, "For You have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat..." Romans 5:6 tells us, "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." (http://www.gotquestions.org/God-help-themselves.html)

When I was a young mom, I had to receive welfare. I took Medicade so that my son could have health care. And that health care sucked. It was bad. We never saw the same Dr. I was treated with disdain. I also took part in WIC in order to get basic staples for us to live on. I was made fun of in a grocery store line by an employee. It was humiliating. It didn't have to be. It could have been a way for God to provide and it was. I wish I could have seen it that way.

So to say the least my heart goes out to people who have to swallow their pride, sit all day in the welfare office and hope it is enough. That is the face of welfare. Not those who skirt the system. Those people are rare. There are rich people who defraud insurance companies. There are bad people out there and they are the exception not the rule.

Jesus said "Whatever you do unto the least of these, you do unto me."

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