Re: Stephen Colbert Quote
By: thinktank to All on Sun Jan 02 2011 06:16 pm
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, eithe we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy withou condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it."
~ I am on twitter: @thinktank79 on Twitter ~
First off, I have to say that that is a great quote. I don't know how the rest of the country is, but around here we have a coalition of churchs that receive tons of donations, so that those of us who are poor (such as I) get what we need when we need it the most.
I'm curious about the context around the quote, however. I don't believe that the wealthy should be overly taxed to give to the poor. For instance, I could probably take advantage of several more programs to get a decent house, a few more hundred dollars a month in cash assistance, maybe even medicaid. But, I make myself struggle along in the slum that we're in, only taking a monthly food benefit, child support, and a small stipend from my family to pay for the rent and electricity until I get a job. I have yet to even call upon a church for more than a few winter clothes.
I've met many people who seem to believe just because they aren't working, they should get unemployment, housing, and medicaid. And some of those didn't even have kids. When I didn't have the kids with me, I slept out of my car (then a tent) for a few months before I bought this place. I survived on maybe twenty dollars a week for food, twenty for gas, bought my cigs, and most of the rest went towards bettering myself. Unfortunately, life crapped on me, and I'm barely hanging on again, but the next upswing should take me a lil higher and hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from there.
Too many people these days want things handed to them. They don't know what it's really like to be poor. Heck, even my worst wasn't that bad. I've still always had a roof over my head (be it a car roof, or tent roof, or leaky roof) and food in my stomach (at least once a day). I've had friends or family to crash with when the weather was too bad, and when I needed a hot shower. Heck, WalMart now has solar showers for under $10.
Anyways, long story short, I think this country is doing a fantastic job helping each other out. I think we sometimes forget; but when things get bad, those who can spare usually do. My biggest fear is that when I finally do get into a steady life, most of my hardest earned cash will end up getting taken from me, and 80% of that eaten up in burocracy before the final 20% gets put to use. I say most, because aside from income tax, there's the sales and property and so on. I prefer to have choice about what I can spare.
end rant. :)
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