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Caring for poor is government’s responsibility, too

3/9/2011

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LETTER TO THE HOLLAND SENTINEL: Holland, MI — Recent letters on the Sentinel’s opinion page highlight the question of whether or not the government has a responsi­bility to address the needs of the poor.

Bill Freeman (Sentinel, Feb. 26) invokes Scripture to call for changes in Michigan’s tax code to reduce the burden on the poor. This proposal is objectionable to Alan Helvig (March 2), who declares that, according to Jesus, caring for the poor is strictly the responsibility of the church, not the government. Helvig’s position is both non-biblical and nonsensical.
Jesus and the prophets admonished religious authorities for their lack of con­cern for the poor, so clearly the church has a responsibility to attend to the needy. But in the Old Testament, the fate of the nation of Israel as a whole depend­ed on its faithfulness to God’s laws, including those regarding justice and charity for the poor. Also, Jesus’ purpose was to reconcile humanity to God and to initiate a spiritual transformation. The New Testament gives us no direct guid­ance on the functions of government.

Thus, Helvig’s claim is not grounded in the Bible.

I firmly believe that responsibility to the poor extends to everyone, including the government. Compassion, solidarity and justice are fundamental to the life of Jesus and hence to his followers. These values are cherished by most of our non-Christian brothers and sisters also. Since our government was established to be “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” we must insist that our govern­ment embody these core values.

We live in a society where many people are unemployed or underemployed, where many have difficulty gaining access to a good education, decent hous­ing and adequate health care. These problems are huge, and they are at least partially caused by or made worse by government policies.

Churches alone do not have the authority to correct structural problems, nor do they have the resources to ade­quately help all those in need. For exam­ple, a recent Bread for the World analysis concluded that the food provided by food banks and other private charities in our nation totals only about 6 percent of the food provided by federal food programs.

Jesus exhorted us to seek first the king­dom of God. What if we sought to apply kingdom values on the state and national levels? I believe that Jesus was giving us very important advice for attaining secu­rity, prosperity and peace in this life, not just the next.

Mary Johnson
Holland 
1 Comment
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10/5/2012 04:11:20 am

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    Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. By changing policies, programs and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist, we provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities where we live. Bread for the World is a 501(c)4 organization.  This site is set up by Holland Bread Team "Chief Communications Architect" Dominic Surya and is not an official Bread site. 
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