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Originally Posted by Old-T
Neither party is consistent with the gospels. ...... But the democrats are a lot closer to the words Jesus speaks about how to treat the poor and oppressed.
That's exactly what makes it so very difficult for many true christians to feel comfortable supporting either party. Each party has selective memory about what Jesus said, and what parts they want to follow.
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i take issue with your statement regarding democrats being closer to the words of Jesus concerning the treatment of the poor and oppressed.
it is a great misreading and reveals a lack of critical thinking to ascribe to Jesus anything other than some passing semblance to the ideas espoused by democrats toward the poor and oppressed.. Any comparison of Jesus' words to actions of democrats would yield vast disparities.
The most revealing portion of the gospels in this regard is the Sermon on the Mount, a series of preachings and teachings of Jesus regarding the duties of individuals to their fellow humans and to God.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus talks to individuals about individual duty and how they, personally, should react to others for the kingdom of God.
Certainly there is lip service to the poor in which democrats excell but is there proof anywhere that democrats as a party see a personal duty to donate or help or feel any personal responsibility at all in any greater proportion than do republicans as a whole? I think not.
In fact, it has been demonstrated time and again, both in studies and in anecdotal stories, that conservatives are much more charitably minded than liberals.
the democrat mission is grounded, ultimately, in obtaining but i will leave that aside.
as to how best to aid governmentally the poor, certainly the last 40 some odd years of democrat control and the use of their ideas has demonstrated the worthlessness of many such ideas, in terms of the family structure, the work ethic, children born without a father, rising out of poverty, making people independent and resourceful, etc...of course ascribing evilness to their ideas isnt correct, but the outcome has been destructive, both in terms of the individual and in terms of government. democrats, however, do ascribe evilness to conservative ideas all the time on how the poor are best helped. both sides do have ideas concerning poor, and i think that perhaps some ideas out of the best of each are useful but a little more prodding and a lot less sugar is needed at this juncture.