True. But governments helping the poor IS biblical. There has to be balance. You don't bankrupt the country helping the poor. You don't help the poor by tearing down the rich. Nowhere does scripture call for equality of material possessions. But it does call for us to help the poor. Scripture doesn't call for us to do it wastefully or without incentives to work, or specify how much. And scripture specifically says the poor are always with you. We can't eliminate the poor. But both individuals and governments are called to help them.
Jer 22:15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest [thyself] in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, [and] then [it was] well with him? Jer 22:16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then [it was] well [with him: was] not this to know me? saith the LORD.
Pro 29:14 The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.
Dan 4:27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
Socialism is one extreme. No mercy to the poor is the other and is equally bad. "We the People" are rulers of this country. And we need to heed what the Lord told the kings of old, if we wish to continue to rule.
I agree with you. I used to be too extreme and did not believe in any kind of government assistance.
One day my Mother told me a true story. Back in the early 1900s my Uncle happened to notice a woman out in her yard cooking turnips in a large pot. She had six children.
It turned out her husband had died and left them penniless. That is all they had to eat, not even any bread. Back then there was very little welfare but there was a tiny bit. My Uncle drove them to the county seat and they applied for some kind of relief. The county paid them $20 a month, not a lot but it was enough for them to live on.
I also had a distant cousin who died of appendicitis. Her Father was crippled in a logging accident. Their relatives were not wealthy either but helped them enough that they got by OK. The problem was they had no money.
When she got sick, the local hospital would not take her because they were broke. Finally Baptist Hospital in Pensacola agreed to take her. Unfortunately she died on the way. She basically died from poverty.
It is NOT the role of government to relieve your own personal financial obligation to the poor.
When Barack Obama tells us it is required by Christ to support Obamacare, he is PUSHING his own false interpretation of scripture on people of ALL faiths which is CLEARLY unconstitutional. He cannot mandate that I tithe to his particular theological beliefs.