Was Jesus a Community Organizer for Obama?

In this segment is yet another example of someone asking a faulty question in a national debate. I'll illustrate the difference in two extensions of the host's question: 1. Is health care a moral obligation for individuals? 2. Is health care a moral obligation for the government of our republic? The answer to the first question is yes, if speaking in a general sense. There's only so much care we can personally provide, but we can do so and donate to good causes. The answer to the second is no. The rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are God-given, not government-given. We simply need to ensure that government doesn't get in the way of God-given rights.

Jesus always commanded individuals and not government to provide.

Dave, I didn't get to hear the end of the discussion on the radio, but to me, this is very simple, as I have been addressing this particular canard on my blog for a while now: As a Christian, I already give money through my church, which in turn, pools it with gifts from other congregants and then makes gifts according to the decisions made by my local church leaders. Understanding their roles as stewards of those funds, they carefully examine potential donees to insure that their practices also make sure as much of the money as is possible is actually used to help the people who need it, not those administering it. Being a small chain of hands that the money goes through, I can rest assured that there is both accountability to me for how my church spends it, and accountability to my church in how it is spent. I don’t get the benefit of accountability in how the government spends my money. There are numerous examples of how Congress members have stated on the record how they don’t believe my money belongs to me anyway. In addition, the Bible specifically states “Each man should give what he has in his heart decided to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7, NIV. Taxes are not a gift. And although the U.S. Treasury maintains that our tax payment is voluntary, you need only not pay for a few years and you will find that the government does indeed compel you to pay your taxes. How does government fund anything it does? By taxes. As a thinking person, I can recognize that government would not be able to perform the functions it is specifcally allowed to do by the Constitution, and I accept that as necessary, but under no current definitions of the words could my tax payments be considered to be a gift, made not reluctantly or under compulsion. Further, if you review our history, Christian communities within this country such as the Puritans and the Quakers did not advocate that all should pay to subsidize health care for those in their communities. I know that the left likes to preach that Christianity requires wealth redistribution to take care of not only those who cannot take care of themselves, but also those who will not. I am familiar with liberation theology. The only way that works is taxation. And the taxation necessary to pay for everything for everyone eventually comes at gunpoint. That is stealing, and the last I looked, God takes a fairly dim view of it. In fact, I believe his caution against it was a ‘landmark moment’. If your christianity is settled with the idea that you get to decide for me what ‘gift’ I make and the manner in which it is given is appropriate, then I suggest serious contemplation of this: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principals of the world, rather than Christ.” Colossians 2:8, NIV, followed by a rigorous re-reading of the entire book. Not to mention that the government is a terrible steward of our money, and we know what Jesus had to say about that in the Gospel of Luke. It is a poor argument that the left keeps trying, and one I would say is stillborn due to their own stunning ignorance of the subject matter that they think they have finally achieved a high ground on.

I'd like to take a gander. tt.

www.threesurethingsoflife.wordpress.com

So as a Christian I am suppose to support obamacare regardless of my objections to any part of the bill I strongly and morally disagree with. In spite of that it will provide for abortions or lead to rationing care or delayed care none of that matters we are just suppose to blindly accept it. I think I will just stick to choosing to donate to missions and charities on my own accord. Is that a hard concept for liberals to grasp?

I really can't stand Ed Shultz. If you listen to his show, he goes off about how "right of center" our government and media is, how he wishes there were zero republicans in congress and the progressives controlled everything, he preaches about partisanship and how we shouldn't even consult the conversatives on anything because the libs have the white house and control of both houses of congress. He is also really big on the separation of church and state, and supports the ACLU when they try to put people in jail for praying over their food at schools, etc. Pastors and religious leaders aren't supposed to tell their delegations how to vote. If they do, people like Ed sue them and try to take away their non-profit status. Some pastors put out a list on how they personally will vote, which is a round-about-way of telling their flock how to vote, but they can't do it directly, which is what Ed is asking them to do here. Jesus was asked about taxes once, and he asked for a coin and said, "who is on this coin?" and the reply was Caesar, so he said, give to caesar what is caesar's, but give the lord what is the lord's. Christians (and republicans) give to charity a LOT more than progressives and libs do. The left would rather tax the heck out of everybody and let the government take care of the homeless and the hungry etc. and not give any money to charity. Look at Obama, he gave like 1% of his income to charities. I make a lot less than he did/does and I still manage to give 15% of my income to my church and to missionairies and other charities. Ed shultz is a freaking moron to preach to us about getting involved. It would be against my beliefs to pay into a healthcare system that covers abortions, sex-change procedures, and other morally charged issues. If the plan doesn't cover these, the president could easily state that it doesn't in one of his daily speeches, but he won't. Many hospitals were founded by religious organizations, and the concept of emergency rooms treating everybody who comes in, regardless of their ability or intent to pay is deeply founded in the judeao-christian beliefs Ed was trying to play to here. It's also funny he brought up Rick Warren, since Warren hosted Obama & McCain for that debate, and Barack and Rick claim to be friends. Remember that debate, where Obama was given a chance to state his opinions on things like abortions and gave piece of garbage answers like his "above my paygrade" reply to abortion. Ed's trying have it both ways. Nice try, Ed.

If you look at US news and world reports Aug. 20 there is a report on the US conference of Catholic Bishops released a letter condemning the House healthcare plan. They are against it for the same reason why all good people of faith should be. They are trying to fund federal funding of abortion, as well as end of life choices.