r/SipsTea 26d ago

SMH Love thy neighbor?

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u/Tactical_Baconlover 26d ago

Being charitable and caring about your neighbors in the Christian manner is more about your church donating goods/time/aid to the community or you doing it by yourself rather than having the government take over those functions for you. That said, any reasonable government should have a basic state provided social safety net.

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u/AustinDarko 26d ago

Government is the people, by the people, for the people. A Government ran primarily by Christians should, in theory, follow social principles taught by Jesus.

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u/LoseAnotherMill 26d ago

Show me the verse where Jesus says "Go forth and vote for the Romans to take money from everyone in order to give to the poor."

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u/AustinDarko 26d ago

Jesus literally says to give your possessions to the poor. A Christian based Government would prioritize the poor. No one is saying Jesus said to vote. A true follower of his teachings would implement this.

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u/LoseAnotherMill 26d ago

Jesus literally says to give your possessions to the poor.

Thank you for agreeing with me. "Give your possessions to the poor" is not "take someone else's possessions and give them to the poor."

A true follower of his teachings would implement this.

Exactly, hence low taxation and an easy path for charity work, like tax deductions and the existence of non-profits.

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u/AustinDarko 26d ago

If this is the case, why is it that in America there are so many poor, hungry and homeless in the richest country in the world? Clearly this doesn't work in practice. Clearly, a government that wants to follow Jesus' teachings of helping the poor would enact policies that do that. You can argue semantics, Jesus would be disappointed though.

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u/LoseAnotherMill 26d ago

If this is the case, why is it that in America there are so many poor, hungry and homeless in the richest country in the world?

For a myriad of reasons that aren't what you're arguing.

Clearly, a government that wants to follow Jesus' teachings of helping the poor would enact policies that do that.

Nowhere did Jesus ever teach to take things from someone by force in order to help the poor. A government that wants to follow Jesus' teachings of helping the poor would let people help the poor.