mystictrek Posted November 7, 2005 Posted November 7, 2005 + FaithfulAmerica ( http://www.faithfulamerica.org/ ), a progressive faith political action organization, is campaigning to prevent Congress from reducing benefits for the poor. Here is an excerpt from the home page: America's Poor are Under Siege - Help Stop an Immoral Budget A $50 BILLION hole is about to be blown in our national safety net for the poor, including: • $9.5 billion in Medicaid – CUT. It's a direct hit to those needing health care – including children • $5 Billion in Child Support Enforcement – GONE. Without it, deadbeat parents are off the hook again, plunging hundreds of thousands of children back into poverty. • $844 Million in food stamps – ELIMINATED. Do we even need to explain the implications here? The list goes on. It is about to happen at the U.S. Capitol, where Congress has proposed perhaps the cruelest, most immoral budget ever to reach the floor. Its rationale: to help pay for Katrina recovery. Yes, Katrina recovery will be expensive, but do we really believe punishing the poorest among us is the best answer? If this budget is passed, Katrina victims will the the FIRST to feel its sting. It makes no sense. Adding insult to injury, the proposed budget also contain massive tax BREAKS for big corporations and the ultra-wealthy few. This budget must not stand. On Thursday morning, FaithfulAmerica joined a gathering of national religious leaders at the U.S. Capitol to call on Congress to reject the proposed budget cuts in the federal budget. The reason: the proposed cuts literally take from the POOR and give to the RICH. Cruel and immoral as it sounds, this is exactly what is going down in Washington. You can help stop it. Quote
MOW Posted November 9, 2005 Posted November 9, 2005 (edited) Hi Mystictrek I thought I would make some observations. On some websites this phenomenon is called Neo-Christianity, in which the Beatitutes are essentially reversed i.e. blessed are the rich, the powerful shall inherit the earth, blessed are the warmakers etc. In this view being poor is a sign of sin and wealth is an indication of virtue. Some people have wondered how these people can consider themselves "christian". They don't believe "the meek shall inherit the earth " anymore than they believe in the tooth fairy. IMO their interest is not so much in Jesus' words, but in the image he provides of power, inevitable triumph , and world domination. I've mentioned in other posts that I am a choir director. This year I decided to do a Christmas cantata . I looked at two that I thought my small choir could perform and do well. One by a mainstream music publisher ,and the other by a more conservative one. The interesting thing was that both publications had a musical setting of the Magnificat ( my soul magnifies the Lord) of Mary. In the cantata from the more conservative publisher, the part where Mary says" He's has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly , He's filled the hungry with good things and the rich he's sent empty away " (Luke 1: 52-54 NRSV) was simply left out. The composer just kept looping back to beginning of the speech " My soul magnifies the Lord ". Needless to say I chose the other one. MOW Edited November 9, 2005 by MOW Quote
mystictrek Posted November 10, 2005 Author Posted November 10, 2005 Hi Mystictrek I thought I would make some observations. On some websites this phenomenon is called Neo-Christianity, in which the Beatitutes are essentially reversed i.e. blessed are the rich, the powerful shall inherit the earth, blessed are the warmakers etc. In this view being poor is a sign of sin and wealth is an indication of virtue. Some people have wondered how these people can consider themselves "christian". They don't believe "the meek shall inherit the earth " anymore than they believe in the tooth fairy. IMO their interest is not so much in Jesus' words, but in the image he provides of power, inevitable triumph , and world domination. I've mentioned in other posts that I am a choir director. This year I decided to do a Christmas cantata . I looked at two that I thought my small choir could perform and do well. One by a mainstream music publisher ,and the other by a more conservative one. The interesting thing was that both publications had a musical setting of the Magnificat ( my soul magnifies the Lord) of Mary. In the cantata from the more conservative publisher, the part where Mary says" He's has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly , He's filled the hungry with good things and the rich he's sent empty away " (Luke 1: 52-54 NRSV) was simply left out. The composer just kept looping back to beginning of the speech " My soul magnifies the Lord ". Needless to say I chose the other one. MOW <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Great post, MOW. I hadn't heard of Neo-Christianity although I did hear of those ideas. I think Pat Boone said that a good Christian becomes a millionaire or something like that. Quote
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