Reading the LaPlante lament :
"One member of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. House called proposed reforms to Social Security and other entitlements as "'heartless and un-Christian'"
Let's take a deeper look at John's protest.
When we do, we see that LaPlante follows up that complaint against the Democratic defender of Social Security with his cute qualifier:
"To quote a reader of National Review Online, ' I'M STILL TRYING TO FIND THE PASSAGE WHERE JESUS TELLS HIS FOLLOWERS TO TAKE AS MUCH AS THEY CAN FROM OTHERS, SO THAT THEY CAN HAVE MORE TO GIVE TO THE POOR'"In using this quote LaPlante opens the door to the New Testament passage concerning Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler. The National Review Maven cited by LaPlante uses hyperbole, as is common to his genre, and seeks to make an extreme interpretation into a truth by qualifying his recollection (or non-recollection) of the intent expressed by Christ in his ministry.
In this New Testiment account a rich young man asked specifically what God expected of him in light of his previous moral life and his accumulated riches, this is what occurred and what Jesus required:
Matthew 19:16-24:
"16 Then someone came to him and said, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" 17 And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." 18 He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19 Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 20 The young man said to him, "I have kept all these; what do I still lack?" 21 JESUS SAID TO HIM, "IF YOU WISH TO BE PERFECT, GO, SELL YOUR POSSESSIONS, AND GIVE THE MONEY TO THE POOR, AND YOU WILL HAVE TREASURE IN HEAVEN; THEN COME, FOLLOW ME." 22 When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."There is the direct answer: Jesus required the young enquirer to give up wealth to achieve eternal life. LaPant's National Review Maven wants to frame the story thus: Did Christ ever tell his followers to "take as much as they can from others?" The Maven may or may not know his Bible.
Jesus set a test. If you want to have "eternal life" rich young person (whom Christ knew had many possessions) then you must sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor.
If the National Review Maven is going to hide behind his exaggerated assertion and miss the true impact of this scriptural account, then the Maven should not make a statement such as this one, where he made an attempt to postulate that Jesus had nothing applicable to say about wealth and poverty, thus coyly feeling himself of all obligations to such as in the lawful benevolence of the American Social Covenant with its citizens to operate and protect poor and others of retirement age via a system of contributions and taxation that require only a small fraction of what Christ demanded of the Rich Young Ruler.
LaPlant may want to refresh and edify himself as to the core of the American Creed by going to: Jim Wallis, "Praying for Peace and Looking for Jesus at #OccupyWallStreet."
And as a chaser John should perhaps contemplate the message of The Rev. J. Carl Gregg, of Broadview Church; Chesapeake Beach, Maryland:
"It is often said that the best way to preach a sermon is with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other hand. This past week, I found myself unable to read these hard sayings from Jesus without thinking about the Occupy Wall Street protests that are cropping up across our nation. As I have read and listened to various commentators and pundits in regard to the protests, two quotes, in particular, have stood out to me. Together these quotes serve as both an interesting juxtaposition and as commentary on one another.
"The first quote is from John Kenneth Galbraith, a well-known economist who died a few years ago. He says that we humans too often 'search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.' This quote is perhaps particularly relevant given the resurgence of interest of late in Ayn Rand's philosophy of selfishness among some prominent politicians. The most bizarre aspect from my perspective is that many of these Ayn Rand-toting politicians are regular church attenders who experience no cognitive dissonance between their politics of selfishness and the way of Jesus.
"The second quote is more ironic, as one would expect from comedic satirist Stephen Colbert, who quips, 'IF THIS IS GOING TO BE A CHRISTIAN NATION THAT DOESN'T HELP THE POOR, EITHER WE HAVE TO PRETEND THAT JESUS WAS JUST AS SELFISH AS WE ARE, OR WE'VE GOT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE COMMANDED US TO LOVE THE POOR AND SERVE THE NEEDY WITHOUT CONDITION AND THEN ADMIT THAT WE JUST DON'T WANT TO DO IT.'
"Although evolutionary biologists and neuroscientists are increasingly finding genetic and evolutionary impulses toward compassion, it is also true that selfishness is, in a sense, "natural" and part of our evolutionary inheritance. We are all born as egocentric infants, but in the face of evolutionary impulses to protect ourselves and those who share the largest number of genes, the way of Jesus calls us to expand our love of selfbeyond merely our immediate tribe to include the love of God and all our neighbors. Indeed, Jesus teaches that The Second Greatest Commandment is to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18 / Matthew 22:39-40 and parallels)."
(emphasis added)Source: Rev Carl Gregg in his sermon “Jesus, #OccupyWallSt, and the Rich Young Ruler” October 2, 2011.
Original.
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