‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

Timothy Eagan of The New York Times sums up, for me anyway, the heart of darkness that is the basis of conservatism in this country.  

It is interesting to note that the Catholic Church's new pope is morally, entirely NOT in step with how these conservatives view the poor and needy.  As we go forward in the coming year, it will be instructive to see how the pompous Princes of The Church and their conservative political supporters will reconcile the message from Christ's Vicar on Earth with their own morally bankrupt policies on treating poor and needy Americans.




Eagan:

As the year ends, this argument is playing out in two of the most meanspirited actions left on the table by the least-productive Congress in modern history. The House, refuge of the shrunken-heart caucus, has passed a measure to eliminate food aid for four million Americans, starting next year. Many who would remain on the old food stamp program may have to pass a drug test to get their groceries. At the same time, Congress has let unemployment benefits expire for 1.3 million people, beginning just a few days after Christmas. 

These actions have nothing to do with bringing federal spending into line, and everything to do with a view that poor people are morally inferior. 

Here’s a sample of this line of thought: 'The explosion of food stamps in this country is not just a fiscal issue for me,' said Representative Steve Southerland, Republican from Florida, chief crusader for cutting assistance to the poor. 

'This is a defining moral issue of our time.' It would be a 'disservice' to further extend unemployment assistance to those who’ve been out of work for some time, said Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky. It encourages them to sit at home and do nothing. 

 'People who are perfectly capable of working are buying things like beer,' said Senator James Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma, on those getting food assistance in his state. 

No doubt, poor people drink beer, watch too much television and have bad morals. But so do rich people. If you drug-tested members of Congress as a condition of their getting federal paychecks, you would have most likely caught Representative Trey Radel, Republican of Florida, who recently pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine. Would it be Grinch-like of me to point out that this same congressman voted for the bill that would force many hungry people to pee in a cup and pass a drug test before getting food? 

Should I also mention that the median net worth for new members of the current Congress is exactly $1 million more than that of the typical American household — and that that may influence their view? 

 For the record, the baseline benefit for those getting help under the old food stamp program works out to $1.40 a meal. And the average check for those on emergency unemployment is $300 a week. If you cut them off cold, the argument goes, these desperate folks would soon find a job and put real food on the table. They are poor because they are weak."

These are the same folks who proclaim America is a "Christian" nation and then pass laws that punish the very people Christ ministered to in the N.T. and  to whom Pope Francis urged all nations to give succor.

Talk is cheap, so the saying goes, and so are those politicians and their supporters who strut and fret their hours upon the stage, mouthing platitudes about the poor while taking away what little crumbs they've been given.

It's a phony Christianity those politicians and their supporters cling to.  Christ never abandoned the poor nor did he ever preach that their lives be made more miserable and the rich more comfortable.


The spirit of the season?  Yeah.  Right.