Apparently, it's Really Easier for a Poor Man to Pass Through the Eye of the Needle than to Enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Friday, July 29 2011

Apparently, it’s Really Easier for a Poor Man to Pass Through the Eye of the Needle than to Enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

This is a really nice summation of what’s so wrong with Rick Warren’s latest “the poor are poor because it’s their own fault” tweet (or, as Fox News calls it, “Pastor Rick Warren Shoots Down Obama’s Class Warfare”). Warren deleted the Tweet, because, he explained, it “sounded mean.”

But that’s not what’s wrong with it. This is:

Pastor Warren ignores a salient question that ought to be of major concern to the Church in America today. Namely, what does it say about our society when nearly half of all American’s do not earn enough to pay federal income tax? Shouldn’t this fact spark a discussion about social justice and income inequality in America today? About why so many of us are just getting by, living paycheck to paycheck? About why so many American’s don’t earn enough to feed, clothe, and house their families? And about the proper role of government, if any, in addressing these concerns? Sadly, the factually-challenged ideology that Pastor Warren echoes here is also one that begrudges government spending that benefits the poor, the elderly, and other vulnerable populations in our society.

Lurking behind this worldview is a tendency to see the poor as somehow responsible for their misfortunes, as shirkers, as lazy, as leeches. They are an impediment to producers and winners like Pastor Warren.

Later:

Of course, the worldview exemplified by Pastor Warren’s tweet bears little resemblance to the preaching of Jesus Christ as reflected in the New Testament. It is instead the product of a skewed theology emphasizing personal righteousness at the expense of the common good and concerns about justice. This is problematic, because justice is the beating heart of Christianity. Without it, the focus on personal righteousness quickly becomes conceit — a conceit that we are somehow special, or set apart in God’s eyes. A conceit that, in some way, we are better then our less fortunate brothers and sisters. A conceit that our own financial, professional, or economic success is attributable to God’s favor. The result of all this, from a public policy standpoint, is an emphasis on selfishness and a lack of concern for government’s roll in advancing the common good.