March 17, 2013

Should the Government Accumulate Debt for the Poor?

Deuteronomy 15:11 states, For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

The Israelites were instructed by God to help the poor when they arrived to possess the Promised Land to serve as a reminder of God's gift of freedom after their enslavement in Egypt.

Some believe people that are poor brought it on themselves, and this belief makes it easy to close our hearts and hands towards them. Helping the poor demonstrates our faith in God and our country. Ignoring to care for the poor for any reason forfeits our humanitarian duty to care for our fellow citizens during their greatest time of need.

The battle between Congress and the President on strategies to serve the poor isn’t simply about the rising debt, but the different attitudes towards poverty. Not extending unemployment benefits or decreasing government entitlement programs may decrease the National debt, but it will not prevent the poor from sinking deeper into an oppressive state.

When the hearts of more American citizens become like God’s, we will give more without passing judgment or making excuses. If God can look beyond our faults to meet our needs, we should do the same.

The government shouldn’t accumulate debt to help the poor, but it should build a compassionate approach to handle it.

1 comment:

  1. The government has brought enough debt upon itself - So much that the US national economy is staggering under the debt burden. The national debt is around $17 trillion! I would say that makes us poor! Household debt is one of the major reasons for the pitiable condition of the National economy. Former president George W. Bush has been blamed again and again for the massive debts that he brought upon us. The two wars were unnecessary, and expenses on warfare have attributed to the financial ruin. Expenses have gone up, whereas the national revenue remains the same , and the government is borrowing the differences. The present president Obama owns all of it now, and is adding onto the burden.

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