Jennifer Marshall of The Heritage Foundation writes today in the Kansas City Star on America’s budget crisis and biblical mandates.
Those who appeal to the Bible in this debate have more than one moral mandate to heed. As a new network called Christians for a Sustainable Economy points out, the whole counsel of Scripture “urges not only compassion and provision for the poor but also the perils of debt and the importance of wise stewardship.
“On the moral measure of good stewardship, we fall far short. Each American born today inherits a debt of $200,000 because of runaway federal spending – and no house to go with it. It is immoral to pass on such levels of indebtedness to those who come after us.
We can and must find ways to serve the needs of the poor while ensuring the security of future generations.
“The Good Samaritan didn’t use a government credit card,” argues an ad countering Sojourners from the Values & Capitalism project of the American Enterprise Institute. “The question is not whether to care for the poor, but how?”
Regrettably, contends Christians for a Sustainable Economy, the well-intentioned efforts of some liberals give “a religious imprimatur for big government and sanctify federal welfare programs that are often ineffective-even counterproductive.”
In its own open letter to national leaders, CASE argues that, rather than protecting programs for the poor, we should “protect the poor themselves.”Good stewardship extends to the facts as well. Those who debate issues related to poverty and the economy have a responsibility to deploy data that illuminate rather than obfuscate the whole complex picture of our national budget challenges. More…
