Isaiah 58:6-7 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,to set the oppressed freeand break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungryand to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them,and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Compassion, helping the poor, evening the playing field- these are things God calls us to do, especially in the Old Testament prophets.
So why do the same "conservatives" who talk about "Christian heritage" & "family values" so opposed to helping the oppressed, so xenophobic, & seemingly so protective of a system that redistributes so much wealth to the most wealthy 2%?
Perhaps one of the fundamental differences between the right & the left is that progressives recognize that in a participatory representative democracy "We the people" ultimately ARE the government and therefore why not use government as a tool to live out our Biblical values?
While the right wing is afraid of the government allowing gay marriage, abortion, teaching evolution or reversing global climate change- liberals want to use the collective resources of government to break the yokes of oppression, share bread with the hungry, provide housing to the homeless, clothing to the poor, & take care of orphans, widows, & aliens.
Seems to me that one view is negative, reactive, fearful and protective of self interest. Whereas the other view is positive, proactive, motivated by love and altruism.
Food for thought for moderates & conservatives and preemptive justification for my fellow liberals for the next time someone claims that you can't really be Christians if you're not a Tea Party conservative.
