Destined to become a ginge...

I agree. However - think about how small a proportion of what I pay in
tax (direct and indirect) goes to people who are in the poverty trap.

And the Bible says: "If a man will not work, then neither shall he
eat". Note the "will". Not "cannot" because then yes - they fully
qualify for all the support that they can be given - either to the end
of becoming a productive member of society again or (if that is not
possible) making sure they are are fed and sheltered.

Ah - the good old sheep and goats..

Well - lets look at the context:

Jesus has returned and all his people have been resurrected and
immortalised. He then gathers all nations before him and assigns reward
to them based on how they have treated *his* people - ie his followers.
It's a similar principle to the Promise to Abraham - "those who bless
you I will bless, those who curse you I will curse".

And how does one become one of Jesus' people? Well - the process is
clear and written down in Romans 5-6.

So to summarise - yes - Christians *are* commanded to look after the
sick and helpless. But first they are commanded to look after the
faithful and then the rest. And in doing so to not trumpet the fact
from the rooftops but instead to do it quietly.


Phil.

 

Well, yes. Compare and contrast with something like High Rise, where
he broke with tradition and wrote about middle class professionals who
become somehow detached from normal society, and are lured into a
lifestyle that allows them to obey their more primal urges.

How he comes up with these new ideas, I'll never know.

 

So shut up and pay your taxes.

 

Thought provoking. The second linking section where the sister is the
narrator through the letters covering the large span of years is
<waves hands around trying to convey the physical sensation> a
revelation. I'm glad I didn't see the TV adaptation as I imagine that
caught none of the broader issues.

 

Ben Blaney says...

Doesn't look as though you were too far off the mark. I rather
thought that he was suggesting that those on low incomes were
welcome to their tax breaks but that someone further up the chain
should be supporting some for him. From further posting it would
seem that "the welfare state is all very well but why do *I* have to
pay for it. And most of them don't even need it" seems to be the
attitude.

I'm (if I get the job I'm going for) just under the 40% and I don't
begrudge paying it. I should be in the 40% bracket fairly quickly
and I don't think I'll begrudge paying that either. I do think that
some of the money is wasted through unnessacary admin, but I don't
know enough about it to suggest a better way of doing it, so I'll
not get too worked up about it.

I'm a firm supporter of the welfare state, although I don't know
just how much longer it's going to be arround.

 

Why not? Those kids will be paying for my pension in 35 years.

heh. You don't troll me that easily, Gates, you swine.

 

Ben Blaney wrote

and you will be paying mine in 9 and three quarters.

Oh happy thoughts.

 

References?

Hint - the Matthew one that you posted earlier doesn't.

Phil

 

Which part of "I pay my taxes and don't try to gouge the taxman" did
you not understand?

Just because I pay them does not negate my ability to disapprove of the
uses that the Government puts them to.

Oh - and you haven't commented on my assertion that very little of my
tax money gets spent on helping the poor. I take it that that means you
agree.

Phil

 

Think again.

Think again. And then read what I wrote.

Think again.

Ah-ha! So you must obviously be a little Englander! Damn your eyes!

Where have I ever suggested that the welfare state is a bad thing? *If*
you bothered to read what I said I was bemoaning the fact that I (and
others in a similar situation) are the ones that the politicians always
land on when they need a bit of extra tax revenue to buy the next
election.

Which I notice you haven't commented on.

Phil

 

Be interesting to see if that's true.

 

Are they a bit thick?

 

Unnecessary admin keeps people off the dole. Discuss.

 

For someone who's so keen on detail...

....factual error, and rather petulant complaint, rather detracts from
the weight of your argument.

 

I don't care what *your* tax money is spent on.

 

Christian in "Jesus wasn't a philanthropist" claim shocker.

 

Ben Blaney says...

#Jesus was a black man

 

ogden wrote:
[JG Ballard]

certainly he has a recurring theme. Some alternatives, mind:

The Atrocity Exhibition
Empire of the Sun
Crash
The Drowned World
The Kindness of Women
The Concrete Island

none of the above are "middle class professionals who etc." books.

 

Halla says...

9 months before they themselves were born would have been a good idea.