BUT I view the "accomplishments" of churches and religion in general in "taking care of" people in the same vein I view all the "please help" commercials on TV, from hospitals begging for cancer research money to those dig-at-the-heart ASPCA commercials. Maybe I'm over sensitive in issues of the heart, and so they make a huge impact on me. I supported ASPCA while I was working at bringing in money. Even shortly after retirement, I continued to "pay it forward" at the grocery store or the doctor's office when and where I could. Today's news makes me wonder how I continue to live in this world. It is not what I envisioned or worked for all my life, including my military service.
The real question no one is asking (that I see) is WHY in one of the richest countries of the world are these entities put into the situation of begging for our private support? This is "general welfare" stuff of the constitution... things the government should be using our tax money for. We should be supporting people (and animals) with our tax dollars. These institutions should not have to begging for money from those of us who have little to nothing. Yet, that's where we're at.
If churches want to do this and NOT demand that their faith be presented and pushed on the people hurting for help, then go for it if that's part of their faith outreach. I don't disagree with that. I DO disagree when those churches then decide how, why, and to whom to offer the help. Churches demanded (long before government) that hospitals not perform abortions, for example. Food lines operated by churches have sermons while dinner is served. No problem with separation of church and state there, right? And yet we're all subjected to it in various ways everyday.
Our tax dollars are going to pay "representatives" who do not represent us; they represent the oligarchs and the churches who demand power over us. They pay for military ventures with which we do not agree. And all we can do is vote? I'm in a dead red state. My vote has never counted for anything. I've been gerrymandered twice since moving to this city 3 years ago. And yet, I still vote because it seems that's the most I can do.
It's about time for something huge, shocking, and dangerous from our side to push the narrative that these are not normal times. Buddhist monks set themselves aflame in situations like this. We go shopping. Damn, something is definitely wrong with this. Have we lost all heart, all soul, in this country?
Helping people is not the main purview of private individuals. It SHOULD be the main purview of the government. And yet, a good portion of our government believes the exact opposite, as do at least 30% of the Americans living in this country. I fear, I've lived too long. I'm not experiencing nostalgia nor do I want to experience it; I just long for the days when people had souls and cruelty wasn't the point.
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