Exodus Chapter 23 Verse 9 : You shall not oppress an alien; you well know how it feels to be an alien, since you were once aliens yourself in the land of Egypt.
A verse the governor of Arizona seems to have forgotten and then there are verses Republicans seem to miss on providing for the poor.
Exodus Chapter 23 Verse 10: For six years you may sow your land and gather in its produce. 11. But the seventh year you shall let the land be untilled and harvested, that the poor among you may eat of it and may also eat what the poor leave. So shall you do in regard to your vineyard and your olive grove.
Ps. 140:12. I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor.
Deut. 15:7. If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.
Deut. 26:12. When you have finished paying the complete tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and the widow, that they may eat in your towns, and be satisfied.
Lev. 19:19ff. Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.
Deut. 15:7. If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.
Deut. 26:12. When you have finished paying the complete tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and the widow, that they may eat in your towns, and be satisfied.
Lev. 19:19ff. Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.
For the bankers stealing people's homes through Robo signing we have:
24 If thou lend money to any of My people, even to the poor with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a creditor; neither shall ye lay upon him interest. 25 If thou at all take thy neighbour’s garment to pledge, thou shalt restore it unto him by that the sun goeth down; 26 for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin; wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto Me, that I will hear; for I am gracious. Exodus 22:24-26.
These are words from the Bible so what do we get from Republican candidates?
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, asked in a nationally televised interview why most Jews are Democrats, invoked the idea of tikkun olam, the Jewish mandate to repair the world, which the Virginia Republican called “a very charitable concept.”
“There is the ability to characterize all the social programs that exist at the federal level as reflecting that need to repair the world, and to help those who can’t help themselves,” he told Lesley Stahl of CBS News’ “60 Minutes.”
Cantor, the only Jewish Republican in Congress, also said that his party, historically, “wasn’t really good at welcoming immigrants, wasn’t really good at saying, ‘Hey, we want to give you a helping hand,’” and that led many Jews to vote Democratic.
Stahl, in the interview broadcast Monday, asked what he thought of those who say that his policies conflict with Jewish ideals, such as helping those in need. “I care about the poor. I care about helping people who need the help,” Cantor said. ” As far as taxing the rich, I think we should make sure that everybody, middle class and the rest, hardworking taxpayers in this country, are able to keep as much of what they earn as they can because they, too, can help the poor” through charity.
In the last presidential election, 78% of the Jewish vote went to Democrat Barack Obama.
AS TO HEALTHCARE WHICH JOHN BOEHNER DECLARED TO BE ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORD:
From the Washington Post:
For statistical refutation, we need only refer to the CIA's World Factbook (no lefty think tank, to be sure) and check the health statistics. The United States is 49th in life expectancy. Our proud nation bests the Libyans in this category but not Japan, France, Spain, Britain or, of course, Italy. You not only live about two years longer in Italy, but you eat better, too.
The same doleful situation applies to infant mortality. This is the saddest of all categories since it relates to infants who don't make it to their first birthday. The CIA tells us that the nations that do the worst in this category are, not surprisingly, mostly in Africa. Then comes much of Asia and parts of South America, but when you start getting up there a bit, Cuba does better than the United States and so do Italy, Hungary, Greece, Canada, Portugal, Britain, Australia and Israel, among others. This should be an embarrassment to us all - but, clearly, it is not. To Boehner, these figures - infants dying before they can get a cupcake with a single candle - don't exist. Rather than improve the situation, he might want to cut the CIA's appropriation.
Looking elsewhere - think tanks, etc. - Boehner might come across a category that health-care expert and former Post reporter T.R. Reid labels "avoidable mortality." Among the richest nations, the United States is 19th of 19. America is awful at treating asthma, diabetes and kidney disease. If you have any of these, it's just your bad luck that you're not Japanese or French . . . or, really, anything other than American. The United States does do well with breast and prostate cancer, but these are represented by politically potent lobbies. See, we can do better when we want to.
Boehner's Panglossian sentiment is shared by Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader who has vowed to roll back the Obama health-care program. If McConnell thinks America has the best of all health systems, who can blame him? When in 2003 he underwent heart bypass surgery, it was at the Bethesda Naval Hospital. This is a government facility staffed by government employees - what is sometimes called socialized medicine. His heart did fine, but he left the hospital untreated for Rampant Endemic Hypocrisy, a communicable disease that has swept the GOP and left it vulnerable to irrationality. Michele Bachmann, who peddled the absurdity that President Obama's overseas trip was costing $200 million a day, stands in mortal peril of succumbing to it.
Almost 51 million Americans lack health insurance. They postpone treatment, seeking it at the last minute from emergency rooms - never a pleasant experience, never a cheap experience and often too late. Obama's health-care bill was meant to address this problem, among others. It was not a perfect bill and it may turn out to be the wrong way to go. But a difference in approach, even a difference in ideology, cannot change the need for reform. The United States spends upward of 17 percent of its gross domestic product on health care. European nations spend about 8 percent - and their citizens are actually healthier. Republicans oppose Obamacare. Fine. But where is their plan? Not the lauded status quo. As we can see, that's a terminal disease.
During the debates Republicans applauded Rick Perry for bragging about how many people he had executed. If Rick Perry had stood in for Pontius Pilot how much chance do you think Jesus would had and not only that Perry would probably not washed his hands afterwards and would have had a good night’s sleep.
With Ron Paul his stance that a man without insurance should simply have died and the audience applauded.
What do you think would have happened if Republicans had been involved in this case?
Luke 10:25-37
New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
They probably would not have wanted to get their suits messed up. Instead of refusing to levy and increase taxes to a fair level on the Job Creators they forget another statement from the Jesus they profess to love… Luke 18:25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
The bottom of this article gives you a web site that gives more examples of the Bibles verses on carrying for the poor which seems to have been missed by the vast majority of the Republican leaders and all of their candidates for President and instead complain about Obama’s religion.
And how does Franklin Graham son of Billy Graham rate the candidateds and the president ?
"I think so," Graham said when asked if he believes Santorum is a Christian. "His values are so clear on moral issues. No question about it... I think he's a man of faith."
MSNBC's panelists questioned the reverend's double standard, but Graham continued to draw distinctions between the candidates on the issue of faith. On Mitt Romney, Graham was again evasive, stating that "most Christians would not recognize Mormonism as part of the Christian faith."
But Graham was more willing to label Newt Gingrich's faith. "Newt's been married several times... but he could make a good candidate," Graham said. "I think Newt is a Christian. At least he told me he is."
Later in the segment, Graham also said he could not be sure that Obama was not a Muslim.
I have included links to several of the churches I have written about who are trying to help and I would like to conclude repeating the words from the sermon of Rabbi Suzanne Singer of Temple Beth El from a few weeks ago. Maybe Eric Cantor needs to consider this.
So what do all of these different forms of slavery have in common and what do they have to do with us? Well we are all part of a global economic system that maximizes profits for corporations and for the very wealthy few while leaving the rest of us, the 99%, to survive as best we can and fewer and fewer of us are surviving. We have been hearing and reading about the great disparities in wealth and that are growing by leaps and bounds in the last 30 years. Members of the middle class have been thrown into poverty unable to afford their homes, health insurance, and food. The term “working poor” has become a fairly common description of folks who just a few years ago were making ends meet and then some. According to the New York Times 1 in 3 or 100 million Americans are either poor or very close to it. Over 49 million Americans are below the poverty line which is $24,343 for a family of 4. Another 51 million are in the near poor category meaning they have incomes of less than $33,000 a year. According to the census bureau nearly half of those have dropped from higher income levels because of medical bills, taxes, and other unavoidable outlays.
At a time when millions of Americans are trying to hang onto their homes and their jobs corporate executives are often being paid more now than they were getting before the recession. The median pay for top executives at 200 major corporations was $9.6 million ($9,600,000) last year. That is a 12% increase from 2009. Profits at American businesses are increasing at a rate of nearly 30% which is the fastest growth in 60 years. Tax and economic policies are largely to blame for this gross disparity and for the fact that basic necessities such as health and child care, housing and education are increasingly out of reach for the poor and the near poor. For example capital gains on investments are only taxed at 15% and capital gain is the source of half of the income of the top .1% in our society. Additionally fund managers are paid a chunk of their incomes that is also taxed at 15%. The results according to economist Paul Krugman is that the middle class income has risen by 21% between 1979 and 2005 but the income of the richest 1% Americans has risen by 400%. Middle class 21% top 1% 400%. The result of the impoverishment of most Americans is a constant scramble to keep up with the bills in order to barely survive.
What does that mean for our children? The sight of poor nutrition, lousy housing conditions, limited opportunities for advancement and here is a shocking example from last week’s New York Times about how many of our children are living. Daycare centers are beginning to stay open around the clock because parents are now working two or three jobs in addition to working late hours and off hours. Today up to 40% of the labor force works more standard hours and that number is growing as the service industry expands. Though overnight daycare is still pretty rare evening hours are no longer unusual in daycare. According to the publisher of “exchange magazine” this is the wave of the future. In Ohio the number of centers offering night time hours was up more than 50% in the last decade. Centers with overnight hours have doubled. Here are some examples provided by the New York Times. On a recent day a grandmother dropped off a first grader at 4:30 am on the way to her early morning shift at burger king. A mother picked up her 3 year old at 11:30 pm after getting off work at a nursing home. Another mother came for two year old twins at 1:30 am after her shift as a cleaner in a gym. For some children the center’s staff members are almost surrogate parents feeding them dinner, helping them with homework, brushing their teeth and putting them to sleep at night until their parents come to fetch them. Is this the kind of society we want to leave to our children? I believe that one of the biggest problems is campaign financing.
It costs so much money to run a campaign these days that politicians are indebted to contributors with the deepest pockets. Those are corporations and the super wealthy. As a result there are those with money who set the agenda for the nation. The Talmud tells us anyone who can protest against something that is wrong that members of his family are doing and does not protest is seized on account of the wrong doing by members of his family. Anyone who is possible to protest against something that is wrong that the people of the city are doing and does not protest is seized on account of the wrong doing of the people of the city. For anyone for whom it is possible to protest against wrong doing in the whole world and does not protest is seized on account of the wrong doing of the whole world.
So it is not only our duty to protest what is going on in our country it is also in our self-interest because we are all vulnerable and we are leaving our children an appalling state of affairs. We are going to have to really think about what kind of society that we want to live in and what kind of society we want to bequeath to our children and our grandchildren. We cannot throw up hands and say that we are powerless to do anything. We need to support legislation and legislators who do the right thing to limit power in the money area who wants to limit the power that money has become in our political process. We need to speak up and organize and we need to put our own money where our mouth is. For example if you have investments in the stock market and your money is going to multi-nationals who exploit their workers or destroy our environment you can take your money out and put it in a socially responsible fund. That is what I am going to do. If you have an account with a bank that will not work with homeowners to modify their loans but would rather foreclose not only on homes but on the synagogue in Corona. You can take your money out of that bank and open an account with a community bank or a credit union. I’ve just sent a letter to Chase asking them to close my account and I also sent a letter to the CEO of JP Morgan Chase protesting that bank’s choice profits over commitment to our community. I would be happy to discuss all of this further with you later or you can e-mail me, call, or come to my office.
Churches and Synagogues are doing as much as they can supporting food banks and working together to asure there is as much housing facities as they can provide. They are trying to provide what God has mandated because it is the right thing to do.
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