Christians And Poverty

It bugs me when papers like WaPo position Jim Wallice of the liberal Christiran Sojourners group on equal footing with Jim Dobson of Focus on the Family. It's become a familiar "he said/she said" formula whenever the press wants to cover Christianity -- which usually means lauding liberal Christianity and dressing down conservative Christianity.

WaPo's done it again today in A Religious Protest Largely from the Left, which asks why Focus on the Family and other conservative groups are more concerned about international relief issues than US budget cuts that WaPo is quick to assume hurt poor people here ... and just as quick to posit that conservative Christians don't care.

Wallice represents the edge of a minority. Conservative Christianity has grown by leaps and bounds over the last couple decades, as the liberal church has become less relevant and less populated. And yet there's Wallice, on the left edge of the shrinking liberal church, placed in the same relevance as a representative of Christian thougth as Dobson, who leads an organization of multi-millions and reflects the views of multi-multi-millions more.

The media love Wallice because he says things like:

Such conservative religious leaders "have agreed to support cutting food stamps for poor people if Republicans support them on judicial nominees," he said. "They are trading the lives of poor people for their agenda. They're being, and this is the worst insult, unbiblical."

What a pipe dream of hate! Conservative churches show compassion in their home communities at levels that would stun the MSM, if only they'd research it. Their embracing of Bush's faith-based charity initiatives proves this.

They don't have much use for welfare, as it is unbiblical -- a point Wallice conveniently avoids. Yes, we are to take care of our neighbors through charitable gifts when necessary, but work is the method we are to favor, teach and promote, not systems that encourage sloth and break down families.

The article is laughable when it leads with:

When hundreds of religious activists try to get arrested today to protest cutting programs for the poor, prominent conservatives such as James Dobson, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell will not be among them.

That is a great relief to Republican leaders, who have dismissed the burgeoning protests as the work of liberals.

There was never a chance Dobson would march with Wallice; there was never a chance that conservative Christians would protest budget cuts by marching, and the GOP knows it. Our efforts to promote charity find other playing grounds than Congressional debates over the size of the welfare budget.

There's much more I'd like to say on this piece, but I've got a plane to catch. I'll try to post a bit later today or tonight.