Quote:
"It's our responsibility to care for others and they should do the same if the need arises(Acts 2:42-47)."
Again, true. Something I can totally agree with. But this is scripture (as is all scripture) directed at Christians only. This should not be confused with our responsibilities as a society. There are very unspecific demands that God puts on government. See, there was a healthy intent in those scripture to properly serve God; these were decisions based on His divine Will. I just can't be convinced that is why the state does it.
Believe it or not, though, I see welfare and our loss of freedom as something that is being permitted by a Higher Power. I think that its very possible that at some point God saw that men were shirking their responsibilities and said, "Fine, your choice." Then, in response to their request, He gave the nation exactly what it wanted (comfort and stability).
But there will be a lesson learned. Give your free will to God, and He will give it right back to you. He is the only true freedom. Give your free will to the government, and no matter how good their intentions are at first, absolute power will eventually corrupt absolutely.
God gives people what they want if they push Him long enough. He will let us give the government all the control we want. In the Old Testament there was the "blessing" of King Saul. Against Saul's and God's wishes, Saul was thrust into the throne. The Isrealites wanted him on the throne, and even though God warned them of disastrous consequences, they put him there anyway. The result? A man who forgot about being king and spent the last part of his reign on a witch hunt for his General, David, trying to snub out the bloodline that would eventually bring our Messiah.
I think Christians are greedy. I think they completely forget about God's Will and focus on violating the first commandment. We can't demand the government give us our right to help back, we have to show we're worthy of it. Until that happens, there will be taxes, there will be welfare, and there will be Christians who think that there is some way out of it besides taking their responsibilities back by proving themselves once again worthy of them. What I hope to convince people is not really form a coup de tat, but instead to be revolutionaries in the Spirit. Use capitalism to our advantage. We have a nation built on the idea that if we offer a better mousetrap then the world will beat a path to your door.
We pray that God give us the blueprints to that moustrap.
Oh, one more thing. Reguarding the poor girl who only had jeans for church, isn't that just ha-ha-hilarious that the people of the church thought first to judge, instead of maybe chipping in to buy her a dress, like they did for that poor kid who stared going to EMBC. Churches have totally lost their sense of community.