Rick Warren: Jesus robbed people of their Dignity

[cthulu2016]

Okay, he didn't say that... except insofar as he did say that.

Helping the Poor is Now Apparently Anti-Bible
Kevin Drum

I see that fellow Orange Countian Rick Warren — he of Saddleback megachurch and Purpose Driven Life fame — is in the news again. He was on ABC's This Week yesterday, and Jake Tapper asked him what he thought about President Obama's suggestion that God tells us to care for those less fortunate than ourselves:

Well certainly the Bible says we are to care about the poor....But there's a fundamental question on the meaning of "fairness." Does fairness mean everybody makes the same amount of money? Or does fairness mean everybody gets the opportunity to make the same amount of money? I do not believe in wealth redistribution, I believe in wealth creation. The only way to get people out of poverty is J-O-B-S. Create jobs. To create wealth, not to subsidize wealth. When you subsidize people, you create the dependency. You — you rob them of dignity.

You know, there's nothing really wrong with a Republican politician saying this. Or a Democratic politician, for that matter. My first preference for helping the poor is indeed to make sure they have decent jobs. Unfortunately, I haven't yet met anyone who has a brilliant plan for making the economy boom on such a sustained basis that jobs are always available for everyone.

But I'm a blogger, not a minister. And while I might not be an expert on the Bible, I've read enough to know that Jesus sure didn't seem to think that helping the poor robbed them of dignity. Can someone help me out here? What part of the gospels do you think Warren is referring to?

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/04/helping-poor-now-apparently-anti-bible

[Swede Atlanta]

1. Rick Warren is like all the rest on the right.....

They like to criticize the things in the Bible with which they disagree such as the idea that we care for those less fortunate, stoning a woman if she isn't a virgin when she marries, not shaving your beard, not sleeping with your woman when she is having her period, etc.

But they love to latch onto things that are nebulous such as whether the Bible says anything about homosexuality, a concept that was not understood in Biblical times.

[ashling]

2. Like JKG said, they are all engaged in

the search for a moral justification of selfishness

[Zalatix]

3. Okay everyone, raise your hands if you are surprised or in any way shocked by this.

[hifiguy]

4. Another fraud in the name of Jeebus.

I'm an atheist but I do know what the Sermon on the Mount says.

The fact that Warren and these other reichwing assholes can say what they say and not be struck down by a bolt of lightning is, IMO, pretty good evidence for the non-existence of any god.

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. "Subsidizing people" is the whole point of economic stimulus.

The question is "which people?"

Speaking of people who get subsidies, how much does saddleback megachurch pay in taxes Mr Hypocrite?

Which ironically makes you exhibit #1 in the dignity-robbing potential of preferential government treatment.

[WingDinger]

6. It is heartening, that Jesus dealt with rethugs too.

Like those asshats, that said he shouldnt say squat, till all the hungry are fed, and sick well. He said, the poor, they will always be with you. Rethugs hear that as tacit approval of social darwinism. Liberals hear that as confirmation that there need be humane adjustments to a system that CANNOT be made humane.

[lsewpershad]

7. He is wealthy

And he is adamant he would not share. See, Christ was poor that is why he spoke like that about the poor..If Christ wwere rich he would have had a different take......this according to rich Warren bible.