No doubt the following line form Gov. Mitt Romney will be coming to an Obama ad near you.
“I’m in this race because I care about Americans. I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.”
They will latch on to this as an example of an uncaring conservative. Really though this is an example of the liberal mindset. “The government has some program to take care of something so I can just ignore it.” It is a fact that liberals give less charity than conservative and the top states considering charitable donations are all so-called “red states”. Really Mitt is showing his liberal roots here.
Though this mindset is not confined to liberals as there are many who think along the same lines. Regardless who has this mindset it is quite despicable and another example of outsourcing charity.
The fictional Scrooge certainly had this mindset in Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol”.
“At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.”
“Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge.
“Plenty of prisons,” said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.
“And the Union workhouses?” demanded Scrooge. “Are they still in operation?”
“They are. Still,” returned the gentleman, “I wish I could say they were not.”
“The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?” said Scrooge.
“Both very busy, sir.”
“Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. “I’m very glad to hear it.”
I prefer the following:
In seeking to promote human dignity, the Church shows a preferential love of the poor and voiceless, because the Lord has identified himself with them in special way (cf. Mt 25:40). This love excludes no one, but simply embodies a priority of service to which the whole Christian tradition bears witness. This love of preference for the poor, and the decisions which it inspires in us, cannot but embrace the immense multitudes of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without medical care and, above all, those without hope of a better future. (Ecclesia in Asia, n. 34)
Unless of course they have a safety net I guess.
