First off, I am a follower of Jesus, to the best of my ability. However given the current state, and the history of Christianity, most Christians make my skin crawl.
A friend of mine posted something about drug testing welfare recipiencts on his Facebook page (he was against it). A series of comments followed, some pro and some con. Most were well reasoned and it was a fair discussion.
Enter Mrs. F. She is the most uptight, self righteous, holier than thou Christian woman I know. Her family is wealthy and she has never worried about how to feed her family. Her comment was, “I once heard one welfare mother tell the other she would get $80 more a month if she had another baby.” That was it. That was her contribution to the discussion. It came as the conversation turned towards how welfare recipients use the money for drugs and alcohol. :rolleyes: The gist, in context of the rest of the discussion, was that “our” money is being misused by those ignorant welfare mothers.
I was at her (7 year old) home recently in a very nice neighborhood. She had several samples of granite on her countertop and she was trying to decision. Now the project has morphed into a full blown kitchen makeover - cabinets and all! We are talking about a $60k project! I don’t begrudge her her luxuries. It is the luxuries combined with her professed Christianity, combined with her statement on Facebook that has generated this perfect storm.
How dare you sit in judgement of women on welfare when the greatest economic decision in your life is Corian or granite! How can you condemn a woman living in poverty because she wastes “your” resources? Don’t you realize that as the wealthy on this planet, God will judge us by how we used the resources he provided? He has explicitly asked us to care for the poor over and over. When we dine in splendor, while His children starve, don’t you fear His judgement? You are well-deserving of the title bestowed on so many Christians over the years - HYPOCRITE!
I realize many of you do not share my beliefs, and I respect that. I also realize you can be concerned for the poor without any knowledge of Jesus or Christianity. We don’t have a corner on the market of being “good”. But if you are going to claim to be a Christian, STOP MAKING THE REST OF US LOOK BAD!
She makes these kind of comments all the time. I mentioned her self-righteous nature as well. Also, if she were ever within hearing distance of two welfare mothers, she would be running away shrieking in fear. I think she made it up just to have something negative to say about poor people. Praise the Lord.
In my Facebook response I closed with “Instead of judging others for how they waste their resources, I look at my own faults and ask ‘Father forgive me - a sinner’. We need to enter this conversation humbly.”
She may be a self righteous pain in the ass, but I too have heard several women on welfare say they wanted to have another child either to stay on certain programs or because it would pay more. The ones that were saying this are the same ones who were more interested in buying cigarettes, drugs or alcohol. (One in particular had, at the time, 7 kids by six fathers and her oldest daughter was heading the same way)
Not to say that all or even most people that receive welfare feel that way, but it does happen.
The Gospels are full of red letter statements regarding hypocrisy, the dignity of the downtrodden and the mandate to love your neighbor. Not so much about abortion and homosexuality.
Incidentally “Unemployment/Welfare/Other mandatory spending” was 1.8% of the Federal Budget in 2008.
That includes unemployment insurance, which Mrs. F probably supports.
The Federal Government is basically a huge retirement plan that happens to have an army. “Welfare” just doesn’t take a lot out of the average person’s pocketbook, unless you include social security, medicare and medicaid for the elderly in your definition.
I stopped reading here. I don’t think you’re allowed to post on the SDMB, since you’re obviously mentally ill and a poor judge of character (and probably have tasteless snuff art hanging on your wall somewhere).
Your post has been reported; we are dispatching a squad of homosexual athiests to counsel you.
There is no ‘welfare’ as some sling the word around anymore, thanks to changes Clinton made. The longest a person can get benefits is 5 years and recipients are required to work toward being self sustaining during that time through education and/or job training programs.
A family of 4 can expect about $900.00 in TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) and an additional $500.00 in Food Stamps. A single person can get $300.00 and $200.00. The amounts are adjusted based on regional factors, and each of the several programs available must be applied for and approved separately.
TANF money can be spent however the head of household see fit. It comes in the form a check.
Food Stamps come in the form of a debit card and can mostly be spent as the user desires with some exceptions such as no beer or wine, soap, toilet paper, tylenol or vitamins. You can buy tomato plants, though!
There is also available a child care credit for day care while the head of household is in a job training program and some other bits of assistance such as help with utility and medical bills and job training. This is in the form of vouchers, not cash.
But there aren’t large groups of people sitting in their slums churning out babies for an additional $80.00 a month.
$80.00 would not cover the cost of formula and diapers for this poorly thought out plan.
Pfft. There you go with your “facts” and your so-called “statistics”, Ca3799. How am I, how are any of us, supposed to give you any credence when all these anonymous people have come forth to tell what they overheard other anonymous people saying, and saying things that contradict your pitiful “information”?
I mean, didn’t a famous man once famously quip “Welfare mothers make better lovers”? Surely my memory of a man with a guitar is more credible than decades of research and analysis. Right?
newcrasher, thanks - your post has made me think. I’ve been throwing around too many insensitive, crass comments about people lately - in private, but still.
(I’m a closet agnostic that attends a mainstream church)