Marginal Christianity

http://www.krusekronicle.com/kruse_kronicle/2015/03/welfare-is-key-to-entrepreneurship-and-economic-growth.html?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_content=44864&utm_campaign=0#.VRVrb7vn_IU A common perspective among political conservatives, especially of the libertarian and Tea Party varieties, is that welfare is a drag on economic growth and it is a disincentive to initiative. Paul Ryan wants a safety net and not safety hammock. Some libertarians don’t even want the net. It would be better to let people assume their own risks. Money taxed away by the government is money that people could have used to buy goods and services and boost the economy. I do not dispute that government programs could be a drag on the economy but this conservative narrative is grossly incomplete! Entrepreneurship and economic innovation are, at the heart, calculations about risk. By taking a bold step, what are the chances I will be better off (however I measure that) and what a...

1.     “I’m more of a New Testament Christian.” 2.     “The Old Testament is legalistic and about law; the New Testament is about love and grace. 3.     “God helps those who help themselves” 4.     “Those who do not work should not eat.” Many argue against or are suspicious of welfare because they believe this is what the Bible says.   Unfortunately for them, the Bible nowhere says such a thing.   This is a misreading of 2 Thessalonians 3:10.   There Paul does not indict those who do not work (regardless of circumstance) but rather those who choose not to work.   The new Common English Bible gets it right:   “If anyone doesn’t want to work, they shouldn’t eat.”   It’s a matter of the willingness to work, not whether or not one is actually working at any given time and for any reason. Paul critiques here those “end-time” enthusiasts in Thessalonica who were so certain that the Lord’s return was...