Heresy. This article conflates the nation and the Church. Don't do that if you value your soul. Bad, bad things comes from this.
Caesar (the government) certainly has the right to appropriate what belongs to Caesar (the coin). But this is entirely separate from Christian charity. A Christian is not allowed, far less encouraged, to wrest money from others through threats or guile to give to the poor.
Of course, if you really did live in a Christian nation, there would be no need for socialism, since the better off would share happily with the less fortunate. But there are no such nations, nor have there ever been.
The issue she's addressing is the conflation of Christianity with radical free market fundamentalism as preached by the far-right pundits. By choosing to continue to live in a country, people largely abet the decisions of their governments over the long term, and since the US (and Canada, and Norway) don't make it terribly difficult to leave, that choice is up to us collectively and as individuals and families.
That said, I agree that systematizing charity is an effort doomed to limited successes at best, and attempting to enforce it is counterproductive. As C.S. Lewis said, "You cannot make men good by law."
The Kingdom of God is not of this world. There is no Christian country on Earth to which we might emigrate, nor has there ever been.
My kingdom is not of this world.
What bothers me is that people don't know who and what a Christian is. By thinking that a Christian is a member or a particular country or race or social group, they lose the option to personally be transformed by the words and life and spirit of Jesus Christ. When people think they are Christians and still suffer in darkness, who is then going to save them?
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Caesar (the government) certainly has the right to appropriate what belongs to Caesar (the coin). But this is entirely separate from Christian charity. A Christian is not allowed, far less encouraged, to wrest money from others through threats or guile to give to the poor.
Of course, if you really did live in a Christian nation, there would be no need for socialism, since the better off would share happily with the less fortunate. But there are no such nations, nor have there ever been.
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That said, I agree that systematizing charity is an effort doomed to limited successes at best, and attempting to enforce it is counterproductive. As C.S. Lewis said, "You cannot make men good by law."
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My kingdom is not of this world.
What bothers me is that people don't know who and what a Christian is. By thinking that a Christian is a member or a particular country or race or social group, they lose the option to personally be transformed by the words and life and spirit of Jesus Christ. When people think they are Christians and still suffer in darkness, who is then going to save them?
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The transformation of which you speak is not as common as the term Christian, so we are often poor message-bearers.
On your last sentence... "We are not blind, surely?"
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