What About the ‘47 Percent’?

This sign was either created by a devious Liberal or
designed by a Conservative that's gotten off course.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney ignited a political firestorm in talking about “47 percent” that purportedly do not pay Federal income taxes.

Romney described them as “dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it….” He then proceeded to declare his “job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Take out gun. Load it. Aim at foot. Fire.

I take little stock in politicians throwing out statistics that can’t easily be substantiated. As someone's said, “figures don’t lie, but liars figure.”

And to clarify, I regard myself as neither Liberal nor Conservative, especially when it comes to helping people in need. Liberals, in my view, believe if you throw enough money at a problem it will go away. (Look at our national debt – how’s that philosophy working?) On the other hand, Conservatives take the “God helps those that help themselves” approach. In other words, “If those lazy so-and-so’s would just get off their posteriors….” I’m all for personal initiative, but in reality, for many people it’s not nearly that simple.

I do see government – with both Republicans and Democrats in the White House – playing “sugar daddy” for an increasing number of people. In an online video I saw recently, a speaker (most likely a Conservative) warns listeners, “You are being enslaved…enslavement to the idea that the job of government is to take care of you and your family because you can’t do it yourself.” He charges, “the government has engineered a built-in bias to stay poor.”

I don’t agree with all of this fellow’s statements. But I’ve long believed that since the 1960s, and probably before, well-meaning Federal assistance programs have created a mindset for generations of Americans that government needs to take care of them because, tragically, they can’t do it themselves.

Have you ever wondered about your responsibility to the poor? How do you feel when someone comes up to you on the street and asks you for spare change? Or someone in the mall parking lot requests help because they’ve “run out of gas”? I’ve been stung by pretenders enough times that I’m always skeptical, but part of me wonders whether there is a legitimate need and if so, how God would want me to respond.

The central problem, beyond the fact some in disadvantaged situations are convinced of their helplessness, is many that would like to help themselves lack the education, training or basic skills necessary. How can you get a worthwhile job if you can’t read or write? Even if they can, many in poverty have no idea how to fill out job applications, much less present themselves well in a job interview.

As I’ve learned from people that spend their lives every day working with the poor, most disadvantaged people don't need a handout, but a hand up. I’ll never forget a statement by the founder of an inner-city ministry we support: “The greatest poverty is the inability to give.”

If someone lacks the resources to give to meet the needs of their family, much less give to help others, what does that say about them? Sadly, for many people, it tells them they’re worthless. It strips them of the dignity of knowing they can contribute meaningfully to the world around them.

Perhaps that’s one reason Jesus stated, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

In the Scriptures it talks much about the poor and affirmsthat the responsibility goes both ways. In 2 Thessalonians 3:10 we’re told, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." Interestingly, in Lenin’s socialist treatise of 1917, “The State and Revolution,” the Soviet leader made a remarkably similar declaration: “He who does not work shall not eat.”

But lest Conservatives rise up and say, “See, I told you!”, the Bible also says a lot about helping those in need. Here are just a few samples:

“He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy” (Proverbs 14:21). 

“He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” (Proverbs 14:31).

“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered" (Proverbs 21:13).

Many other passages like these in both Old and New testaments make the point: God expects us to help the disadvantaged, and they should be encouraged to learn to help themselves. Nowhere is a system endorsed that promotes permanent dependency.

I’m not smart enough to propose the ultimate solution to assisting the poor. Jesus Himself conceded we would always have poor people among us. But isn’t it time we stopped putting Band-Aids on this very real problem, stopped looking the other way, and started working toward a cure?