Again, I want to emphasize that there are people who get food stamps and other forms of assistance who honestly need them, but for every one family who does, I believe there are countless people who don't, and have no intention or desire of ever getting off what is supposed to be a temporary thing, not a way of life to pass on to future generations.
One thing I mentioned in my blog post, is people should have to do some kind of work, if they are able of course, to get and stay on food stamps. There are too many people just living off the system who are able to do something, but don't want to.
Which brings me to my point: welfare in the Bible. Back in Bible times, there were laws in place to help the poor. When harvesting time came and people were harvesting their fields, they had no modern ways of harvesting that we do, and they missed a lot on their first round through the field. By law, they were not allowed to go back over the field a second time, but had to leave what was left. And that is where Bible times welfare came into play. The poor could then come in and glean what was left. But they had to glean/harvest it themselves. There was no one picking it for them and putting it into their outstretched hands. They had to get away from their big screen TVs, park their nice vehicles, and go into the fields and pick it by hand.
If you read the book of Ruth, that is exactly what happened in that story. Ruth went to pick the leftovers of the harvest in Boaz's fields, and caught his eye. In fact, you could say by putting forth the effort to get food for her and her mother-in-law, she caught herself a husband in the process.
Politicians try to make a case that Jesus would want us to give handouts. We are to help those in need, but the very Bible they quote to get their agenda across, gives the idea that those who are able, should do some work for what they get. And if people had to do that today, maybe they would try to wean themselves off of the assistance. Maybe.
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