{"id":1414,"date":"2013-05-23T12:13:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T12:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/05\/congressmans-misuse-of-bible-verse-belies-bad-theology-and-ideology-on-food-stamps.html"},"modified":"2013-05-23T12:13:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-23T12:13:00","slug":"congressmans-misuse-of-bible-verse-belies-bad-theology-and-ideology-on-food-stamps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/05\/congressmans-misuse-of-bible-verse-belies-bad-theology-and-ideology-on-food-stamps.html","title":{"rendered":"Congressman\u2019s Misuse Of Bible Verse Belies Bad Theology And Ideology On Food Stamps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

As the House Agriculture Committee convened earlier this week to discuss whether or not to cut as much as\u00a0$4.1 billion<\/a>\u00a0from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), the conversation between lawmakers devolved into an exchange that was equal parts bad policy and bad theology.<\/span><\/div>\n
As House members discussed slashing the budget for the Farm Bill, which funds SNAP, Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN) took issue with\u00a0some Democrats<\/a>\u00a0who cited Jesus Christ\u2019s call to care for \u201cthe least of these\u201d when describing the government\u2019s need to assist the hungry. Instead, Fincher\u00a0explained that his support<\/a>\u00a0for the proposed cuts by quoting a very different Bible verse \u2013 2 Thessalonians 3:10: \u201cFor even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
But while the use of 2 Thessalonians is a convenient tool for those who want to justify ignoring the poor, Fincher\u2019s lukewarm Biblical argument doesn\u2019t hold up under scrutiny. As many religious bloggers\u00a0have already pointed out<\/a>, the author of 2 Thessalonians was actually referring to ancient Christians who had stopped working in anticipation of Jesus\u2019 Second Coming. The verse is concerned with correcting a theological misunderstanding (i.e., don\u2019t just wait around for Jesus, live an active faith), not passing judgement on the poor.<\/span><\/div>\n
Read the rest here<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the House Agriculture Committee convened earlier this week to discuss whether or not to cut as much as\u00a0$4.1 billion\u00a0from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), the conversation between lawmakers devolved into an exchange that was equal parts bad policy and bad theology. As House members discussed slashing the budget […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCongressman\u2019s Misuse Of Bible Verse Belies Bad Theology And Ideology On Food Stamps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As the House Agriculture Committee convened earlier this week to discuss whether or not to cut as much as $4.1 billion from the Supplemental\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/05\/congressmans-misuse-of-bible-verse-belies-bad-theology-and-ideology-on-food-stamps.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Congressman\u2019s Misuse Of Bible Verse Belies Bad Theology And Ideology On Food Stamps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the House Agriculture Committee convened earlier this week to discuss whether or not to cut as much as $4.1 billion from the Supplemental\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/05\/congressmans-misuse-of-bible-verse-belies-bad-theology-and-ideology-on-food-stamps.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-23T12:13:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andre E. 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