Where has compassion gone in this country?

Matthew 25

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,

36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?

38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?

39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,

43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025:31-46

I have this on the sidebar of this blog toward the bottom with a picture of Christ. It is there because this is there to remind a friend that he is never far from my thoughts and my prayers. It is also there because not following how Christ said we should treat people, is one of the biggest sins of all. Not only does it go against the Ten Commandments on how we are supposed to treat others, it goes against Christ Himself.

How is it that this country, so filled with churches and people screaming "this is a Christian Nation" when it suits them also allow so much suffering, heartless blindness and contempt for the least among us? Does any of what goes on really fit with what Christ taught? Hardly.

Consider the debate and the outrage caused by some zealots showing up screaming at Town Hall meetings over healthcare. Christ sent His Disciples out to heal the sick but some right here scream about not taking care of someone else needing care to stay alive. These same people are the same folks screaming about being pro-life, but I guess that only means when they can afford to go to a doctor when they're sick. Some people scream that they don't want the government messing around with their healthcare but when asked they say they get their care from Medicare or Medicaid. Some veteran scream along the same lines but they go to the VA for their care. These are government programs! Does this fit with being Christian?

Would they rather have some kind of system that is fair to all or see people die because they cannot afford to stay alive? Would they rather others lose their homes over healthcare bills they cannot pay because of a catastrophic illness and end up homeless? It happens all over the country when people just don't have enough coverage to meet the charges when they become ill. They lose their jobs and healthcare ends. Cobra costs so much money, people cannot afford it without a job to pay for it.

People all over the country also complain about the homeless and how they don't want them in their neighborhoods. They never stop to think the homeless used to be someone else's neighbor. They also don't stop to think that Christ commanded us to take care of them as our neighbor.

How can they go against what they are supposed to stand for as Christians? This is one of the many things I will never be able to understand. Is it because some of them believe that they were blessed by God and they don't need to take care of others? They have that entirely wrong and I doubt very much that Calvin ever once attempted to explain how Christ came into this earth to live as a poor man's son, grew up to be homeless and dependant upon the kindness of strangers to feed Him as He traveled this earth to teach us what God really expected out of His children. Do they think of this?

Where has compassion gone in this country? How can people claim they carry on the Heart of Christ within them and then do things totally against Him?

If they ever stop to read the Bible they may find themselves not so tempted to wave it in the face of someone else they want to teach a lesson to, I doubt they'd be filled with so much anger, hate, resentment and contempt they would ever speak out against those Christ clearly loved above the rich and the privileged. Yes, that's in the Bible too. These people may claim to be Christian but they are so far from what they are supposed to be, they no longer recognize who Christ was or what He taught.

Say any of this to them and they are only able to repeat what they read by others in the Bible. The problem with this is that if it does not agree with the Ten Commandments or the Red Letters of the Bible, then they are following the teachings of people just as imperfect as they are. All capable of misunderstanding and getting it wrong as they did. Abraham got it wrong after he decided to not wait for God to give him a son and he took his wife's servant. Moses got it wrong when he was put in the perfect place to free the Hebrews, but had to do it his way, more than once. David got it wrong many times and so did all the others in the pages of the Bible. Remind them of this when they quote you what people claim is the word of God because if it does not agree with the Ten Commandments of what Christ said, then it came from their own heads.

God did not dictate the Bible but He did inspire it, yet they cannot answer how so many other books were written by others not included in what we read. Maybe if they stopped talking so much and started to do more of what Christ actually did talk about, this country would be so much better and their hearts would be a lot more humble. Maybe crimes against the homeless would never happen because people would be taking care of them instead of avoiding them.

Attacks on Homeless Bring Push on Hate Crime Laws

By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: August 7, 2009
WASHINGTON — With economic troubles pushing more people onto the streets in the last few years, law enforcement officials and researchers are seeing a surge in unprovoked attacks against the homeless, and a number of states are considering legislation to treat such assaults as hate crimes.


This October, Maryland will become the first state to expand its hate-crime law to add stiffer penalties for attacks on the homeless.

At least five other states are pondering similar steps, the District of Columbia approved such a measure this week, and a like bill was introduced last week in Congress.

A report due out this weekend from the National Coalition for the Homeless documents a rise in violence over the last decade, with at least 880 unprovoked attacks against the homeless at the hands of nonhomeless people, including 244 fatalities. An advance copy was provided to The New York Times.
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Attacks on Homeless Bring Push on Hate Crime Laws
Linked from RawStory