Opus 2026-055: The Shoes of Poverty

One of the ladies our church is heading up a fundraiser and initially it sounds painless and helpful.  She has found some organization that will take used sneakers and donate them to Third World countries that need shoes and in the process generate a donation for the local church that gathers the shoes.

On one point this is painless.  It’s a good way to get rid of a lot of those old shoes that you have in your closet that are still in good shape, but now are the wrong color, they might be the wrong size, or they’re a style that just isn’t cool anymore.  It could be there’s nothing wrong with them, but you just kept buying new stuff and wearing the new ones.  So it’s painless to you.  It cleans out your closet for a good cause.  It doesn’t cost the church anything.  All it takes is a person who will put out a collection bin and then put the shoes in a shipping bag and drop it off.

The question I would have is how helpful it is.  Somewhere in the past, I touched on this before.  There was a basketball coach whose name escapes me, but he was collecting shoes for people in poor countries who didn’t have any.  It all sounded really good until you stopped to think about the effect this has on the big picture.

When you donate free shoes to a Third World country you get to feel good and there are a certain number of poor people that will get shoes who might not have had them.  How much they needed them is always a question.  I don’t think you have to go back very many generations in our country to find out that many people could go without shoes all summer.  That might not work too well in the winter, but in the summer, it was just fine.  A lot of of these Third World countries are areas where it’s possible to go without shoes and still function.  But that’s not the issue.  The issue is that if you flood a market with free shoes, you put local shoemakers and shoe sellers out of business.  In many parts of the world there is a business of taking old worn out tires and repurposing them into sandals.  You’re probably many other aspects of the business too, but it’s really hard for a local businessman to compete with free.

We often don’t see the long-term results of the things that we like to do to feel good and to help people.  There are times when help is necessary.  There are times when help is destructive.  We’ve seen that in the welfare system in our own country where entire cultures have been lowered to underclass simply because they’ve stopped learning how to provide for themselves.

Be generous.  The best place to be generous is close to home where you can get personally involved with the people and not just write a check.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-313: The Proliferation of Bananas

I’m sure that by this time you have heard people indicate that the United States is sinking into being a Banana Republic.  This is because our political leaders, the ones who are in control, are doing away with the rule of law, property rights, freedom of speech, and any other so-called guaranteed right that we had.

You may not be feeling it yet.  You may wonder what they’re talking about.  Banana republics are established by tyrannical despots.  It may start small and local.  As they limit your options, they begin to gather all the riches into their own coffers, and leave you sitting in a house with a leaky roof, no electricity, and if you have water, it’s polluted.  Of course they don’t live that way.  In a free economy it is not necessary for anyone to live that way.  But they’re quite happy to allow you to live that way so that you will know your place.

It starts with a banana republic government.  It moves to a banana republic economy.  Eventually it will reach you and you will pay the price.  Be careful about the tendency to allow other people to pay for your benefits.  Eventually, as Margaret Thatcher, said, the socialist will run out of other peoples money.  When that happens, you will either be forced into public transportation, pedaling a bike, or walking.  I don’t know if you’ve ever been forced to use any of those modes of transportation, but they are certainly far below your own personal automobile in convenience and comfort.

Again, the elites won’t care.  They will live in very comfortable states protected by armed guards and never running out of bonbons.  You on the other hand will be lucky to get bananas.  They are working on that too.  I understand one of the things that will be in short supply during the freight disruption is bananas.  

As bananas go, so goes the republic.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-003: Freaking or Faithing

We need to stop living by freak and start living by faith.

Assume the impossible, the same thing happens to two different people.  Let’s take something simple and low key in the scheme of things:  You, a father of three, lose your job.  What is the next step?  How do you respond?

One person lives by freak.  They get depressed.  They might start drinking.  They get angry and violent.  Or they might sit on the porch and stare at nothing.  They freak out.

The other lives by faith.  They assess that this is serious.  They might go through a time of self doubt and fear but they know they trust God.  Within a short time they commit things to prayer, share with others and begin looking for something new.

The responses are different.  The results are different.  Think of the tree of influence that spreads out from that one event.  How much damage can be done to family and friends when you freak out?  When the word spreads, what will that do for your future chances of finding more work?  Your response could close doors that might have been opened.  If God is trying to teach you something then there may be more persecution ahead.

If you are living by faith that gives God a chance to work some miracles.  Most of them will be small.  Think of the widow of Zarephath.  Doesn’t ring any bells?  The story starts in I Kings 17:8.   I am sure you have heard it.  Elijah was sent to Zarephath and told to stay with a widow who was destitute.  While he was there God supplied just enough flour and oil to feed them for the day.  God gave a promise.

(1Ki 17:14 NAS77) "For thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.'"

To be honest, this is the kind of promise I think God gives us more than the ones of overflowing bounty.  Why?  I think God reveals that in a prayer found in Proverbs.

(Pro 30:7-9 KJV)  Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:  Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:  Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

Do yourself a favor.  Give God a chance to make the difference in your life.  He will provide on His timeline and in His way.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-310: Benefits of Food Shortage

I have been on the road and spending time in airport waiting areas.  It gives me a chance to do some people watching in between reading and writing.  I am thinking that a bit of a food shortage might not be a bad thing.  People seem to have been supersizing it quite a bit.

Being overweight is not always a result of just eating too much but also of eating the wrong things.  If we are suddenly snookered by a combination of shortages and soaring prices, the foods we choose will probably change.  I was thinking about my diet.  I start the day with oatmeal and have significant portions of popcorn during the day.  That is not a bad thing.  Those food items are relatively cheap and have decent nutrition with reasonable calories.  It is the quest for protein that will be the issue.  

Meat will be expensive.  What I eat has already gone up significantly but so far I can afford my preferences.  If I am forced to go to things like beans and rice for protein the calories climb quickly.  The result, of course will be growing obesity in my life.  That could lead to a return of my diabetes and all the problems that go with too much weight.

Start checking out what might be substituted and begin to buy a bit extra every week.  Don’t worry, it won’t make you a crazy prepper.  It will make you a careful provider.

Pray that the harvests will be great both spiritual and agricultural.

homo unius libri

Opus 2018-036: Who Is Winning the War on Poverty?, part 2 of 2

Millions received a check from the government during the Great Depression and FDR’s New Deal.  They came out stronger and hard working as opposed to the results of The War on Poverty.  Why?

I would suggest it was the requirement to work?  I vaguely remember reading in The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes that for all of their confusion the Roosevelt administration knew that just giving away money would be bad for people.  It would destroy their pride and sense of self worth.  I don’t have the book available right now so I can’t find the quotes but I am pretty sure she took that position. 

Welfare as we know it started for the best of reasons but the Progressives behind it have a flawed view of the nature of human beings.  They assumed that society was the problem and if you could hand out enough money, people would respond by taking what they need and going back to work.  The traditional view of human nature, found in the Bible, is that mankind is wired so that most people will take whatever you give them and still not want to get up to go to work.

We can get people off the dole but it will be painful.  In the words of Solomon,

(Proverbs 16:26 NAS77)  A worker's appetite works for him, For his hunger urges him on.

I am not sure we are willing to pay the price.

Shlaes, Amity.  The Forgotten Man.  New York:  Harper Perennial, 2007.

homo unius libri

Opus 2017-248: DEFCON: Deprivation

We were on our way to dinner with a couple and lamenting how expensive is was in Las Vegas.  I am old enough that I can remember when meals and rooms were cheap and served as an attraction for people to come and gamble.  Now most of the well know places are for high rollers or people who think they are high rollers.

In the discussion the subject of Disneyland came up and how much it cost to go.  One of the people in the car suggested how the high prices were causing the poor children of today to be deprived.  I think the inference was that it wasn’t fair and the Disneyland was listed somewhere in the Bill of Rights as something that everyone should be guaranteed.  This reflects the difference that has been emerging at DEFCON.  When I came to my first con 16 years ago it was a gathering of rebels.  Hackers kind of felt it was them against the man.  I noticed that beginning to change a few years ago.  As the hackers have aged they have grown up into mortgages and children.  It makes a difference.

But Disneyland as a basic human right was beyond me.  I worked in public schools with a large percentage of the students on some kind of poverty program.  Most kids got free or subsidized lunches.  Almost all of them made regular trips to Disneyland.  Even in the poor classes there is always money to do the things that are important.  I suggested that public libraries were still free and that if they were deprived from not going to Disneyland maybe they could visit the library instead.

I think they assumed I was joking.  Sadly for them, I wasn’t.

So remember that now being able to go to Disneyland is a basic human right.  Welcome to America in the 21st Century.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-473: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 12 of ?, Lack of Justice

We eventually come to the one source of poverty that is so heralded today, injustice.  It does not come through well in the KJV,

(Proverbs 13:23 KJV)  Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.

That could be interpreted to mean bad decisions by the farmer.  It is better in the NASB.

(Proverbs 13:23 NAS77)  Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor, But it is swept away by injustice.

When you have a legal system that caters to those who can afford the long trials and expensive lawyers, common people get pushed out of the picture.  Think of a recent Supreme Court decision in Kelo v City of New London.  Cities were given the right to condemn any property they want if they think a change will generate more tax revenue for the city.  That is not a legal description, it is a common sense observation.  Think of the family in Colorado who bought an empty lot in the middle of a development and although it was surrounded by completed houses they were told it was wetlands and fined thousands of dollars a day for disturbing the soil on a lot they had legally bought for building a home.

In a free society people can do well if they are willing to work for it.  In Fascism, or crony capitalism as it is sometimes called, those without contacts in government or deep pockets are left in the dust of destitution. 

God condemns such actions.

So, yes, oppression is a source of poverty but keep in mind that most of the time it is being pushed by government collusion with big business or just by people in government who want to help you life right.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-418: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 11 of ?, Sin

I go back to a series I started about what makes people poor.  Another cause of poverty is sin. 

(Proverbs 13:25 KJV)  The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want

Sin is destructive.  It may be fun at the moment.  It may be cool.  It may feel good.  It will destroy you.  This is expanded in an often overlooked verse.

(Exodus 15:26 KJV)  And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

Righteous living leads to a healthier life.  Sure, righteous people get sick.  So do rich people.   This is not a blanket guarantee that God’s people will never get sick.  It is a guarantee that God will not send the consequences of disobedience on His people.  Better health would seem to be a part of prosperity. 

S.I. McMillen makes the case in a book called None of These Diseases.  He goes into great detail about the physical infirmities that can be avoided by following the standards taught in the Bible.  I think the original is out of print.  I reread it in the third edition, referenced below.  I found that the rewriting had added a bit of political correctness but also a lot of startling statistics with footnotes for the research.  One of the startling statistics he gives in the new book comes from research done in Africa regarding the scourge of HIV.

“Uncircumcised men were up to eight times more likely to become infected with AIDS.” p. 75

I doubt if you will hear that on the evening news.  Maybe you need better sources of information.

.McMillen, S.I. and Stern, David E.  None of These Diseases.  Grand Rapids:
     Fleming H. Revell, Third Edition, 2000.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-265: On the Street: Mom Is No Longer the Cause of Hunger

Do you remember the unfortunate man I met in the parking lot who’s mother had died so he needed a burrito from across the street? 

I met him again today.  He had a spanking new story and and the same old aversion to peanut butter/cheese crackers and bottled water.  But I was in the presence of a miracle.  It would appear that he had not been able to eat in the time since I saw him last.  He certainly hadn’t found a job.  He still was not hungry enough to accept my crackers and water.  If he had not walked away in disgust I would have offered to take him in and buy him the same thing I was having for breakfast:  a piece of bread and butter with a cup of coffee.  I don’t think that would have been good enough for him either.

I guess one of the big questions of life is, “Do you have a peanut-butter/cheese-cracker hunger or a beef-burrito hunger?”  I am guessing that people who work for a living can be satisfied by the crackers but beggars need real meat.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-219: On the Street: “My Mother Just Died...”

Or so he said.  You must admit, it is a good way to touch the heart strings as you begin to panhandle.  I listened courteously and when he got to the point where he had not eaten in three days, I knew I could help.  In my car I keep a supply of those little packages of cheese crackers with peanut butter filling.  I buy them for myself.  I eat them when I am hungry.  They have been my breakfast, lunch and dinner at times.  I reached in my open door, picked up a handful of packages - after all he was hungry - and handed them to him.  As the confused look developed on his face I reached in and pulled out a bottle of water, again from my personal supply, and started to hand it to him. 

I could not do much for his loss of his mother.  I am not Jesus, I can’t raise the dead.  I could do something about not eating in three days.  After all Jesus said,

(Matthew 25:41-42 KJV)  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

I don’t want to burn in Hell because I didn’t give a hungry man something to eat. 

I guess in this case it wasn’t Jesus I was feeding.  He got a look of disgust, handed the packages back to me and said, “No thank, I was wanting some meat.”  Well, sooorrrry.  He had his eye on either the Del Taco across the street or the liquor store down the block.  What he was not looking for was food to take care of his hunger.

O, well.  I tried.  So did he.  He got nothing from the exchange.  I did.  I may have discovered a way to deal with panhandlers.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-174: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 10 of ?, Refusing to Learn

How many times do you have hit your head before you learn to duck?

When I started wearing bi-focals I had a slow learning curve.  I repeatedly rammed my head on a low hanging garage door until I had a permanent lump that had to be removed surgically.  Really.  I know what it is to be a slow learner.

Some things cannot be removed surgically.  Some lessons we refuse to learn can keep us poor and “oppressed”.

(Proverbs 13:18 KJV)  Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.

People mired in poverty tend to keep doing the same things.  They do not learn from experience and failure.  How many babies does a woman with no husband need to have before she realizes where they come from?  How many days does a student need to sit doing nothing before admitting that failure is coming down the tracks?  How many times do you need to raise the minimum wage before you see that it means fewer jobs?

There are many causes of poverty.  Refusing to observe and learn will keep traps strong and healthy.

To be continued...eventually.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-173: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 9 of ?, Planning ahead

Sometimes the key words are not used but the idea is easily seen in the story.  Most people are aware of Aesop’s fable about the grasshopper and the ant.  Here we see a similar idea in Proverbs.  Lack of planning.

(Proverbs 6:6 KJV)  Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

A lot of people have this tremendous sympathy for the grasshopper who played away the summer months.  While the ants were working he was partying.  Now the cold is coming and he comes with his hand out.

We see this in our American culture.  People live high and save nothing.  They run up their credit card bills and file bankruptcy.  They carry no insurance and go to the emergency room.  They eat until they are extremely overweight and want someone to pay for their diabetes medicine.  They do no homework and expect to pass their classes.

I hear certain bits of “wisdom” in our day and age.  All my life I have heard that you can’t make it on one salary.  We have done it.  The problem isn’t that you cannot live on one salary.  The problem is you can’t live like you want to on one salary.  I have heard that you can’t survive on Social Security.  My mother did it.  Of course she was an ant while younger.  My parents had their house paid off when it came time to retire.  Did they have all the luxuries?  No, but they had everything they needed.

So work hard and plan ahead.  Does it guarantee anything?  No, but the chances of having food in the winter are a lot higher than if you expect someone else to work and provide for you.

To be continued...

Opus 2015-172: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 8 of ?, Leisure

I know I already wrote about pleasure and sloth.  Perhaps leisure is a combination of the two.  Consider,

(Proverbs 28:19 NAS77)  He who tills his land will have plenty of food, But he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty.

The emphasis here is on spending a lot of time on things that are empty of value.  Computer games come to mind.  Watching football comes to mind.  Even reading, which is getting close to home, could be a problem.  Certainly blogging fits the bill.

Notice the contrast in the verse.  The farmer works and produces.  The other guy would probably consider himself busy also but all he reaps is poverty.  It is possible in our modern age that this refers to a nation wide upsurge in poverty.  Think of how an industrial enterprise like a steel mill takes raw materials and turns them into a product that is useful and generates a corresponding profit providing jobs for many.  Compare that with currency manipulators and day traders that gamble on the whims of the market.  If they sell in time they get a lot of money but they add no product that increases the wealth of the culture.  In a sense their pursuits are empty.  Unlike manufacturing and real business, they add no value and their gain is someone else’s loss.

So fight poverty, get a real job.

To be continued...

Opus 2015-169: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 7 of ?, Alcohol and Food

A major source of poverty comes from the misuse of alcohol as a beverage.  I don’t drink but I am also aware that a glass of wine at dinner is not necessarily a sin and should not ruin your life.  I also tend to feel if I never drink the first one, I will never have one too many.  The problem is that there are so many pressures to have just one more that alcohol becomes a major problem.

The Bible reflects this in many places.  Here is just one.

(Proverbs 23:21 KJV)  For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

Why would this be true?  First, alcohol is expensive.  It amazes me to sit down in a nice restaurant and see a little display on the table advertising a selection of whiskey.  Some of them cost over twenty dollars, for one small glass.  Ouch.  Double ouch.  Second, the drunk shows up late for work and in no condition to produce.  He calls in sick a lot.  Ultimately he gets fired and poverty is at the door.

As you can see the second thing listed here is gluttony.  If you are obese you should not be criticizing the drunk.  He isn’t in the right but neither are you.  Think of all the physical illness that is linked to being overweight. 

They are not immediate but they are inevitable.

To be continued...

Opus 2015-166: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 6 of ?, Lack of Stewardship

One cause of poverty may surprise you:  A lack of financial obedience.  Many are familiar with the proof text on tithing.

(Malachi 3:10 KJV)  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

What people don’t go on to see is how God will provide the blessing.  The next verse points out that the blessing will not be finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow or having a rich aunt die and leave you a fortune.  The blessing is that the grasshoppers won’t eat your crops and your fruit will not get a fungus.  In other words, your labor will pay off as God originally intended.

A lot of people claim they cannot afford to tithe, they are too poor.  I would suggest that you cannot afford not to tithe.  Picture the situation that was before Malachi when he delivered this word from the Lord.  The land was being eaten up by locusts.  The crops were being destroyed.  Poverty was upon them.  Even worse, starvation was on the horizon.  In that context they were told to tithe.

When we are obedient God is able to bless.  When we are disobedient it does not necessarily mean an active curse, it often just means an inactive blessing.  Think of how many flat tires you could have had.  Think of how many times that bacteria could have penetrated your body defenses.  Think of how many times someone could have run a red light as you were going through the intersection.  We are not even aware of God’s blessings most of the time.

God provides when we obey.

To be continued...

Opus 2015-164: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 5 of ?, Love of Pleasure

The love of pleasure leads to poverty.

(Proverbs 21:17 KJV)  He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.

(Proverbs 21:20 KJV)  There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.

That is a pretty simple statement.

The second part of the verse might require some examination.  By loving wine and oil it does not mean that you like to have them around, it means you consume them.  People who love pleasure say things like, “Life is too short...” and “You only go ‘round once in life...”  The logic is that you need to grab what you can get, when you can get it and not worry about the future.

I see this around me all the time.  There are secretaries at my school that drive newer and more luxurious cars than I do.  That is a matter of choice on my part and their part.  I could afford anything they drive and they could find reliable transportation for a lot less. 

Years ago I read a couple of books, The Millionaire Mind and The Millionaire Next Door.  One of the ideas expressed was that the first generation makes the money, the second generation sometimes maintains the wealth and the third generation usually blows the wealth.  The reason is that the third generation does not have a clue to restraint.  All they know is wealth and privilege.

Several years ago I had a conversation with students about shoes.  At that point I was wearing some shoes I had resoled many times.  They were wearing the latest creations of Nike and Reebok.  I showed that over a period of twenty years I would have thousands in the bank and they would have a closet full of old shoes.  They were not impressed.  They could look cool today.

A major source of poverty is putting pleasure and comfort before thrift and planning.  Many people are poor because they live like kings...until the money runs out.  Then they want you to share.

To be continued...

Opus 2015-162: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 3 of ?, Oppression

According to the media and the educational elites, poverty is caused by the greed and oppression of the rich.  How can you deny that?  I guess the key reason is because it isn’t a genuinely true statement.  The falsehood is not in the listing of oppression as a cause of poverty but in making it the action exclusively of the rich.  The lie is in blaming the rich and ignoring the government angle.  Yes, oppression happens.  Proverbs is not blind to that and has something to say about it.

(Proverbs 14:31 KJV)  He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.

It happens, but oppression by the rich in modern America is a blip on the road of life.  It is something that is done to you, but most causes of poverty are things we do, or don’t do, to ourselves.  It is the result of repeated bad choices and a refusal to learn by experience.

If we are looking for outside forces, oppression by the government is much more prevalent and difficult to overcome.  Proverbs also points out that you don’t need to be rich or powerful to be an oppressor.

(Proverbs 28:3 KJV)  A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food.

I want to get beyond those popular targets.  I know of many people who came to America with nothing and fit all the minority stereotypes except attitude and went on to build wealth and find success.  I want to look at some of the overlooked causes of poverty that are at the root of our problem in American today.  A large part of what I suggest will be based on what the Bible teaches about the issue in the book of Proverbs.

To be continued...

Opus 2015-160: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 2 of ?, More on Absentee Fathers

The best way to keep your children out of poverty is to be married when they are born and stay married.  The following is a lengthy quote from Charles Murray in Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010.  My “page numbers” are from my Kindle edition.   It is lengthy.  Basically it says that even allowing for variations in socio-economic factors the children raised in two parent families are better off than any other situation.  Period.

“No matter what the outcome being examined - the quality of the mother-infant relationship, externalizing behavior in childhood (aggression, delinquency, and hyperactivity), delinquency in adolescence, criminality as adults, illness and injury in childhood, early mortality, sexual decision making in adolescence, school problems and dropping out, emotional health, or any other measure of how well or poorly children do in life - the family structure that produces the best outcomes for children, on average, are two biological parents who remain married. Divorced parents produce the next-best outcomes. Whether the parents remarry or remain single while the children are growing up makes little difference. Never-married women produce the worst outcomes. All of these statements apply after controlling for the family’s socioeconomic status. I know of no other set of important findings that are as broadly accepted by social scientists who follow the technical literature, liberal as well as conservative, and yet are so resolutely ignored by network news programs, editorial writers for the major newspapers, and politicians of both major political parties.”  Kindle Highlight Loc. 2658-72.

It also seems that the fact of being married itself is key.

“...the children of married couples did significantly better than the children of cohabiting parents, who in turn had scores that were only fractionally higher than the children of single mothers.” Highlight Loc. 2765-66

The Biblical standard for family starts with one man, married to one women, for life.  By encouraging and supporting unwed mothers we handicap all of the children in their future potential. We have a Biblical standard.  We have modern research the reinforces that standard.
 What is there that you don’t understand?

Murray, Charles.  Coming Apart.  New York:  Crown Forum, 2012.

To be continued...

Opus 2015-159: Monday Pulpit: Sources of Poverty, part 1 of ?, Absentee Fathers

A couple of months ago, in his comments about marriage and the family, our pastor pointed out that the one sure ticket to poverty is for a man to leave his family.  It is poverty for the family, not for the man.  That got me thinking about why people are poor and the lies that our common culture tells about this.  Our socialist/Progressive culture only sees oppression as a cause of people being poor.  The Bible gives many causes.  I am going to work through those in a series of posts.  Today we start with the point the pastor made.  The most obvious, and ignored, source of poverty is children without fathers. 

The Bible targets two groups as in special need of help and support:  Widows and orphans.  A clear example of this would be,

(James 1:27 KJV)  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

In modern American culture the number-one cause of poverty is single parent families.  The vast majority of cases involve the absence of the father.  There are three major sources of this situation:  Death of a parent, divorce and unwed mothers (or irresponsible fathers).  Death cannot be avoided.  It is a natural part of life and it seems that children hammered by this tragedy adjust and move on.  It is different when the father walks away, legally through divorce or morally through abandonment.  That is more like an all day cold remedy.  The chemicals just keep being released.  The poverty is not only financial but emotional and intellectual.  Remember that Dan Quayle was right, even if no media talking head would admit it at the time. 

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-174: Headlines: Those Poor Government Employees

The Drudge title read “Anti-Poverty Law Professor Makes $200k Teaching One Class at Public University...” and for once it was accurate. 

This is a good representative of the people educating your children.  You wonder why taxes are so high, schools are so expensive and education so poor.  Here is an example.  This professor at the University of North Carolina makes a total of $205,400 a year for teaching one class a semester.  Good work if you can get it.  And he is not alone.

What has he done to earn this?  Although it doesn’t say so in the article, but I can almost guarantee, he votes a straight Democratic ticket.  But he qualifies in more ways than that.  Remember the controversy at the College of William and Mary?  Of course you don’t but you will recognize the college that had a sex workers’ art show and removed the cross from the chapel.  Yes, that William and Mary.  Guess who was president at that time.  Our hardworking professor.

Now for the kicker.  Do you know his main responsibility?  He runs the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity which was founded my another champion of the poor, John Edwards.  As he is attacking Republicans for making war on the poor, he and his wife are squeaking by on a combined income of “at least $612,000" a year and living in a home valued at more than $1,000,000.  For a break from his rigorous schedule he has a beach bungalow valued at half a million. 

There is a lot more about this left-wing champion of the poor.  Read the article, but only if you have a strong heart and a low boiling point.

homo unius libri