It is no better to say that the poor are spiritually better than the wealthy than it is to say that the wealthy are morally superiour to the poor.

Exactly! What you said. Seriously, it takes money, and a lot of to support missions around the world. Your point about the only people wanting to keep Christians poor are those who want us dependent on the nanny state is an excellent one.

I also get tired of the notion that it’s okay for lay Christians to be wealthy and capitalistic, but preachers … we need to keep them poor and humble. WHY?! Why insult men and women who spend their life working in the ministry by telling them they deserve nothing? Right — they will have their reward in heaven — give me a break, they have the same needs and desires as the rest of us. I love to see all Christians prosper. Most prospering Christians are very giving and generous.

Anyway, as always, thanks for dropping in. Be blessed and have a Merry Christmas!

I love pictures of that polar bear.

Guess what? Comment of the Week is done with the time stamp edited to show up at midnight. Guess what else? It will have a sooper dooper cute picture of Knut.

Sorry, the Constitution does not protect vulgarity, pornography, and the murder of children.

Ditto that. The First Amendment protects speech, not expression; a reasonable interpretation excludes porn. “Speech,” in 1790, did not include pornography.

The Constitution leaves matters of health, safety, and welfare to the States. If the people elect legislators who outlaw abortion, then you can’t whine and complain that it’s just not fair that you have to be pregnant after having unprotected sex.

My rant, by the way, extends to the estate tax. If you are smart enough to make your money, then you can decide if your kids are smart enough to spend it wisely; you can decide if your kids are fools, but hey, it’s your money and you can waste it; or you can decide if you want it to go to charity. I don’t see how the government should be involved in that.

(The worst part is, if you’ll permit an off-topic rant, that the estate tax hits really early. Imagine parents of a mentally and physically disabled kid. $2 million isn’t enough to keep that kid going for the rest of his life. Then there’s wealthy parents with a lot of kids - once you’re done splitting the pie eight or nine or ten ways, there’s not much, but hey, it’s still “a lot of money and really really unfair” so the gov’t taxes it.

The nation was founded on capitalistic principles, among others. If you don’t like it, go over to Russia or China or Romania, and enjoy the equality there - everyone is equally POOR.

Exactly — and he’s Republican? I think he must be whore mongering for future votes from libtards or something.

I have to admit, when Congress was investigating steroid use in baseball, I thought that was none of their business and they were wasting taxpayer money by delving into that. Freaking busy body morons is what they are. How about Grassley showing us his financial records right now because I demand it? I mean, I bet his house is nicer than mine and he probably drives a newer, more expensive vehicle than I do! Only difference is, I don’t have a choice not to pay my taxes, but people giving to these ministries DO have a choice.

Thanks for commenting on my rant post. Such stupidity. Like Ted stated, why not concentrate on areas that need work — like the freaking billion dollar porn industry and the other freaking billion dollar abortion industry. Umm …. last I checked, those industries actually cause real harm and are not Constitutionally protected. Sorry, the Constitution does not protect vulgarity, pornography, and the murder of children.

I have this weird belief that, if you’re smart enough to make your money, you’re smart enough to decide how to spend it. Period. It is not the job of the government or your half-wit rellies to tell you how you can and cannot give it away.

Agreed.