More than a million people lose unemployment benefits today, because Jesus, or something.

[CJCRANE]

128. I agree that helping others makes you a better person

but I detected something very self-serving in Blanket Statement's opinion (which also seems to be the attitude of many conservative christians).

It is an idea that puts ideas about self-sufficiency and personal responsibility into the Bible and claims that individual charitable giving is the best way of helping people. You also implied that this form of giving gives you more spiritual points.

However, in the New Testament Jesus is portrayed as living in a communitarian group where all their resources were pooled and redistributed according to need (which incidentally is where Marx got his idea of "from each according to their ability, to each according to their need&quot . So this was a collective form of giving similar to the idea of a government for the people.

So, I see Blanket Statement's insistence on personal giving as being better as Biblically incorrect. It is an unecessary and self-imposed limitation.

By hindering collective giving, which is what Jesus' disciples practiced, (in this case stopping the unemployment benefits), the Repubs are causing more suffering and in spiritual terms putting themselves on the wrong path. Alleviating suffering is good however it is achieved.