That Stupid

Doug bitched at me for posting a comment on his blog.. For the record, I said I would "try" to avoid commenting on his blog.. but when he writes the most vile lies, it's hard to resist. When he posts pure straw man arguments, somebody needs to correct him lest his readers also believe the same bullshit.

So after bitching at me, Doug posts a comment here, on my blog. That's fine. I encourage that sort of thing because I'm not fundamentally a fraud and coward, deleting opposing views by calling them "disruptive". To Doug - opposition is "disruptive" by definition. What a coward.

Anyway.. his comment;

Douglas V. Gibbs has left a new comment on your post "Say What?":

You idiot, those verses are for us as individuals, though, not government mandated programs of entitlements. Private organizations and church groups do more for the poor than the liberals will ever be able to accomplish by forcing such upon the taxpayers. However, to encourage poverty by simply giving to them does not help the situation - it must go further, they must be encouraged to pull themselves out of such a position. but you, like the rest of the liberals, want to keep the poor in their poverished state by giving them crumbs with programs, and then taking away from the successful as a penalty by taxing the rich so that you can drag them down to the same miserable level - - - please, man, give me a break. You can't be that stupid.

The poor are "miserable"? What an ass.

Notice how Doug places "private organizations and church groups" as diametrically opposed to "liberals", as if they are mutually exclusive. He honestly believes that there are no liberal charitable organizations or church groups. There are many.

Actually.. let's look at "private organizations". Who is the most charitable individual in the world? If your measure it financial - it's Bill Gates.

The Gates Foundation is pure liberal;

The foundation's grants have provided funds for college scholarships for under-represented minorities, AIDS prevention, diseases prevalent in third world countries, and other causes. In 2000, the Gates Foundation endowed the University of Cambridge with US$210 million for the Gates Cambridge Scholarships. The Foundation has also pledged over US$7 billion to its various causes, including US$1 billion to the United Negro College Fund. According to a 2004 Forbes magazine article, Gates gave away over US$29 billion to charities from 2000 onwards. These donations are usually cited as sparking a substantial change in attitudes towards philanthropy among the very rich, with philanthropy becoming the norm.

Notice also that it has NOTHING to do with religion.. and is the largest charity in the entire history of man.

Microsoft, under Gates' direction, also supports gay rights, and "domestic partnerships" for their employees.

Coverage
Most Microsoft benefits outlined below cover the employee, spouse or same-sex domestic partner, and eligible children or dependents.

Richard Branson, of Virgin Atlantic fame, is similar to Gates in support of liberal causes and philanthropy... divorced from "religion".

So, again, Doug asserts a factual lie about liberals and charity.

But what of those that "private" charities do not reach? What of poor people struggling to feed their kids, or even have a place to live? What of an old person who has lost their savings due to the horrible health care financial system in this country?

Doug expects that "private or religious" organizations will keep grandma from existing on cat food, or children from living in a cardboard box. That's simply untrue. Religion's main purpose is not charity - otherwise the evangelical preachers wouldn't be filthy rich (if they do it right). It's about their own money and power.

It quite simply fails the logic test Doug.

Did Doug's church pay for his son's cancer treatment? Oh that's right, it was the "socialist" Medi-Caid program, funded by taxpayers, that quite possibly saved that young man's life.

Doug wants those programs gone.. and he doesn't care about the resulting death and misery that results, because Doug is, paradoxically, Darwinian. In Doug's mind, those poor people are poor due to their own fault. They are not "responsible". If he was consistent, he would have refused to allow his son to receive public assistance - and just pray away the cancer.

Doug assumes that government administered charity is a substitute for finding a job. Doug assumes that everyone is capable. He assumes that illness and just shear bad luck does not exist.

Doug is also wrong when he insists that public assistance is permanent and merely exists as a tool to allow people to be lazy. There are qualifications. There are limits. There are programs to help people get on their feet and make their own way.

It is simply a lie to believe that private organizations and churches are going to feed the poor and hungry, or provide any substantial public assistance to provide the most basic of living for our poorest citizens.

He fundamentally believes that poor people deserve what they get because it's always their own fault. He believes they are "miserable".

My larger point is that Doug and his ilk are complete opposites of the words of Jesus. I stand by that. They have disdain for the weakness and irresponsibility of the poor. Jesus commanded his followers to give away their wealth to the poor and become poor themselves, and by doing so, lift everyone up. Doug worships the wealthy and is horrified that liberals think they should pay a higher percentage of taxes. He believes that with a higher rate, the rich will not stay rich, and will become the "miserable" poor that we are trying to help.

That he says those things is so illustrative of his agenda. He's a propagandist, and not the least concerned with the truth of the matter.

Doug believes;
"American Dream of liberty, happiness, freedom, and wealth."

In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said, “You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Hebrews 13:5 – “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.”
1 Timothy 6:10 – “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”
Proverbs 11:28 – “Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.”

These are diametrically opposed points of view.