I haven't thought this one through much, and am certainly not suggesting anything...only raising a question, I guess. And so with that...

Can we legislate morality? I mean, if a moral sin becomes illegal, then is the result morality or compliance? Perhaps some would say "who cares?", just as some would say "who cares?" to the question of who helps the poor (not me, btw).

If I had to answer my own question, I'd come back with this response: God gave moral decrees in order to protect us from ourselves and to promote societal stability. History shows that the decline of empires often correlates with its moral situation. And so I'd suggest that legislating morality is beneficial to the country's stability.

But then that begs the question: Doesn't having the homeless off the streets and shrinking the lower class benefit a country? History has also shown that when the middle class expands and thrives, the county is better off. Therefore, just as legislating morality can fall under a government's domain, so too can caring for its poor, because in both cases it is beneficial to the greater common good.

My point is that while the poor should be the responsibility of the Church, it can fall under the domain of government as well.

But I'm not done...let me follow this train of thought to the finish line, where I think we'll all agree. If, indeed, the Church would fulfill its mission in America, then the need for government assistance should be diminished. Ideally this is where we should be, and I join others in the call for the Church to get busy. For me to get busy.

One last point though...In many cases, the Church ARE the poor. Until the affluent white church and the often poorer black church come to share this vision, I see huge roadblocks ahead. As long as Sunday remains the most segregated day of the week, the Church will have difficulty in fulfilling its responsibility to the poor.