Explain where you found Christ's written tenants. Also explain why the Pope was brought into the discussion then, unless you imply he has direct contact with Christ.
I'll say this - Fred brought the Pope into the discussion, and rightfully so because the Pope said what he did.
I don't know why you're being so adversarial here. The link with questions you provided is something that Elizabeth Warren has stated with rebuttals from the author of the page. Nowhere did I see any mention of Jesus Christ or the Pope in the entire page. The title of the page, "Faith, Culture, Politics - Catholic Social Teaching" is the only thing I saw, unless I missed something, that even remotely comes close to what this discussion is about.
And, for the record, the "pile on" accusation is something you really should consider re-thinking given how all of you conservatives (note I used "conservatives) on this site pile on to those of a more liberal persuasion here.
Your post, and questions regarding same are what is BS in the scheme of things. P has done a remarkable job in stating his viewpoints thus far. That I gave Dog a "thank you" is simply because I have a tendency to have like thinking, nothing more. I'm listening to P. I'm considering what he's saying. Thus far, I haven't seen anything to sway me to his way of viewing this, but that could change. I'm keeping an open mind. Are you?
And one more on the issue of poverty, charity, justice:
Edited to add: For clarification, this has relevance because of the ongoing discussion regarding Jesus and whether or not charity begins with each of us and should stay there, or whether it's something the government may have a role in helping to eradicate.
Last edit: 06 Dec 2014 10:25 by ZHawke. Reason: Clarification
PrintSmith wrote: OK, I'll give you some more fat to chew on in the meantime. The other thing Christ never, even once, preached is forcibly taking money from others to provide for the poor, which goes to my earlier statement about a growing welfare state.
Sweet dreams Z . . .
Finally getting around to addressing this one, P.
I'm not so sure I agree a "welfare state" actually exists or even "forcibly takes money from others to provide for the poor". The only way this would apply is if you consider taxation as "forcibly taking money".
Instead of focusing on what Christ did NOT say about taking care of the poor, why don't we try to focus on what DID Christ say about taking care of the poor?
One of those "liberal" rags that so many conservatives dismiss out of hand, but one that has some very interesting and thought provoking material relevant to this discussion:
Just a thought. Maybe we could stick to the thread title "Progressive tenets of Jesus Christ" and look into the scriptures for the answers. Not the opinions of the Pope (and that's just what they are, opinions, not tenets), not the ramblings of various other opinion writers, but maybe we can actually find what we are looking for in the pronouncements of Christ himself.
And let's stay away from Paul and the various other disciples and their writings. Paul had Hellenistic and Roman bent to his interpretations of how the early church should develop itself. Just as you can find James contradicting Paul, James who represented the core church in Jerusalem.
The early church started to change rapidly, moving away from the foundation teachings of Christ. Let's see if we can find the basis for progressive (or if you don't like that term, liberal will work) teachings. Did he teach for a communal church, like the Essenes that lived outside of Jerusalem?
I didn't select the thread title, Z did, and I'm curious if the answers are in the four gospels?
