Pope Francis does not like Reaganomics

[loomer]

Thanks for missing the point? As a Christian, the Pope is pretty much obligated to believe that any kind of economic inequality is unacceptable. This particular level of reading comprehension isn't so hard, but apparently some people cannot grasp the idea of not failing.

Obviously you have not dealt with religious conservatives much. . . .
Need to read some of the apologetics they try with the "Eye of the Needle" passage

The Conservapedia Bible 'Translation' Project is especially hilarious. It's not a rich man, guys! It's an idle miser.

[amigocabal]

Thanks for missing the point? As a Christian, the Pope is pretty much obligated to believe that any kind of economic inequality is unacceptable. This particular level of reading comprehension isn't so hard, but apparently some people cannot grasp the idea of not failing.

Obviously you have not dealt with religious conservatives much. . . .
Need to read some of the apologetics they try with the "Eye of the Needle" passage

Well, the antics of Bernie Madoff and Lance Armstrong would confirm that passage, would it not?

[Kitsune]

Thanks for missing the point? As a Christian, the Pope is pretty much obligated to believe that any kind of economic inequality is unacceptable. This particular level of reading comprehension isn't so hard, but apparently some people cannot grasp the idea of not failing.

Obviously you have not dealt with religious conservatives much. . . .
Need to read some of the apologetics they try with the "Eye of the Needle" passage

The Conservapedia Bible 'Translation' Project is especially hilarious. It's not a rich man, guys! It's an idle miser.

Thought they would argue that it is a special gate

[Dr. Trainwreck]

Here is a short compilation of Bible verses on almsgiving.

Is there any evidence that the Biblical definition of poor could ever include people who could afford "6000 square foot homes and Porsches"? Does Deuteronomy 15:7-8 require people to give free McLarens to "poor" people who can afford Porsches?

Keep dancing around the matter, bitch. My point is clear: if he wants to believe in Jesus and still have his conscience clear unlike the "prosperity gospel" crowd, he has to decry inequality. Your stupid little supercar spiel has nothing to do with any of it.

[Irbis]

For those without knowledge of basic economics, poverty is not defined
in terms of absolutes. It has nothing to do with absolute measures of subsistence, or health, or quality of clothing or standards of living. It is simply based on income percentiles; if you rank financially in the bottom third of the population, then you are below the poverty line (the exact placement of the poverty line may vary from country tocountry).

To put this concept in stark relief, consider this: if everybody in North America experiences a tenfold increase in wealth over the next 30 days, the number of people living below the poverty line won't change one iota. The "poor" grocery store clerks might have 6000 square foot homes and Porsches, but the "rich" people would have 30,000 square foot homes and McLarens (insert whatever ostentatious displays of wealth you prefer, if you're not into cars).

In other words, a general increase in the standard of living cannot possibly eliminate poverty, no matter how high that increase is.

Please, don't tell me that imbeciles who can't see difference between (in their imagined world) poor having 6000 square foot homes and (in real world) having to settle on 1 meal a day and no heating in winter (and this assuming you actually have a place to stay, which isn't a given in poverty) actually exist

I'd even say they're so deep in their la-la land they can't even understand that it is precisely real life where over-accumulation of wealth resulting in rich having '30,000 square foot homes and McLarens' while poor have little to nothing happens, not in their la-la land where everyone is 10x as rich. No, people have issues with these stratification levels being real, not imagined.

[amigocabal]

Here is a short compilation of Bible verses on almsgiving.

Is there any evidence that the Biblical definition of poor could ever include people who could afford "6000 square foot homes and Porsches"? Does Deuteronomy 15:7-8 require people to give free McLarens to "poor" people who can afford Porsches?

Keep dancing around the matter, bitch. My point is clear: if he wants to believe in Jesus and still have his conscience clear unlike the "prosperity gospel" crowd, he has to decry inequality. Your stupid little supercar spiel has nothing to do with any of it.

No, he has to decry starving to death on the streets, and the notion that poverty has "nothing to do with absolute measures of subsistence, or health, or quality of clothing or standards of living". Starving to death on the streets is pretty absolute.

Please, don't tell me that imbeciles who can't see difference between (in their imagined world) poor having 6000 square foot homes and (in real world) having to settle on 1 meal a day and no heating in winter (and this assuming you actually have a place to stay, which isn't a given in poverty) actually exist

My quoted passage proves such imbeciles actually exist. This is why we see headlines such as Child poverty down as household income drops

[Irbis]

You know, maybe it's cultural difference, but locally, I don't hear about poverty measured as % of income (though absurdities like that do happen, some places treat people above certain % of median income as not qualifying for help regardless of circumstances), but about poverty measured as falling below income big enough to purchase basket of goods 'enough for basic decent livelihood'. In which case such illusionist tricks cease to apply, as no one can argue Porsche is a necessity, but we can define necessary nutrition and shelter needed to maintain good health.

[Welf]

Wish we had that kind of catholicism here. Assholes that run things here would be more likely (and did) to destroy hospital or school to line their pockets...

Probably because Poland lacked proper unions in the 19th century. Back the 19th century the church leaders in Germany thought health insurance would be bad for the public because it would make the poor lose faith. Because who needs to properly pray when he can pay a doctor? But with the growing influence of the unions and their social networks they had to discover their social attitude to not lose their customers to the socialists. And now, 150 years later the catholic church has around 100.000 employees with many of those working in catholic hospitals, kindergartens, retirement homes and similar institutions. And since they get most their money from the government they do have a big interest in a more social society. Not that I complain since they are a way to influence right-wingers.