Paul Ryan discovers that the Catholic Church is all about storing up treasures on earth

Dear Congressman Paul Ryan,

Fellow Catholic here  I saw online that you think your budget is consistent with the Church’s teachings on issues of social justice.  Interesting.  I must have missed class the day the nuns taught us to shaft the poor, leave old people to suffer without necessary medicines and surgeries, tell parents they can’t take their kids to the doctor or buy them a hot lunch at school or send them to college, so that the already very rich can store up more treasures on earth.

I do remember Jesus saying something about selling everything to follow him to the rich young man who asked what he must do to be saved.  But maybe I got that mixed up.

Or maybe, knowing the value the Church places on good works and charity, you designed your budget to encourage both by giving people nothing to rely on in times of trouble except the charity of their neighbors?  Is that it?

Or maybe you got mixed up and confused Ayn Rand, the prophetess of your true religion, Selfishness, with St Francis of Assisi and Atlas Shrugged with the Sermon on the Mount.

Oh well. I’m sure the bishops will correct you if you’re wrong.

Yours in Christ,

Lance Mannion

PS.  Sister Mary Jacinta did teach us how to do basic math. We weren’t allowed to balance equations by declaring “Here magic happens.”  What did they teach at your school?
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Because he just won’t go away, this from a year ago today:  Ayn Rand and the God-less Republican budget.

Comments

[FranK]

Sister Margaret didn't even allow "a miracle occurs".

[S McCoy]

Lance - Christ/Catholicism doesn't say the Roman Empire or the Jewish Nation should care for the least of these....He says his followers should. It's possible to sincerely believe that the best way to care for the poor is to get the bloated, ineffective bureaucracies out of the way and promote personal, innovative compassion. I don't agree with the premise that it's Washington DC's job to create and fund programs to address every unfortunate situation. I hope that doesn't make me (or Paul Ryan) selfish, un-Christian, and/or stupid.

[Lance Mannion]

S McCoy, actually, the Church is fairly explicit and emphatic about the obligation of governments to take care of the poor, the sick, the old, the downtrodden generally, and children especially.

[S McCoy]

I don't think so. Individual church leaders may advocate for more government involvement as a means to an end. We can debate the political/economic merits of government aid versus individual charity, but there's no moral or Biblical basis for claiming government is the better answer. I think it cheapens your position to claim those you disagree with have evil motives.

[Lance Mannion]

S McCoy, Paul Ryan is an avowed disciple of Ayn Rand. He didn't start with his Jesus says it's ok to take health care away from children until very recently. Up until it became clear that people don't like him or his budget he was proud of its cruelty,

As for charity being more efficient than govt programs, I'm not sure my parish can afford to pay for hip replacements and by-passes for all our elderly parishioners. Maybe if we add a third collection every Sunday.

[Lance Mannion]

Oh, and S McCoy? This:

Pope, church leaders call for guaranteed health care for all people.

[S McCoy]

Lance, I think this link supports my point more than yours. Of course the pope thinks everyone should have health care. But he doesn't think God says the only way to pay for it is thru a nationalized, single payer system. Good people can disagree on the best way to finance things. Paul Ryan suggests a different way to pay for future Medicare benefits for people that are currently under 55, as opposed to the ponzi scheme in place that we know isn't sustainable, yet you persist in calling him a granny killer. You and I are from different planets, which is why it's good to dialogue. I come in peace.

[Earl Bockenfeld]

They used to say that the money wealthy people spent would trickle down to everyone else, but nobody was really buying it. I'm not sure anyone's buying this either:

"Let's define rich," Scarborough suggested. "So, what's the cutoff? Is it $500,000?"

"I don't even want to get into what the cutoff is because I don't think we should get into this definition," Ryan said. "But I'm not going to give you what I think is a rich person and what I think is not a rich person because you have to look at the fact that these are job creators."

Ours is a consumer-based economy. Something like 70% of economic activity in the US is individual consumption (or was before the last Great Recession, anyway.) So if you want to meet a job creator, look in the mirror. We create jobs when we spend. A businessman will hire more people when there's more demand for his/her products, and not otherwise.

Put money in the hands of working people and it will create jobs. Put money in the hands of the 1% and it will create Swiss bank accounts. If Ryan's read on the New Testament is that Jesus would cut food stamps for the unemployed/underemployed while giving millionaires a big tax break, Paul Ryan then has a far more creative mind than I do.

The Book of ALEC is a recent addition to the Ryan/GOP bible. It promotes ignoring or ruthlessly twisting inconvenient truths until they fit the GOP agenda. Apparently its idea of Hell is a thriving middle class that might vote democratically, and who are educated and reasonably comfortable.