Do you believe it's wrong to force people to provide for the poor?

i think its wrong to force people to do much of anything.

Well, in a perfect world, it would be wrong, but since government, business and people aren't ethical, we acknowledge a responsibility to take care of the poor as is evidenced by the Mormon Church welfare system among others.

The good shepherd led his sheep and they willingly followed. Forcing someone to do anything is never a good idea, but...

to be more Christ like and follow the example of the widow who fed Elijah, we must offer our help when we can even when it may seem contrary to our best interest.

I agree that a welfare state doesn't and cannot work, so we must continually re-evaluate our priorities in terms of government dollars spent on welfare, just as we need to consider the government dollars spent on warfare.

Yes and No. In a perfect world, there would be no need to force people to provide for the poor. We would all take care of those in need. Since our world is far from perfect, there definitely is a need to help those who are unable to help themselves for various reasons.

Obviously it would be much better if government would not get involved. Therefore, there are a couple of choices. 1. Let the poor starve or let them die young from untreated medical ailments or 2. Society needs to step in and provide at least a minimal existence for those unable to do so for themselves.

If society didn't step in through taxation, then approximately 20% of the population would be providing 100% of the help for the poor. By providing help through taxation, it spreads the burden equally among those who have the capability to provide help whether they have the inclination or not.

I believe in assistance which helps those in need learn how to provide for themselves. Welfare with no limits on duration is simply a handout and creates a dependent class (ie Democratic Voters). If you allow those who are less fortunate to gain educational or vocational skills to better themselves, you begin to lessen the burdens on the middle class by reducing the welfare rolls and thus the need for the rampant taxation needed to support them.

If you are referring to our tax $ helping the poor, I think it is a moot point. Very little of our tax $ actually go to the poor. We have more "corporate" welfare, than any actual assistance for the poor. Since I am being forced to fund this so called war on terrorism, corporate welfare, and thanks to the Bush administration I am being forced to subsidize religious evangelizing under the guise of providing "social services," I say boo-frikin-hoo-hoo to those who are upset that a few pennies of their taxes are going to feed a hungry child.

I voluntarily contribute to organizations that help the WORKING poor, such as Habitat for Humanity and others. Our state allows a tax CREDIT (not a deduction) for such contributions, provided those contributions exceed a threshold amount. I am all for this. It allows people to re-direct some of their tax dollars to charities. I guess some could complain that by allowing some people to re-direct a portion to the poor, that this is somehow forcing others.

There are two major factors on why it's probably better to help the poor versus ignoring them...

a. Humanistic value of alleviating human suffering...Debate that amongst yourselves...

b. the poverty level is directly related to the overall crime level. People that have jobs and steady streams of income tend to not commit crimes in the numbers that poverty level people do who are not employed. Obviously there will always be some element of crime be it crimes of passion, prostitution and embezzlement but the violent crime and burglary rates always drop as the poverty level drops.

No. It's not wrong. I think that if you want to live in an organized society where you benefit from all the attributes that go along with that type of society, you should be obligated ot help provide a portion of your own wealth to the poor.

If people do not want to give any of their wealth to the poor, then those people should live in a society that would not have a safety net in case they got poor.

are you so self centered you would not help a fellow human being in need ? Do you feel you are being forced to help someone in need ?

A single parent perhaps . Or a child with leukemia ?

Or maybe MS , Cancer oh no lets not help any of these People !

Wouldn't want you to do anything like that . Get off the Planet why don't you !!!

Yes, forced "compassion" is anything but. I have a much greater faith in the human spirit that the socialists. If you didn't tax people to death and force "compassion" on them, I have no doubt that the poor would be taken care of voluntarily. You may now all proceed with the thumbs downs.

How are people being forced to provide for the poor?

Do you speak of taxes? Is it wrong for oil companies to receive billions in tax breaks?

I think if you really look at the federal budget you will see very very little actually is used to provide for the poor.

Is your god money?

Not really, but they should be required to engage in programs to work as they can, in order to get all that welfare money. As it is now, they collect the money, drink beer, watch TV and make babies to increase the load on the tax base.

_____________________________

KrazyKyngeKorny (Krazy, not stupid)

¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯