For the last twenty years, the government has been eroding the separation of church and state. The welfare reform bill of 1996 allowed states to contract with religious organizations to provide social services without any restriction on the expression of their religious beliefs or even on overtly proselytizing their charges. This came about because welfare reform reduced the amount of money available to needy people. States were allowed to turn to faith-based nonprofits to provide the needed social services, which were provided at a lower cost as volunteers were used for much of the work. For many needy people, there are no alternatives; they must receive help from proselytizing Christians, or nothing. Despicably, the state and the Federal governments just don’t help. This all was done to save the government money by getting people off the welfare rolls. Well, it worked, except the original problem is still there. Although people are off the welfare rolls, it’s only because they’re disqualified, not because they’re working, or doing well in any way. There are not enough programs to help them change their lives, so they simply disappear, and that seems to be good enough for the politicians. To learn more about this truly unacceptable state of affairs, read these two very disturbing articles in the Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/religious-groups-government-arkansas/477366/
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/the-end-of-welfare-as-we-know-it/476322/
The horror of this situation is twofold: not only is there no real social support for the poor, the separation of church and state is vanishing. The incomprehensible misery the poor must endure without any assistance at all is monstrous, and not at all in keeping with our status as a purportedly civilized nation. If this is not addressed, the country will degenerate to a medieval-like state.
To complete the medieval picture, if the separation of church and state disappears, most of our freedoms will disappear as well, because tolerance and diversity will also disappear. The consequences of this do not bear thinking on. Do we really want a society of serfs ruled by the 1%? I believe it is time to take action. I hope enough other people become sufficiently tired of this to work toward change, and to bring some humanity back to our society.
Copyright © 2016 Teresa Chupp. All rights reserved.
Contemplative Wicca 