WELFARE

The nation of Israel was instructed by God to provide

for the needy of the land by the practice of leaving

"gleanings" in the fields for the poor and the needy. The

fields were not reaped to the very corners, nor meticulously

picked up, and neglected sheaves were deliberately to be

left behind.

This system had several advantages. It required no

government bureaucracy to maintain or administrate it. It

effectively scattered the needy throughout the land instead

of concentrating them in the cities. It put the able-bodied

needy into contact with landowners who could use

agricultural manual labor.

God gave special commands to care for the orphans and

the widows, not to mistreat them and to provide for their

needs. (Exodus 22:22, Deuteronomy 14:28-29)

These concerns are reiterated in the New Covenant as

obligations of charitable action by believers (James 1:27,

I_Timothy 5:3-16), and limited to those who are unable to

work productively (II Thessalonians 3:10).

The welfare system in the United States of America

encourages unemployment of able-bodied people who otherwise

would have to seek gainful employment. It positively

discourages marriage and encourages illegitimate births; and

it encourages concentration of welfare recipients in urban

areas.

If the Biblical concept of poverty is the lack of

sufficient food, clothing and shelter, then only a very

small number of people in this country are in poverty. The

responsibilities which God gave to human government do not

include support of an indigent class of people who find the

dole easier than gainful employment. Welfare in this

country is an unnecessary and unfair burden on the middle-

class tax-paying worker who directly or indirectly pays

almost all the taxes in this country.

Clyde C. Price, Jr.

[This brief paper was written some time ago, before the

explosive growth of the problem of homelessness, which is an

issue different from the one addressed here.

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