Hunger & Biblical Charity
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) claims that “SNAP is America’s most effective anti-hunger program” and that the Republican plan to “reform” it is a “sinful betrayal of the Gospel of Matthew: ‘When I was hungry, you fed me’.”
IN FACT, people who receive SNAP benefits are 79% more likely to suffer from hunger than people with equivalent incomes who forgo SNAP. Furthermore, Pelosi’s comment is biblically illiterate for the following reasons:
- The verse she cited from the Book of Matthew applies to personal charity, not government-funded welfare.
- The Bible contains at least 50 passages about giving, and none of them involve government coercion but self-sacrificing generosity.
- Jesus called for giving in “secret” instead of announcing it “with trumpets, as the hypocrites do” to “be honored by others.”
- The Bible tells people to “give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion,” as is the case with government taxation.
The passages above embody how Americans cared for the poor and needy before the advent of the modern welfare state.
