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The just treatment of the poor is central to both Judaism and Christianity.

But that means works of charity performed personally or personal donations to charitable organizations which genuinely help the poor. It doesn't mean imposing higher taxes to pay for a hugely expensive programs, in which most of the money goes to pay salaries of bureaucrats and the poor are only questionably helped.

It's very noticeable that Democrat politicians always want to tax somebody else to pay for the poor, but unless they are called to account they rarely give any money personally and rarely or never visit the sick, care for the hungry, visit prisoners, or anything else that the gospels call for.

Al Gore notoriously donated something like $150 one year to charity, before he was called on it. Kennedy probably contributes to NARAL and NOW. Teresa Heinz Kerry supervises the donations of millions to Communist political organizations. None of this does anything meaningful for the poor.

It's important for conservatives to take the high ground on moral issues, and not let Democrats get away with pretending to be concerned for the poor and the oppressed. They are not.

"It's important for conservatives to take the high ground on moral issues, and not let Democrats get away with pretending to be concerned for the poor and the oppressed. They are not."

I so agree about the demodimwits subterfuge.

I also am waiting for the Conservatives and GOP to get energized enough to point out the truth.

"The just treatment of the poor is central to both Judaism and Christianity."

No, our sin, and need for a Savior, provided for us only in the Messiah, is central.

Anyone can feed the poor. Only Christians do it because Jesus promised to live inside them and work through them, so that their works are actually God's works, and He gets the glory.

Trying to act "justly" is meaningless outside of understanding what justice is. Would it be "just" of God to favor you because you feed the poor and do certain things? HE says no, because the price has been paid by Christ alone. He says we can never do enough in His holy sight, because our hearts are evil. And yet in His love and grace He provides a way for us to have His favor: His spotless Lamb of God, His Only Son, taking our punishment, dying in our place, so that we are no longer under His condemnation if we believe in Jesus.

We can't understand justice, until we understand right and wrong. Feeding the poor by someone who rejects Christ, earns no favor in God's sight. Someone who trusts in Jesus' death for them, does not gain favor with God by feeding the poor. They have favor only because of Christ. They feed the poor out of gratitude to Him and a new love for others. Feeding the poor, but not doing it from faith, defined by God as believing in Christ alone for salvation, is sin. "Whatever is not of faith, is sin."

Jesus Christ and His reconciling us with the Father is what is "central" to the teachings of the Bible. Until we understand that, all other views we have get skewed wrongly.