>LBJ’s War on Poverty was the culmination of the social gospel movement.
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Yes and no. And I suspect more no than yes! LBJ jiggered the tax code to try to keep preachers from talking about politics when he was a congressman because his local preachers spoke out against him, so I doubt he was religious. The left, from the out and out Marxists to the mushy hippie types to the social gospel type Christians were behind the great society programs, so I don’t think it was even mainly social gospel types that can be blamed for the programs.
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>They could focus on important things like building grand cathedrals and growing mega churches and even sending missionaries to poor countries instead of dealing with the filth in our own streets...
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I kind of agree with you here. I sort of wish American churches would support churches and people in San Francisco, New York, etc. rather than Haiti. But that’s a personal preference I think, not a Biblical one. I’ve had a few good Christians that I respect think I was sort of missing the point of evangelism and charity by wanting to focus close to home as opposed to anywhere else.
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>The funny thing is churches are automatically tax exempt. You don’t even need to file for 501c3 status. The only “advantage” to this is the protection of assets for church officials.
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I didn’t know this. So they are taking the incorporation to avoid personal liability, but it comes with government strings. Ugly.
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>There are still many individuals and churches working in the field, but, as a whole, the Church has little authority left in a sphere that is rightfully hers.
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Agreed.
Ping to response above, you were part of the discussion.