What happened to compassion?

Unlike most of us, politicians tend to speak in code, that is, they talk in voter-friendly words that belie their true intent. For example, they spout the shibboleth,"We must cut government spending and stop wasting taxpayers money."

Who can argue against that? Certainly, both parties repeat this phrase endlessly. The rub comes when we see where they intend to cut. Too often, it's the budgets for the poor, elderly, handicapped, unemployed, and uninsured. Meanwhile, some politicians refuse to modestly raise taxes on the wealthy who are the most able to pay them.

Did you notice that CEOs of several oil and communication companies received 140% increases in salary over the last year? How much increase did Social Security give to seniors last year? Zero. It seems that America's contract with itself, to care for the most vulnerable among us, has been turned on it's head. We now take care of those with the most! Have we lost our moral sense?  Has capitalism gone wild?

For several years I have taught a weekly Bible story to clients in an adult health day care facility. These friends are emotionally and mentally challenged and receive daily health check-ups and physical therapy.  Lately, the staff has been worried that government funds the center received for services will be cut off, forcing the center to shut down. I confess that this gets me angry.

Compassion isn't free.  What are your thoughts? 

Why do God-believers cheat?

I am surprised and a little disappointed when I hear about some believers in God behaving no different ethically than the society at large.So here comes another research study saying that certain views of God result in self-approved cheating. When I think of cheating, I see a range of behaviors including spousal unfaithfulness, cheating the I.R.S.,taking credit for someone else's work, and copying another's research paper or blog post.

The title of this study is "Mean Gods Make Good People: Different Views of God Predict Cheating Behavior." It was published recently in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. The story was covered in the Los Angeles Times. The study found was that those who believe in a loving and forgiving God were more likely to cheat. On the other hand, those who see God as judging and punitive, who gets angry at cheating, will tend to toe the line.

A couple of observations may be on order. The first is that we tend to create the kind of God we need. While the biblical God has specific qualities, His followers have selected certain ones to honor and discarded the others. The second point is that the good news in all of this is that both views about cheating are attempts to work from God's character. In other words, they take God seriously even though their results are not the full picture of the biblical God.