Rick Warren, who was last seen bashing President Obama like some garden variety wingnut blogger, appeared on "This Week" Easter Sunday, and made this startling remark.
WARREN: Well, certainly the Bible says we are to care about the poor. There’s over 2,000 versus in the Bible about the poor. And God says that those who care about the poor, God will care about them and God will bless them. But there’s a fundamental question on the meaning of “fairness.” Does fairness mean everybody makes the same amount of money? Or does fairness mean everybody gets the opportunity to make the same amount of money? I do not believe in wealth redistribution, I believe in wealth creation…
Let's look at that last line, again.
I do not believe in wealth redistribution, I believe in wealth creation…
It's difficult to overstate how just radical this remark is. Progressive taxation has been around for nearly 100 years. A progressive tax was endorsed by Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. And we still operate under a progressive tax.
Why? Because a progressive tax helped the country pay for fighting two World Wars, the interstate highway system, putting man on the moon and created the social safety net programs of the New Deal and Great Society. And it transformed the country from the extreme wealth inequality of the Robber Baron era to the thriving middle classes of the '50s, '60s and '70s.
Warren is saying all that was a mistake, and is endorsing the flat tax craziness of Herman Cain.
WARREN: The only way to get people out of poverty is J-O-B-S. Create jobs. To create wealth, not to subsidize wealth. When you subsidize people, you create the dependency. You — you rob them of dignity. There are a lot of negative things that happen to us. Rather, we should be focusing on wealth creation and job creation, in my opinion…
Since Warren is against "subsidizing people" -- I say we start taxing his ministry like any other business. Also, I don't ever remember the part in the Bible where Jesus fretted about "dependency" when he instructed his followers to give everything they had to the poor, do you? Why would a supposed follower of Jesus say such a thing?
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
Rick Warren isn't preaching the Gospel they taught me in Catholic school. He's teaching the Gospel of Supply Side Jesus. And to oppose "wealth redistribution" is to oppose what built most of the 20th century.
This is the man who the media has dubbed "America's Pastor." God help us all.
