The Poor

The word “poor” is comparative and means having a lot less than those around you. You may well have far more money than a Bangladeshi peasant but if you have less than your friends, neighbors, and relatives, you could feel rather poor. How then did the word “poor” enter our political vocabulary? Originally, from God’s Word, we became aware of an obligation toward those with less than we have. In cultures that have never been touched by the Judeo-Christian tradition, one encounters an almost eerie indifference on the part of those blessed toward those less fortunate. …

One of the great indictments of the changes that thirty-five years of secularism have inflicted upon us, is that America’s so-called poor pay few taxes and give little charity themselves. Secularism has converted an entire class of Americans into people who take but do not give.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin, "America's Real War," pg.249