"I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy."
Psalm 40:12
"They judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless....and they do not defend the rights of the needy."
Jeremiah 5:26"
"Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness..." Jeremiah 22:13
"Silence! Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end...Amos 1:1
"Because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals." Amos 2:6
"Therefore because you tread down the poor....and take grain taxes from him." Amos 5:11
"O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justice..."Micah 6:8
"And you shall not strip your vineyard bare. Neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of you vineyard.
You shall leave them for the poor and the sojourner."Leviticus 19:10
"Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 19:23
"The love of money is the root of all kinds of evils..."1 Timothy 6:10
Earmarks....pork barrel....and omnibus legislation....are varying ways that members of congress can secure their own job through reelection. At worst they can be nothing but legalized bribery. On the other end it is possible that it is the wisest thing to do in a difficult situation. The congress might at one time allow earmarks....and then disallow them....and then wind up trying to change the definition to be able to allow them again. Pork is just another way for the powers-that-be to continue to be the powers-that-be....with fewer restrictions on how to disseminate the money....but basically doing the same thing. Omnibus legislation is more trickery than anything else....but is along the same lines of rewarding members of congress for legislative votes and party loyalty.
These things are not necessarily the definition of corruption....but the more earmarks and pork and omnibus trickery there be....although some poor people might be helped....the fabric of a wise and just constitutional republic by them is torn and tattered....resulting in the rich getting richer....and the poor getting poorer.
I do not bring this up for political reasons.....for there are members of congress fighting against this all the time.....but I bring it up for biblical reasons....as shown in the verses above from God's very Word to us.
We in America....America as a people....are being judged by God right now for many things....abortion and societal corruption in general....and disbelief and idolatry....things that we can easily identify....but we are also being judged for our unjust rulers....who do not take up the cause of the needy....or as in the case of the Democrat Party for the past few decades....throw money unwisely away....not to help the poor as they claim....but only to benefit themselves....which we do also in a way through our trickle down theory where we grow a huge 401 while the lower half gets that small flow of a trickle....and in both cases we let them do what they want in order to satisfy our own desires....of pride and politics and greed.
"Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute." Psalm 82:3
"The LORD has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways.....But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always." Hosea 12: 2,6
"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken." Psalm 62: 5,6
God's judgments on Israel and Judah were not just because they worshiped other gods. Their leaders took advantage of their power....and let the poor suffer by the wayside. It was not only law that was transgressed....but justice was ignored. So also it is not simply that law and the constitution in America are breaking down....but fairness and principle and ethics are being trodden down.
We can legislate law....but justice comes from the heart. We are as Simon the Sorcerer to whom Peter said...."You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God." (Acts 8:21) The Congressional Record belies our pious proclamations. We cannot give half truths and obfuscate our own culpability and then claim to seek justice....as we have particularly done in the past five years of ethical chaos. We cannot play dirty and claim to be the good guys. We cannot buy the power of God. Elections and Supreme Courts mean nothing in the state that we are in. Our pulpits need to arise and warn us of this as Peter warned the sorcerer....and to remind us as did Peter to....make our call and election sure....and to stir us up....and to heed these things...."as a light that shines in a dark place." (2 Peter 1)
