On “Janet Mefferd Today” recently, right-wing pastor Jim Garlow suggested the government should stop assuming responsibility for providing “health and welfare” services so that churches can take over the social safety net and eliminate “freeloaders.” “For the first part of the history of this country, we did a good job at the health and welfare of the people because it was in the role of the church. The family’s the number one institution, number two and the church steps in and then the community at large, and then finally the role of the government. That’s kind of a pecking order,” he said.
“Today, however, we’ve gone completely off the rails and everybody’s depending on the government to do them favors, including the poor,” the pastor argued. “Take our budget, for example. 51 percent of our national budget is health and welfare – who does that? Who else does that? Nobody. And as if that’s not enough, now they’re asking for more? I don’t know, I’m not an economist, but the math here is all wrong. And the worst part is, we already have a solution for the problem, we’re just not applying it. And as a pastor, that’s what pains me the most.”
“I read about the whole Mylan Pharmaceuticals conundrum recently and I was shocked, I have to tell you,” the pastor continued. “Everybody is bashing on that poor CEO and accusing her of raising the EpiPen price with no realistic foundation. And you have to understand that this is going on in a country whose 51 percent of the national budget is welfare and health. This is just, I’m lost for words here. Maybe it would be best if all pharmaceutical companies just stopped making profits and giving salaries to their employees and, instead, redirected those funds directly to the poor. While they’re at it, they could also start donating medications for free, because, what’s the point, right?”
He opined, “The fact to the matter is, I’m not proud of it and it’s not the best solution but it is what it is, our society today is based on a monetary economy. That means that if you want to acquire something, you have to pay for it. Like I said, it’s not the best solution but there’s no escaping it. And I’m terribly sorry to have to say this, but the fact that we have poor people even in this kind of society means something. It means that those people must not be worthy of the good life if God made them poor. And it’s the same with medications – if they deserved them, God would have given them the money for them through some mysterious way known only to Him.”
“So, I’m sorry for all the poor people who are on welfare, who are struggling, who are suffering and who are not ashamed of taking half of our national budget to buy Mars bars and Evian bottled water,” the pastor said. “But at the end of the day, ask yourselves why you’re poor. Perhaps you have done something to deserve such a life, perhaps you’ve made mistakes. Bottom line – God doesn’t make mistakes and he sees everything. So, if you’re going through hardships and poverty and can’t afford medications, the man upstairs probably has a good reason for doing that.”
