It may come as a small comfort that lawmakers are still using the Bible to back up their case in the legislative process, but it’s being used on both sides of some debates, and when both sides are more interested in finding verses that back up their previously held notions than they are about figuring out what the Bible says then there’s bound to be trouble. And there was trouble this week as lawmakers try to figure out what to do with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or, food stamps), the claims for which have skyrocketed since the economic downturn.
Representative Juan Vargas, a California Democrat, argued to keep things going more or less as they are, citing Jesus’ words that whatever we do for the least of these, we do for him. This spurred a memorized Bible verse in Tennessee Republican Stephen Fincher’s memory, who quoted 2 Thessalonians 3:10: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” Ultimately, the cuts to SNAP ended up passing. Who knew Washington to be such big Thessalonians fans? …
