title:  Republican’s Excuse For Cutting Food Stamps: The Bible Says Unemployed ‘Shall Not Eat’
text: Republican lawmakers love using the Bible to dictate their policies. They especially love using it to justify pushing spending cuts to social programs   even if it means intentionally misreading their favorite passages.In Texas, Rep. Jodey Arrington decided his support for cutting parts of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program needed a bit of New Testament spin. How does one defend taking the food out of mouths of hungry people using the Bible? By cherrypicking this quote: If a man will not work, he shall not eat. During a debate on whether or not Republicans will further gut SNAP benefits, Arrington cited the biblical verse in response to a Jewish anti-hunger group pleading with Congress not to do something so foolish as to further dismantle food stamps. He probably thought he was being pretty clever.Arrington isn t the first to use the line. It s extremely popular with conservatives. So popular, in fact, that the Daily Kos once devoted an entire article to debunking the misinterpretation of the quote.What s important to understand is working was secondary in this context, this is not so much a moral decree about work, the main message is a warning not to take advantage of the Christian obligation to feed the hungry, especially if you are screwing up the church and community tasked with doing that by behaving like a twelve year-old socialite.In other words, the real meaning is to judge a man by his heart, not by his employment status. And as the Washington Post points out, in today s economy, being  unemployed  doesn t mean lazy, unmotivated, or being a leech. As the economy continues to separate between the  haves  and the  have-nots,  finding employment can be hard.The verse in question applies specifically to people who can work or otherwise contribute to society but choose not to, said theologians from several denominations who spoke to The Post. There is a perception, among some voters and lawmakers, that many adult SNAP recipients are exactly this sort of  freeloader. But policy experts say that is not the case. Many unemployed adults on SNAP simply cannot work, they say. Those include the mentally ill, the borderline disabled and veterans.Here s economist Justin Wolfers putting the sad reality of America s employment into a stunning graph:It takes a certain kind of mind to look at these trends and conclude that tax cuts for the top 1% are an urgent national priority. pic.twitter.com/6s9Jwr0a8w  Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) March 31, 2017Arrington has both biblical and economic reasons to doubt his own reasoning. Instead, his real ideology   the Church of Conservative Magical Thinking   led him to ignore it all in favor of more cuts to the poor to benefit the very richest in the country.And as if voters needed yet another reminder of why elections matter: Arrington has only been on the job two months. He was voted into office this year. He barely moved into his office and already he s going after the most disadvantaged people in his district. Hats off to his efficiency, but then, institutionalized cruelty often is.Featured image via the Washington Post