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Disruptive Christian Ethics
responsibility for yourself and your children.”8 Full disclosure to the gov
ernment of any personal support that one receives is considered part of
the personal responsibility that recipients need to learn. In South Dakota,
as part of their personal responsibility plan, the applicant must reveal all
sources of personal support that they receive from “family, in-laws?
Friends? Church, Other organizations?”9
The parenting ability of the person seeking help is supposedly a key
aspect of that person’s irresponsibility and is specifically targeted by this
law. The Mississippi Division of Human Services explains its federal
requirement to create a Child Support Program, under Social Security
law and PRWORA. In one of the four key points describing the purpose
of the program, Mississippi’s Web site explains that the program tries “to
help families become more responsible and support their children.”10
In sum, this policy demands moral reform of the applicant. The moral
reform focuses upon parenting, work, sexuality, and family structure. The
Oklahoma explanation of the four purposes of the TANF program
includes the promotion of marriage alongside work as a way of ending a
recipient’s “dependence.” Two of the four purposes focus upon sexual
reproduction and family structure: “3. To prevent and reduce the inci
dence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies . . . 4. To encourage the formation
and maintenance of two-parent families.”11
The rules of “welfare reform” carry multiple assumptions about defi
ciencies in the character, families, and behavior of those who apply for
assistance. The rules presume the government’s right to play an aggres
sive, intrusive role in correcting these supposed deficiencies. How did this
policy come to be popularly understood as the best way to treat mothers
(and others) who are poor and who desperately need economic assistance?
What would it mean to evaluate these governmental public practices uti
lizing Christian ethical principles? How can Christian scripture be a guide
for such an evaluation?
Scripture as “Theory” for Moral Interpretation
ofWelfare Reform
The Magnificat is found at the beginning of the gospel of Luke, after Mary
has given her consent to the angel Gabriel about her participation in
God's
plan. In this plan, Mary will become pregnant and give birth to Jesus
even
though she is unmarried and a virgin. She then
goes to
visit her relative
Elizabeth,
who
has
also suddenly
become prc|>nant, ilioiigli “in her old
age.” Mary responds to Elizabeths greet in;’,
u n i t
t
I k-
following words: