TIL Peter David was flat broke, disabled as fuck, but was still kicked off Medicaid.
It looks like he was lucky enough to still be getting care. The problem is that his medical bills were so high that his family was at risk of becoming homeless.
His wife has been struggling to get a job that pays a living wage, and his daughter has been struggling to get an entry level role. Sadly, this is a very American story, and if he wasn’t lucky enough to have so many fans, things would be even darker for his family.
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Christianity is nothing more than a cudgel for these people.
My comment started with Matthew 25:41, but it’s worth going back to 25:31 for the rest of the passage. The sheep and the goats; the wheat and the chaff.
Not a Christian, but I want to live my life like the sheep. I think this is the most powerful passage ever written. Matthew has my favorite Jesus.
Holy shit, Peter David wrote some of my favorite Star Trek novelizations. In 1997, I moved to a new area just before my junior year of high school. My new school was massive and I was an introvert who wasn't great at making friends. But somehow I ended up hanging out with a few fellow Star Trek fans, who introduced me to his new series, Star Trek: New Frontier (thank you Regina!). It got me through the rest of high school!
Nevermind, I'm full of shit- Mike Johnson isn't Mormon, he's a southern Baptist- so, yeah, this tracks.
I always believed that Mormons had some principles- ones I didn’t agree with, sure- but at least they had their own set of standards. People like Harry Reid, or Mitt Romney, even. I never expected them to take the same path as the evangelicals, who, as far as I could ever tell, never stood for anything longer than five minutes. Say what you want about the old-school LDS- but they used to live by their code, even if that code made your skin crawl. At least you knew where they stood.