Here in Texas lots of people will be in church today.
Oh yes, we are proud of our religious traditions. Living right here on the very buckle of the Bible belt, well, what could make life better?
We take our religion seriously in Texas. We are a Bible-toting, Bible-reading, Bible-believing people, us Texans, yes, indeed we are!
That being said, a recent report issued by the Office of the State Comptroller ought to give us pause as we meditate on our faith and our faithfulness as Texans on this day of religion and church attendance.
Here's a brief summary of the Comptroller's findings:
Texas ranks. . .
45th in per capita spending on public health.
46th in per capita spending on mental health.
49th in per capita spending on water quality.
Texas ranks. . .
50th in high school graduation rates.
48th in SAT scores.
Texas ranks. . .
1st in child population growth.
1st in the percentage of uninsured children.
48th in spending on child protection.
Texas ranks. . .
50th in percentage of the population with health insurance.
50th in percentage of low-income children who are insured.
48th in percentage of our poor covered by Medicaid.
45th in provision of substance abuse treatment.
Texas ranks. . .
7th in the number of persons who live in poverty.
2nd in percentage of the population that goes hungry.
3rd in percentage of the population that is malnourished.
47th in welfare and food stamp benefits.
49th in number enrolled in Women's, Infant and Children's benefit program.
Texas ranks. . .
2nd in national birth rate.
2nd in teen birth rate.
37th in prenatal care.
Texas ranks. . .
1st in toxic and cancerous manufacturing emissions.
1st in number of clean water permit violations.
Texas ranks. . .
9th in unemployment.
46th in hourly wage rate.
43rd in income distribution equality.
50th in government employee wages.
Texas ranks. . .
1st in number of executions.
1st in number of gun shows.
2nd in rate of incarceration.
5th in total crime rate.
11th in violent crime rate.
1st in number of registered machine guns.
Texas ranks. . .
44th in percentage of eligible voters that are registered.
47th in percentage of eligible voters that go to the polls.
In view of what the Bible teaches us about turning the other cheek, doing unto others as we would have them do unto us, loving our neighbors as we love ourselves and caring for the poor, the weak and the oppressed, I'd say we have a lot to think and pray about on this day of faith. What do you think?
What is even more ironic to me is the emphasis put on further Bible study.Many suburban Christians now attend weekday Bible studies. Often the cry heard round our church is "we need more study in the Word." This could be. Your stats indicate that we definitely need more practicing of the Word. I am not against Bible study, but how much study must be done before one says "hey, I think I will give this life a try."
ReplyDeleteBible study can become a convenient religious ploy to avoid applying the very same word out on the streets of one's life! Read Matthew 23.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious... how many of these stats include non-texans in the data? For instance, does the teen pregnancy rate include illegal immigrants in the stats? Teens from Oklahoma who drive down to Dallas to have their child? What about the incarceration rates - any illegal immigrants or okies in there?
ReplyDeleteSome thoughts: 1) If non-texans are in one stat I think they should be included in all of them. 2) I'm guessing it's not as great a factor in the bottom line as some might hope for in order to clear their consciences so to speak. But I'd like to be able to back that assumtion up with facts.
I suspect that the Office of the Comptroller might be able to answer this with some measure of certainty. No doubt, some of these numbers include undocumented persons who live in Texas. But that does not change the reality that we work with here.
ReplyDeleteAnd, this reality is present in most states, especially in our larger states like California, New York, Texas, Florida, etc.
Then, we also need to remember that undocumented persons pay taxes in Texas and to the Feds.
They pay taxes? I feel so misinformed.
ReplyDelete