When the federal government closed for forty-three days, America talked a lot about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Who receives the money? What are they like? Do they deserve our pity or scorn? Descriptions and stereotypes of their character inspired our arguments on the program. The media presented images of millions as being one kind of person or another. Black or white. Downtrodden or deplorable. As saints or squatters with no room for complexity. Our assumptions of the poor dictated whether we celebrated SNAP or condemned it as a societal failure.

One depiction of SNAP recipients were of innocents in need of help. Journalists and pundits told us of the plight of the homeless. The helpless. The powerless who demand our protections. The New York Times reported of some now searching garbage bins for food while the disabled lost their only source of income. Other media followed food banks and single-parent homes that scraped by in the best of times, only now to fear losing SNAP. The poor in America appeared on a precipice of descent into famine and anarchy. We might then ask, how could we allow the shut down of SNAP? Its halt would be to our shame as a nation.

Meanwhile, others offered a far different narrative. Instead of being helpless, people who take SNAP funds are lazy and selfish; leeches who have babies for higher checks or commit fraud for taxpayer money. Cynicism raged. SNAP was a crutch that leads people to a mindset of lethargy, clinging to free funds while having free reign to do nothing for themselves. One podcaster suggested the poor in America could now go on a prolonged diet. Others evidenced anecdotal Tik Tok posts of angry women screaming of entitlement to SNAP money. We might now ask, how can we reward bad behavior with taxpayer funds?* These are different conclusions with different opinions on such programs.

All of these characterizations reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend once about health care. As a nurse, he gave examples of patients receiving benefits at hospitals via the requirements of Obamacare. This increased health care costs, or so he claimed, as facilities are forced to comply with new regulations. But I noticed a pattern in his opinions:

Me: “You know, very example you’ve given, the patient is either stupid or greedy.”

Friend: “…I’m a conservative; that’s what I think of people.”

The comment hung in the air as a funny joke, but the insight was worth remembering. How we think of others can be the starting point of understanding our politics; to stand one way or another on SNAP and other issues. With our assumptions of our neighbors, our morals and politics will follow. 

One might hope for the Bible to give clarity on SNAP, but it seems that our biases might lead us to verses instead of the other way around. For those liberally minded, Matthew 25 stands out as the damning defense for welfare. “…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, you did for me.” Meanwhile, conservatives point to passages suggesting not only a need for people to work but an expectation of meaningful work to be by design in Heaven.** Therefore, a government program providing streams of free money creates a lack of incentive for work, or so the thinking goes. In any case, this isn’t to disparage the Bible as irrelevant, but only to note our preconceptions. Holy scriptures can vindicate whatever views we’ve already brought to the table.

So what should we take from all of this? Are the poor selfish and greedy, or in dire need without recourse? To try to answer it, I visualize all SNAP recipients in one place. Forty-two million—a population five times the size of New York City. Imagine a group filling hundreds of football stadiums. It’s a breathtaking image showing me that the depths and complexities of our stories are endless. Childhood backgrounds. Genetics. Age. The health of their marriages. The malevolence of their bosses. Etc, etc. The factors bringing them to the present are immeasurable. We are complex creatures hard to label in the strive to vote for the right thing.

On one hand, cynicism for the poor isn’t without a basis of facts. Fraud does occur. Some do have babies for higher checks, and others do possess a selfish entitlement, stubbornly refusing to find productive paths in life. There is waste. There is greed. And all of this should give us pause if we want to have sound public policy. It’s not crazy for conservatives to point out the selfish things that people do. It’s observing human behavior. It’s an attempt to use wisdom to guide a prescription for how governments should handle such problems.

Yet for all of this, we shouldn’t portray the desires of a public safety net as foolish. An array of circumstances will crash on us in life; powerful forces reigning out of our control. Layoffs. Disability. Inflation. Housing. Health care. Natural disasters. The list goes on for the heartaches we face. It is therefore in the interest of the public to offer relief, not only from a sense of charity but for the aim of government policies to bring greater order. These ideas aren’t insane. The need for stability is real. Programs like SNAP can offer a societal solution without demonizations.

But as much as we like simplicity, there is no one way for the world to classify everyone. Are SNAP recipients lazy, or are they innocent? The shades of grey are abundant, and I don’t have a grand answer on public policy. So as we enter the holiday season, let’s recognize our personal ability to help others. The media stopped talking about the forty-two million, as they tend to do with societal problems when an event resolves. SNAP recipients again have their lifelines—or their welfare, however you look at it. But their stories are far from over. So let’s move forward as a nation on the lookout for each of us to serve the least of these. Perhaps this would be the best opinions of all.

*As a fiscal hawk, I’m compelled to point out that America is $37 trillion in debt and climbing. So programs like SNAP aren’t funded by taxpayer money. They’re funded by China and other nations buying our debt. So it’s personally hard for me to accept America as being charitable when the funds are coming from other countries. Just a thought.

**See Genesis 1, Isaiah 65, and 2 Thessalonians 3. As much as conservatives like to beat us over the head with the last of these, it’s there for our reckoning.

***I would highly recommend the book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond. It’s a deep dive into the constant struggles and heartaches of the poor.