Power and Pagans USA (NoKings XXX) Track

The pagan gods of Rome and Athens reflected the values of the powerful — hierarchy, honor, strength, and divine favor toward the fortunate. The poor were simply losers in the cosmic order. Charity existed mainly as public display by the wealthy, a performance of status rather than a moral duty.

Jesus inverted everything. The poor were closest to God. The outcast, the sick, the foreigner, the slave — these were the ones he sought out. Compassion wasn't optional or decorative; it was the whole point. How you treated the weakest person you encountered was how you treated God himself.