Did the San Antonio mayor really say that atheism leads to poverty? – TheBlaze.com

The mayor of San Antonio didnt say atheism leads to poverty, despite several media reports characterizing her recent comments that way.

During a candidates forum earlier this month, Mayor Ivy Taylor, a Democrat, was asked by the SA Christian Hope Resource Center, a charity working to make individuals financially self-sustaining, what she believes are the deepest systemic causes of generational poverty in San Antonio.

In response, Taylor shared her faith in God and her belief that, without God, people are broken.

Since youre with the Christian Coalition, Ill go ahead and put it out there that to me,its broken people, the mayor said. People not being in a relationship with their Creator and therefore, not being in a good relationship with their families and their communities and not being productive members of society.

I think thats the ultimate answer, sheadded, later saying she tries to be an example to those around her.

As mayor, though, Taylor said thats not something I work on.

And despite the numerous reports on her comments, very few coveredthe practical issuessheaddressed next.

I see education as the great equalizer, she said. And so, for a variety of reasons you know, wanna talk about school districts, or economic segregation we just have not provided the same opportunities for people to have access to high-quality education that puts them on the path for careers in every single part of San Antonio.

I see that as being one of the systemic causes, she continued.

Teen pregnancy, the mayor argued, is also an issue that leads to poverty.

And that kind of goes hand-in-hand with education because when people are parenting early, Taylor said, that usually means they dont have the opportunity to complete their education, so it ends up being a vicious cycle.

However, the Democrat said shes received some pushback from those who characterize the issue of teen pregnancy as a moral or religious one. Taylor said shes tried to frame it as an economic development issue because those who cannot complete their education are generally underemployed or unemployed.

Later in the discussion, Taylor opened up more about her faith: I am a born again Christian, a believer in Jesus Christ.I draw very heavily on that as far as the strength to do this job.

She went on to say she relies onPhilippians 4:13on a daily basis. The passage reads, For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Interestingly, the next candidate to answer the question, City Councilman Ron Nirenberg, offered an equally philosophical answer to the problem of poverty, though he didnt invoke God.

If I had to point to one cause philosophically, said Nirenberg, who is politically unaffiliated, it would be the loss of the public common, the sense that were all in this together. And that has resulted in people doing a lot of things or not doing a lot of things.

Such as participating in the local elections, such as reading a newspaper, such as doing whatever it is to help a neighborhood association. Theres a loss of the sense of a common ground, a common purpose for people throughout this city and throughout this community, he continued, describing the situation as a plague on us all.

His comments, however, were not scrutinized in the same way Taylors were. The Huffington Post said Taylor suggested people without God cause poverty and the Progressive Secular Humanist, a blogger at Patheos, wrote: San Antonio Mayor Says Atheism Causes Poverty.

None of those reports are entirely accurate, though thats not surprising. Last year, New York Times editorDean Baquet admitted the newspaper is out of touch with religion.

We dont get religion. We dont get the role of religion in peoples lives, he said.And I think we can do much, much better. And I think there are things that we can be more creative about to understand the country.

In response to the backlash shes received from the incomplete media reports on her comments, Taylor told KENS-TV that many of the stories are dishonest, politically motivated, and intentionally edited.

Heres Taylors full response:

The video clip that surfaced on social media this weekend is a dishonest, politically motivated misrepresentation of my record on combatting poverty. It was intentionally edited to mislead viewers.

I have devoted my life to breaking the chains of generational poverty as an urban planner, the District 2 councilwoman, and now mayor. Ive done so because of my faith in God and my belief in Jesuss ministry on Earth. I believe we are all called on to help lift our brothers and sisters out of poverty.

The video was edited to cut out the rest of my answer what Ive done as mayor to help alleviate poverty in San Antonio. That includes taking on teen pregnancy and our high-school dropout rates, advocating job-training for young people who arent college-bound, and fighting crime.

You can see the mayors fullanswer during the forum at the1:07:45 in the video below.

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Did the San Antonio mayor really say that atheism leads to poverty? - TheBlaze.com