Emanuel Cleaver: “There was a statement made earlier that the New Testament spoke about individuals as opposed to government, and I would…”

“There was a statement made earlier that the New Testament spoke about individuals as opposed to government, and I would be glad to enter into a colloquy with anyone who would purport to demonstrate that. I can show you for the remainder of the night a litany of scripture that would suggest almost unquestionably that government has a responsibility. Jesus authenticated government, and then Paul asked that we pray for the government. This issue that we are dealing with, if we are going to bring religion into it, I think we have some obligation to at least deal with the Holy Writ in the fashion that it was written.”