Posted on 05/16/2016 9:05:38 AM PDT by Oldpuppymax
This is the last in a series of essays on the duty of Christians in civic affairs, adapted from Kevin Kookogey’s weekly radio address and podcasts at www.advancingchurch.com
8. Which responsibilities of providing help to our citizens are the government's and which belong to the Church?
The duty of government is plainly described in our founding documents. The Declaration of Independence establishes the philosophical and moral basis for our system of government, famously asserting that governments are instituted among men to secure their rights, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
The Constitution then enumerates those powers, namely: to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty.
Taken together, the Declaration and Constitution affirm the lessons of history and human nature that our founders studied concerning the proper duties of and limitations upon government and these principles are rooted in Scripture.
No one more beautifully synthesized the duties and limits of government than Thomas Jefferson during his 1801 Inaugural Address, in which he said: “With all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens: A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another; shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement; and which shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.”
Government fails when it gets off this mission. The collapse of States throughout the history of the world, in fact, can be traced to their habit of inserting themselves into affairs where they do not belong, while retreating from their obligations.
In many cases, Christians contribute to the problem by...
(Excerpt) Read more at thecoachsteam.com ...
Government in America, at the Federal, state, and local levels, is increasing in all spheres, taking more and more freedom away and making more and more behavior mandatory.
The situation gets worse every single day, and I do not expect it to get any better just because we have a new President in the wings. There are millions of Federal, state, and local government functionaries whose EVERY DAY job it is to take freedom from their fellow citizens.
I fear you are correct.
They go into government work precisely because they hate and fear freedom - and want to control it.
They do not produce anything but propaganda and oppression, and so work to destroy the actual producers.
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