No Public Safety Net: Making American Compassionate Again

The Daily Caller ^ | September 23, 2015 | Roger Banks

[RogerEsq]

DailyCaller OPINION ‘Global Indifference’: Pope Francis’ Cure is A Cause ROGER BANKS @rogerbanksesq Writer

While in America, Pope Francis will almost surely repeat his call for the “redistribution of economic benefits by the state” as a remedy for what his November 2013 Apostolic Exhortation calls “an economy of exclusion and inequality.” Presupposing a causal connection between a “culture of prosperity” and “global indifference” to the poor, the Exhortation reads as follows:

We end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase. In the meantime, all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.

Though leveled at contemporary society, the allegations bring irrepressibly to mind a timeless 19th century fictional protagonist whose name is synonymous with extreme indifference to the needs of others.

Scrooge, when asked for a donation for the poor retorts, “I help to support [government establishments for the poor]; they cost enough.” Paying taxes to support government welfare, in his mind, obviates private acts of compassion.

Through the exchange, Dickens casts light on the sobering consequences of trying to legislate love. It lessens the incentive to give, and proves a humbug. It provides a plausible justification for refusing to give: money for that purpose has already been confiscated.

If helping seems, as Francis asserts, “someone else’s responsibility and not our own,” perhaps it’s because the state has seized that responsibility from us. As I’ve written in articles over the past ten years, the welfare state imposes, in effect, a tax on the will to give. And there’s a related problem, seldom considered.

Redistribution creates favorable conditions for the societal pathogens identified by the pope. What “deadens us,” contrary to Francis’ declaration, is not the “culture of prosperity.” Rather, it’s the remedy he prescribes. By allocating to itself the role of caring for the poor, through forcible redistribution, the state inculcates the very “indifference” decried in the pope’s Exhortation.

Christian compassion, on the other hand, as Francis well knows, is made possible by changing the individual heart, one Scrooge at a time. (In Dickens’ tale, the potential for transformation was always present in Scrooge’s first name, Ebenezer, which means “rock of help.”) In the end, his sacrificial acts of love are the freewill decision of a heart won by the Spirits of Christmas.

Dickens’ vision is consistent with scripture. Perhaps he was even inspired by Luke’s account of Zacchaeus, a wealthy and penurious tax collector with a reputation for defrauding his countrymen. After a visit from Jesus (the ultimate Spirit of Christmas), Zacchaeus decides of his own volition to give away half his wealth to the poor, and promises to repay “fourfold” anyone he’d cheated.

To this penitent outpouring of compassion, Jesus responds, “Today salvation has come to this house … For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Christ thus emphasizes salvation not of the poor but of a wealthy man whose deep need is to become a free-will giver.

In the Exhortation, Francis refers to the rich as “the happy few.” Christ sees them differently. He portrays the rich as most desperate, holding up Zacchaeus as an example of the lost he came to save.

Christ’s salvation of the rich harmonizes perfectly with his passion for helping the poor. Free-will giving, like Shakespeare’s “quality of mercy,” is “twice blest;/ It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” Christ meets the needs of the poor to take even as he meets the needs of the rich to give.

Jesus says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Compulsory redistribution stands to impede the promised “more blessed”-ness. With each dollar the state takes from a prospective giver, it takes a potential blessing.

In the Second Letter to the Corinthians, Paul distills a ubiquitous biblical teaching: “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Why, then, does this pope advocate compulsion? Does he fear that without the force of government the needs of the poor would be unmet? Then to Francis Christ might say what he said in love to the pope’s predecessor, even the Apostle Peter himself: “O you of little faith.”

by Roger Banks Twitter: @rogerbanksesq

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/09/23/global-indifference-pope-francis-cure-is-a-cause/#ixzz3maMUaRPP

[RogerEsq]

Shameless self-promotion of my article in the Daily Caller today. Also, It's pretty good. . . . If I do say so myself :-D

[MarvinStinson]

The global warming, embrace communist Cuba, grovel for the muslims

commie Pope.

[henkster]

Someone should explain to His Holiness the fundamental difference between “giving” and “forcibly taking.”

[ShadowAce]

Welcome to FR—Glad you posted it in its entirety.

[bicyclerepair]

Gee, I wish I was “propserous” enough to fix my leaky roof, or pitted driveway or new tires for my car or.......... have money in my pocket.

[bruoz]

Here you go Pope:

Equality 101:

One days work = One days pay

[taxcontrol]

Perpetuation of dependency is NOT being compassionate

[IC Ken]

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL!

I remember when we had commandments.

[Captain Compassion]

“Jesus would never use government surrogates to force the people to ‘help others’.” — Philip Freneau

[RMDupree]

Well done, sir.

The FedGov strives to replace the church in every way including charity and ESPECIALLY moral guidance.

The “deceived” love this Church of FedGov since it does not focus on personal accountability thus allowing them to do what is right in their own minds without any of that pesky “guilt” that comes from the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

[TexasRepublic]

There is nothing compassionate about Communism. The pope can pound sand.

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[sportutegrl]

Jesus says that we can store up treasure in Heaven. Many people believe in a form of Karma, that is if you do good, good will come back to you. If we live in a country where the poor are dependent on charity for food and health care, we can freely give to the truly needy — and receive our reward in Heaven or Karma. However, if the government takes that same money against our will and uses it to help the same needy, the effect may be the same, but the Government has stolen our eternal reward.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Great article.

The Tragedy of American Compassion by Marvin Olasky.

Great book.

[rigelkentaurus]

This pope needs a dictionary so he can look up a few words to improve his understanding of language. I would suggest he begin with:

1. Covet
2. Steal

Next, he should ask someone for a copy of the Bible. He obviously has never seen one, let alone has read it. Then, sit down and actually read it. It’s a super book that explains the human condition and the human relationship with God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

If he does this, and then actually believes what he reads, then maybe, I might care to listen to what words he spits out of his mouth.

[RogerEsq]

Thanks x 2!

[RogerEsq]

Thanks for all the insightful, kind, and entertaining feedback! -Roger

[Chaguito]

It is good, and the pope could probably make some ground with me if he were to mentions God, Jesus, Christ, or some variation even once.

[LonePalm]

Government largess is NOT compassionate. It is NOT charity.

It is theft by politician.

Compassion comes from the heart. Charity is freely given or it is NOT charity.

"Ceterum censeo 0bama esse delendam."

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Safetgiver]

We have NO poverty in the US. Thanks to capitalism, we have overcome poverty, like the rest of the world should do, without our help. The only poverty we DO have is because those poverty-stricken have chosen it for themselves. I have no sympathy. Socialism, communism and plain despotism is the cause of poverty. We should not assist them.