The Church and Statism

The Church is engaged in a battle with secular humanism over the sanctity of human life, marriage, and the place of faith in the public square. Yet, secular humanism is not the only ideology that must be challenged. A far more subtle force threatens our nation's survival and soul.

Unchallenged in most churches is the idea that we require a strong federal government to take care of the poor, strictly regulate economic activity, and meet the various and sundry needs we expect of the federal government.

What the church has failed to recognize is that the State, in effect became another god sometime during the FDR administration. Many devotees of FDR will talk of how he saved the poor of America from certain death. Tell them that many economists now say that the New Deal prolonged the depression and they will treat the statement as blasphemy against their savior.

The New Deal taught us to look to Washington for solutions and not to rely on the church and community. Thus, as we bemoan the downfall of community and the lack of true neighborhoods, we can look to a government that has presented itself as our provider and the solution to any given problem.

Traditional Christian charity has produced grateful, productive citizens who provide charity for their neighbors when they are able, thus strengthening and preserving communities. What does government "assistance" to the poor achieve?

Those on the doll are not grateful. Government isn't providing enough for them. I had one lady tell me that she would pull our troops out of Iraq so government could increase her SSI benefits.

In addition, the welfare state has been successful in developing generations of dependency. Some women got on welfare with illegitimate children, and how their daughters and granddaughters followed them onto the welfare rolls. Thus our modern welfare system has produced continual poverty and fatherlessness, while at the same time increasing crime rates by providing incentives for illegitimacy.

The dependency system robs people of their dignity. It takes away purpose and meaning from their lives. Thus. they slide into alcoholism and drug abuse, and other undesirable habits as a result of our abandonment of community for a system of government "compassion."

By subsidizing illegitimacy, lack of industry, and dependency, the federal government has created hopelessness, despair, and poverty. The governments attempt to eradicate poverty has been a colossal failure. Christ told us it would be, when he said, "The poor you have with you always."

Government at all levels has become the first place we run to when we have a problem. Yet, we find a lack of stewardship, abuse of power, and oppression of citizens in the Federal government.

In terms of stewardship, money is often wasted on unnecessary bureaucracy and programs. Consider that the federal government gave $70,000 to the Paper Industry Hall of Fame or the fact that $67 million has been spent on "wood utilization research" since 1985.

Congressmen use their positions to gain honor for themselves. Robert Byrd is legendary for having things named after him, but he's not the only one. A 60,000 square foot courthouse was named for the late former Senator Paul G. Hatfield (D-Mt.) in 2002 and at the same time a 72,000 square foot building was built next door, named after the man who defeated him in the 1978 Senate primary, Max Baucus (D-Mt.) who is a living member of congress.

At the same time, congress spends $75 billion a year on Corporate Welfare, doling out the tax dollars of working men and women to favored corporations. When the size of government can grow as large as their imagination allows, our congressmen have shown that like Hans Solo in Star Wars, they can imagine quite a bit.

What we forget as well, is that a government so powerful it can give us everything, can take it all away. Countless ranchers and farmers have been driven off their land and out of business by government agencies. The stories of abuses, losses, and suffering of innocent people at the hands of government could fill a volume.

Scripture tells us to" do justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." (Micah 6:8) How can we remain silent in the face of Statism? The growth and power of government must be checked for with its seemingly unlimited power, its destroyed lives with misguided welfare programs, rewarded themselves and big corporations at taxpayer expense, and ruined the lives of innocent, productive citizens. To remain silent in the face of such government actions is unjust and unmerciful. There must be a Christian response.

What makes a good Christian when it comes to choosing a ruler or can government do the work of God?

What I have read and understood from the Bible is that God and Jesus wants us to help each other by using our own time, treasure and talent and to give from our hearts. Nowhere have I found anything along the lines of "Go out and institute huge bureaucracies that will take money from some people at the point of a sword and give that money to other people as a politician sees fit."

Our Founding Fathers were Christian and very pious men. They founded this country under strong Judeo-Christian tenets and reflected on their religious beliefs on all their decisions. They wrote nothing into the Constitution of any type of government "aid" to help the poor, children or anyone else on purpose. They wanted a very limited government for good reason. Limited government is the best way to ensure that freedom will be preserved. The Scottish philosopher Alexander Tytler, who lived during the time of the American Revolution and writing of the US Constitution, summed these views:

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure.

From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years.

These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage."

There are many interesting questions if citizens rely on government to do "God's Work."

If a government takes a portion of a man's wages and does good with it, has the man also done good? If a government takes away a portion of a woman's property and does evil with it, has the woman also done evil? When a rich man pays more in taxes than a poor person, is he more Godly? If the government then does evil, is he more to blame? A woman works for the government and uses other people's tax money and does "God Work" with it, is this government woman now a good/Godly woman? If I legally try to avoid paying taxes, does that not make me an "Ungodly" man?

Today, the US government (federal, state and local) takes nearly 50% of a middle-class person's paycheck after all taxes are factored in (income taxes, Social Security, sales tax, real estate taxes, gas tax, death taxes, phone taxes, highway tolls, sad etc.). Uncle Sam will spend more money in just this year (2004) than it spent combined between 1787 and 1900 - even after adjusting for inflation. I cringe at those numbers. The Founding Fathers wanted nothing like the tax-consuming monster that we have as a government today. I also think of all the good work that could have be done if people were allowed to keep more of their own money and give it to organizations/people that they believe in their heart are doing God's work. Maybe it comes down to trust. Will people do the right thing with their own money or must a government take a huge chunk of it to do the "right things?"

Except government rarely does anything right except for those tasks that were explicitly outlined in the Constitution as the Founding Father intended. I could cite many examples (such as where would you rather put $10,000 in retirement money - in Social Security or in your own 401k plan?) but the plight of black America illustrates this failure beyond comparison.

In 1965, the US government was going to wipe out poverty by the "Great Society" programs, in which to date over 3.5 trillion dollars has been spent. These federal programs were designed to "help families and children" or "buy votes" depending on your political viewpoint.

At the beginning of the 1960's, the black out of wedlock birth rate was 22%. In the late 1975 it reached 49% and shot up to 65% in 1989. In some of the largest urban centers of the nation the rate of illegitimacy among blacks today exceeds 80% and averages 69% nationwide. As late as the 1970's there was still a social stigma attached to a woman who was pregnant outside marriage. Now, government programs have substituted for the father and for black moral leadership. The black family and culture has collapsed (and white families are not that far behind).

Illegitimacy leads directly to poverty, crime and social problems. Out of wedlock children are four times more likely to be poor. They are much more likely to live in high crime areas with no hope of escape. In turn, they are forced to attend dangerous and poor-performing government schools, which directly leads to another generation of poverty.

Traditional black areas of Harlem, Englewood and West Philadelphia in the 1950s were safe working class neighborhoods (even though "poor" by material measures). Women were unafraid to walk at night and children played unmolested in the streets and parks. Today, these are some of the worst crime plagued areas of our nation. Work that was once dignified is now shunned. Welfare does not require recipients to do anything in exchange for their benefits. Many rules actually discourage work or provide benefits that reduce the incentive to find work.

The black abortion rate today is nearly 40%. Pregnancies among black women are twice as likely to end in abortion as pregnancies among white and Hispanic women.

The "Great Society" programs all had good intentions. Unfortunately, their real world results are that they have replaced the traditional/Christian models of family/work with that of what a government bureaucrat thinks it should be.

I could make an excellent argument that if the US government had hired former grand wizards of the KKK to run the "Great Society" programs, and if they had worked every day from 1965 to today without rest, they could have hardly have done better in destroying black America than the "Works of God" that the government has done or is trying to do.

I have visited many countries in which the government "guarantees" that everyone has a job, a place to live, education, health care and cradle to grave "government help" for all children and families. It all sounds great except that the people in these countries are/were miserable. They wanted to escape but were forced by their governments, at the end of a gun, to stay. The "worker's paradises" of socialist and communist counties are chilling reminders of letting governments do "God's Work."

The Bible clearly states that we are to help those in need. The question is "Who should help those in need?" I firmly believe that scripture and the historical evidence strongly support that individuals, private organizations and churches should be the ones doing the heavy lifting. Government help should be the last resort.

Very Sincerely,

2banana

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