Tom Sheppard
9/4/2020
Any reasonable interpretation of this mandate must conclude that God was saying we shouldn't put the words, ideas, philosophy, advice, or even the commands of anyone or anything ahead of what God tells us. In spite of that unequivocal commandment our world today consistently abandons faith in God for faith in humanity. Putting aside for one second the inadvisability of disobeying the direct commands of a being that is fully capable of creating livable planets, consider the folly of putting any faith in humanity.
In nearly 5,000 of recorded human civilization one lesson is abundantly clear and is repeated in nearly every generation. Humanity seldom behaves in very humane ways. Further, whenever one group of people have the opportunity to treat another group of people badly, they will do so nearly 100% of the time. This is a true of the high school cliques of "mean girls" and "jocks" as it is for the genocidal violence of the Tutsis and Hutus of Rwanda.
One man put it very well when he said "We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion." (Joseph Smith Jr., Doctrine and Covenants 121:39).
Using our history books, I could cite instance after instance where humanity has proven its propensity to plunder, ravage, pillage, enslave, and kill when they might have as easily extended hands of friendship, fellowship, and cooperation.
Don't get me wrong. I know that the other side of the ledger - the side where people have acted with nobility, kindness, compassion, and love toward those less fortunate also has many entries. Unfortunately they are not nearly so numerous as the blots on our human history.
My point in noting this is not to attempt to assert whether or not humanity is inherently bad, or good. My point is to demonstrate that anyone who puts their faith in humanity as the means to make a better world for all of us is putting their faith in an irrefutably inconstant, unreliable, and generally bad actor.
In contrast with the behavior of humanity, which can at best be called fickle and at worst diabolical, the behavior of God is constant. From the beginnings of his dealings with humanity he has laid out a set of principles to guide us which have remained unchanging throughout the ages. Jesus Christ put it plainly when he summed it up by telling us that loving God and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves is what all the law and the words of the prophets amount to.
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy bheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.38 This is the first and great commandment.39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
(Matthew 22:35-40, King James Version, emphasis added)
Today the notion of economic collectivism, in the form of political socialism, is once again ascending in many parts of the USA. The emotional appeals associated with this movement are cries for equity and treating the less fortunate with kindness and generosity.
Many of those who embrace this ideology believe that if we all embrace the same ideals humanity can cure all its own ailments. However, because not everyone is ready to submit their will and well-being to the greater good of the collective, those who are holding out must be legislated and bullied into compliance and their "excess" material goods will be forcibly taken and redistributed.
History shows repeated examples of countries where this high-minded approach has been implemented. In every single case it has either been voluntarily rolled back or enforced by the violent deaths or "re-education" of those who don't agree with the means or goals of the collective.
It is not exaggerating to say that enforced collectivism through socialism has led directly to the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of millions of people. Those are just the casualties in the 20th century. Who knows how many have or will be murdered in the 21st century as socialists once again push to make humanity better by exterminating all those who seem to stand in their way.
The irony of the ruthless inhumanity carried out by the collectivists in the name of making humanity better seems to be totally lost on its present adherents.
One of the fundamental flaws of socialism and its twin forced collectivism is that it is based on an irrational and proven erroneous notion that, given the proper external stimuli, people will choose to consistently and constantly treat other people with kindness, compassion, and generosity. This faith in the willingness and ability of humanity to transform into beings filled with a better nature is repeatedly shown by history, both ancient and recent, to be a vain imagining.
In fact, the only times history shows people consistently showing compassion, kindness, and generosity toward those less fortunate has always been the result of internal stimuli rather than external.
Franz Kunkel noted that in the NAZI death camps, in spite of every possible external stimuli to behave otherwise, there were some individuals who consistently acted with compassion, kindness, and generosity to those around them. This instance alone should be enough to refute the notion that humanity will manifest a better nature as the result of external stimuli. However, the evidence doesn't stop there.
With notable exceptions, the history of the people of the United States of America is a history that is overflowing with kindness, compassion, and generosity toward those less fortunate. The voluntary charitable efforts of Americans is stunning. In 2018 they gave $427.7 billion. In 2017 that number was $410 billion. Charitable giving has consistently been about 2% of GDP at least since 1977. A survey by Lending Tree found that Americans have been the most generous people in the world for nearly 250 years. They noted that 2 out every 3 Americans surveyed contributed to at least one charity.
The generosity of Americans is not compulsory as it is with socialism. It is achieved through the internal stimuli that many Americans feel to share their abundance with others. The socialists seek to take advantage of that generosity and twist it into an economic and political model which pretends to promote compassion, kindness, and generosity while it actually results in slavery, mass poverty, misery, scarcity, fear, violence, and death for all but a very elite few who are running the whole show.
Anyone who can read a history book and think critically should be able to see through the emotional manipulation of good intentions thrown out by socialist and forced collectivists. The reality behind their utopian rhetoric is a brutal dystopia. That result has been unequivocally demonstrated in the historical record of many nations.
Some will argue and hold up countries like Denmark and Sweden as counter examples. However, if they look at the history of those countries they will see that they flirted with socialism until their countries were on the brink of economic collapse. Then, they retreated back toward capitalism to preserve their people and their nations from destruction.
The United States of America, and the freedom, prosperity, and generosity of its people, rest upon the foundation of the US Constitution. Anyone calling for "fundamental change" in our nation is plainly calling for the changing or elimination of our foundation, the US Constitution.
Since the adoption of the US Constitution, it has served as a bulwark and protection of the people of the United States against the predations of government and those who want to rule over others. Weakening, removing, or dramatically changing the US Constitution will open the floodgates for oppressive government such as we see in places like China, where the government routinely kills or imprisons thousands of people whose only crime is to disagree with government policy.
Our current political choices, obfuscations to the contrary notwithstanding, are between an increasingly socialist, forced collectivist vision championed by Democrats, including Joe Biden on the one hand and Libertarians and Republicans, including Donald Trump who are seeking to preserve, protect, and defend our inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I believe that the US Constitution was inspired by God. It was designed by Him to protect our freedoms with a vigor that has not previously been seen in the governments of humanity. I put my faith in God and a path that has proven generally beneficial to humanity. That path is capitalism. I choose that over putting my faith in a path that has proven inimical to humanity and is based on a faulty foundation of human nature. That inimical path is socialism.
Follow Tom on Twitter: @ThomasKSheppard
Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM).
The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein.
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If you believe Government is NOT the answer to all our problems, you will want to read
Godvernment: Government as God
Godvernment: Government as God
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