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This article is an excerpt from Godvernment: Government as God
The Lie of Liberal Altruism
In the 25th
chapter of Matthew, the Savior speaks of the final judgment. To those who have done well and to those who have
not, He offers the same explanation for the reward they are offered. He tells them all that, "... inasmuch as
ye have done [or not done] it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done
it unto me."
He is referring to how they did, or
did not, take care of the poor, the sick, the destitute, and the afflicted among
them.
Today, much of our political debate
and divide appears to be focused on how we, as a society, believe we should go about
taking care of the least advantaged among us.
For many years, as I read or heard these
words, I believed that Jesus was speaking metaphorically. I believed He was saying that He was holding us
accountable for our treatment of our fellow human beings, and He is certainly saying
that. However, I am now convinced that Jesus
was not speaking metaphorically in this matter.
Rather, He was being completely literal.
We learn elsewhere that in His atoning
sacrifice, He suffered all the pains of humanity (Doctrine and
Covenants 18:11), so that He could learn to succor those in need (Hebrews 2:18). I suggest that, in a very real way, He has actually
shared and felt the very pains of the homeless, the hungry, the naked, those in
prison, and those who wash up on the edges of our society like flotsam washing up
on a beach, and, that He did not suffer those pains in some abstract way, or as
a derivative of what those people suffer—rather, through some incomprehensible mechanism,
He is and was able to fully feel the actual pains that each of us has suffered and
will suffer. Having felt those actual pains,
He then can understand our situation completely and can comfort us, or forgive us,
in exact measure according to our pain and need.
Knowing that He feels the pains
of others, when we help those in need, when we relieve the suffering of those in
anguish or pain, when we feed the hungry, we directly reduce the amount of suffering
and pain that Christ suffers. Likewise, when
we cause others to suffer, we add to the pain that He suffers. When we fail to act to alleviate the pain and
suffering of others, we fail to alleviate His pain and suffering.
I believe that is true.
In light of that belief, some would
suppose that I would be driven to embrace the social welfare model of government
(aka socialism, communism, progressivism, liberalism, fascism). In fact, much of the social welfare model of government
wraps itself in a mantle of altruism about caring for the less fortunate among us,
but nothing could be further from the truth.
Socialists like Bernie Sanders and liberals
like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama seek to destroy the rich (other than themselves),
and even the middle class, and make us all equally poor together.
I despise their cries to destroy the
wealthy in order to help the poor, and there is no hypocrisy in my feelings. You cannot lift anyone up by tearing someone else
down.
When Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton,
Barack Obama, and their ilk talk about helping the poor and relieving suffering,
they are not talking about digging deep into their own pockets and giving until
it hurts themselves in order to help others.
They are content to keep their own wealth, gained by feeding at the trough
of the taxpayers. They will keep their wealth,
and instead they will dig deep into the pockets of others and force them to give
until it hurts.
Their hypocrisy in their failure to
live the very principles they are espousing is as clear and horrendous as that of
any Christian preacher who rails from the pulpit against the evils of the flesh,
and then is caught in adultery and debauchery.
Their altruistic battle cries of "soak the rich" mask the brutal
reality of their policies, which actually soak everyone who is above the poverty
line in order to make us all poor together and ensure that the only path to wealth
and comfort is through service to the state.
We need to re-enshrine the notion of
individual action and individual accountability in our nation, especially when it
comes to the issues of caring for the poor and disadvantaged. A thrust toward individual accountability is in
direct opposition to the socialist thrust of collective accountability.
Each individual should take personal
action to help those who are less advantaged than they. Each person should do according to their ability
and means. This does not mean that we cannot
band together into charitable organizations to magnify our efforts, but we should
not ever rely upon the power of taxation, which is nothing less than forcible redistribution
of wealth, in order to take care of those who are disadvantaged.
I make a notable exception in this for
military veterans. Military veterans are
the only organization which has earned the right to partake of a portion of the
public treasury to support them in their times of trouble. Because they have literally offered their lives
in the service of our country, they are actually entitled to support through taxation.
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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