by David K. Williams, Jr.
A.
One of my adamantly “progressive” Facebook friends recently said opposing universal health care is “unchristian.” It is not an uncommon charge.
The accusation, however, shows both a fundamental misunderstanding of economics and Christianity. The economic fallacy is that universal health care will result in universally better health care. This assumption is belied by recorded history. That, however, has been widely explained. This post is not about the economics.
This post is about Christianity. Jesus’ summed up his teachings in Matthew 22:36 – 40. He was asked by a Pharisee “what is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus replied:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Consider Jesus’ answer the Cliff’s Notes on all of Christianity. In sum, Jesus said to be Christian is to “love God” and “love your neighbor.”
This is where progressives get lost. They mistake Jesus’ command for us to “love our neighbor” with a command to make OTHERS love their neighbor. See, progressives want to take other peoples’ money – via forcible taxation – and give it to their neighbor. That’s not what Jesus said.
In short, Christianity is about helping others voluntarily. It is about charity. Jesus said you should help others – and if you do not, you have to live with it and the consequences.
Progressivism is the opposite. Progressivism – indeed, all statism – is brute force, nothing else. Progressivism says that, by government dictate, some of us must help others – or go to jail.
The two could not be more different.
I’ll make a final comparison: Walking next door and giving your neighbor in need some of your bread is Christian. Walking across the street, taking bread out of the window, and then giving it to your neighbor in need is progressivism. They are opposites. One is love. The other theft.
B.
Can a case be made that Christians are not voluntarily loving their neighbor, as Jesus commanded? Absolutely. The answer, however, is not to abandon Christianity and institute force to make Christians love their neighbor.
How absurd is that notion? You will love your neighbor or we will MAKE you! It is nonsense.
George Washington was right when he said, “government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force.” One might add that “government is not charity; it is not love; it is force.”
The progressives, therefore, make a fundamental, and crucial error: They equate love with force. They equate compassion with force. They equate charity with force.
They might as well equate war with peace, day with night or lies with truth.
In fact, they do.
God is love. Government is force. Using one in the name of the other is not only futile, it is destructive.
What would Jesus do?
As a private institution, the church and school have, and should have, the legal right to accept whomever they chose into their membership.
That is not the issue here. The issue is Christianity.
Did Jesus only teach to believers? No, that kind of defeats the point.
This church could have taken the opportunity to immerse this child in a loving Christian environment. They chose not to do so. They shunned an innocent child.
What would Jesus do in this situation?
He told us: “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:14
Amanda Teresi (from the famous “Final Stimulus Package” video) has an excellent article in the Colorado Springs Gazette concerning free market health care reform, “Return to free market best hope for health insurance reform.”
The comment section contains the usual pro-government, anti-freedom rants. It also contains an all too common misconception of Christianity.
A commenter wrote: “Even though many [free market believers] are Christians, and have read the Sermon on the Mount, and have read the parable of the Good Samaritan, THEY DO NOT CARE!!!”
As you might imagine, I responded thus:
I am a Christian. I am not trying to be a smart aleck, but didn’t the Good Samaritan help the injured person himself? The Samaritan didn’t lobby the ruling Roman government to force others to help the injured person.
There is moral value in one individual helping another. There is no moral value in forcing a third person to help the injured person.
Jesus told US to love our neighbor. He didn’t say make your NEIGHBOR love your neighbor.
Too many of us Christians mistake government force for Christian charity. If we spent more time ministering to the needy and less time at Congress lobbying for the forcible imposition of Christianity (which of course makes no sense), the world would have far more Christians.
God is love. Government is force. Any attempt to use force to spread love is doomed to failure.
Can the party that rode the 1980s
Ronald Reagan revolution to glory recapture its youth?
If you’re the Republican Party of Florida, you can try by staging a first-of-its-kind youth summit in a ritzy resort, bringing in controversial beauty queen Carrie Prejean, Olympian-turned-reality TV star Bruce Jenner, and talking a lot about the Internet.
That the Florida GOP thinks Ms. Prejean and Mr. Jenner have any relevance to young voters is sad.
This is even sadder:
Republican National Committee new media director Todd Herman told the more than 400 attendees that Democrats won in 2008 in part because the GOP failed to utilize Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools as political weapons.
Herman said “Republicans do not use these tools for activism. We have failed in that regard.”
The more Republicans try to “get in touch” with youth, the more foolish they look.
Asking a beauty queen that insists the Lord is against homosexual marriage and a reality television personality to reach out to youth is the wrong way to go.
You can use social media all you want, but if you are selling Republican versions of Paris Hilton, you are foolish. You will get what you deserve.
If your overriding message is that God is a Republican and wants homosexuals to repent, you are destined to failure. And you should be.
Christians need to spend less time politicking and more time acting like Christians. Jesus personally reached out to the unsaved. He did not lobby the legislature in Rome to persecute sinners.
George Washington said “government is force.” Christians say “God is love.”
Using “force” to spread “love” is nonsense. Absolute and utter absurdity.
And that’s what the Florida GOP is selling. That’s what the “socially conservative” Republicans nationwide are selling.
You can use Twiiter all you want, and that message ain’t gonna sell.
I am a Christian. And I want a secular government. Government force and Jesus’ love do not mix. They can not mix. Attempting to mix them is futile. The separation of church and state benefits the church as much, if not more, than it benefits the government.
The political message that sells is “freedom.” And that includes freedom for homosexuals, pot smokers and adulterers. Freedom is dangerous. Live – and let OTHERS live – dangerously.
Jesus was friends with sinners. With prostitutes. With thieves. He did not join the Pharisees in their condemnation of those that failed to follow every jot and tittle of the Judaic law. He spoke against the self-righteousness of the Pharisees.
Jesus believed in love. The Pharisees, and their modern equivalents among the “socially conservative” wing of the GOP, believe in the law.
You can not serve two masters.
