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The False Compassion Of Liberalism

Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by Revmitchell, Mar 28, 2017.

  1. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    .....
    This ideology — that government action is a sign of compassion — is upside-down and contrary to the Christian notion of charity.

    We all, as individuals, can and should act compassionately and charitably. We can volunteer our time, energy and dollars to help the underprivileged. We can feed the hungry, house the homeless. Most of us feel a moral and ethical responsibility to do so — to "do unto others."

    And we do fulfill that obligation more than the citizens of almost any other nation. International statistics show that Americans are the most charitable people in the world and the most likely to engage in volunteerism.

    Whenever there is an international crisis — an earthquake, a flood, a war — Americans provide more assistance than the people of any other nation.

    But government, by its nature, is not compassionate. It can't be. It is nothing other than a force. Government can only spend a dollar to help someone when it forcibly takes a dollar from someone else.

    At its core, government welfare is predicated on a false compassion. This isn't to say that government should never take collective action to help people. But these actions are based on compulsion, not compassion.

    If every so-called "patriotic millionaire" would simply donate half of their wealth to serving others we could solve so many of the social problems in this country without a penny of new debt or taxes.

    My friend Arthur Brooks, the president of American Enterprise Institute, has noted in his fabulous book "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism" that conservatives donate more than the self-proclaimed compassionate liberals.

    The liberal creed seems to be: "We care so much about poor people, climate change, income inequality and protecting the environment (or whatever the cause of the day) that there is no limit to how much money should be taken out of other people's wallets to solve these problems."

    Let's take Meals on Wheels. Is this a valuable program to get a nutritious lunch or dinner to infirmed senior citizens? Of course, yes.

    Do we need the government to fund it? Of course not. I have participated in Meals on Wheels and other such programs, making sandwiches or delivering hot lunches. And many tens of thousands of others donate their time and money every day for this worthy cause.

    Why is there any need for government here? The program works fine on its own. Turning this sort of charitable task over to government only makes people act less charitably on their own. It leads to an "I gave at the office" mentality, which leads to less generosity.

    The False Compassion Of Liberalism
     
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  2. Arkstfan

    Arkstfan New Member
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    Here's some American history.
    Why do the social safety net programs exist?
    Because every time we had an economic crisis the charitable minded and the churches failed to meet the needs. FAILED
    The churches and the charitably minded often denied aid to minorities because they were racists. Some refused to give assistance to women because a woman who wasn't in danger of starving might choose to remain single and single women are scary because they might have sex anyway (never mind the illogic, a starving woman with no marriage prospects is a prime candidate to become a mistress or prostitute). Other charities refused to give more than enough food for the day lest they become lazy and not line up every day for their survival rations (which of course precluded seeking work).

    The people of America said ENOUGH. The idea of pure charity meeting the need is ridiculous and let's not forget that the Old Testament model wasn't one tithe but several different tithes that religious government used to enforce charity.
     
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  3. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    Nothing about this post is true.
     
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  4. Squire Robertsson

    Squire Robertsson Administrator
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    Sorry, but in many cases he's correct. IIRC, Shaw used the term "the deserving poor."
     
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  5. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    No, No I don't think so.
     
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  6. Squire Robertsson

    Squire Robertsson Administrator
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    Rev, please note, I wrote, "in many cases". I limited my opinion.
     
  7. Arkstfan

    Arkstfan New Member
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    Seriously? Let's not get deluded.

    Think about this.
    If churches met the need how was there the political will to ever pass the social safety net? Americans would have asked why get involved? It's all taken care of.

    As to the rest. I suggest you do some research before calling someone a liar.
     
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  8. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    The premise of your statement is that anyone claiming to need help actually needs it. I reject that. Churches do help but regardless of how well churches do that our government is not the way to do that. In fact it the absolute worst way to do that. Small government and control belongs at the most local level possible. The American government has been fighting poverty for years and it has only gotten worse. Sooner or later we need to look at that and say this isn't working.
     
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  9. Calminian

    Calminian Well-Known Member
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    I think to say Churches didn't meet needs is an overstatement. Churches and charities are very efficient on most cases. But if you have a corrupt government, they can take away protections and freedoms Churches need to reach out and help others. Badly run governments can make it impossible for anyone to help.

    Therefore, if a government increases its social welfare help, it's a sign that that government failed its citizens and needed to bail them out. In a healthy society, government is very focused on keeping order and not bogged down feeding dependent people. Charity should be the only social safety net we need. If it's not, it's time for a change in government leadership.
     
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  10. Brent W

    Brent W Active Member

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    Agree!
     
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  11. carpro

    carpro Well-Known Member
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    Last I heard, and it's been awhile, the "War on Poverty" was at $22 Trillion and counting. It's a massive failure. It has put people on welfare and they rarely get off. It's now a way of life. Many of them aren't interested in working at all. Ever.
     
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  12. HankD

    HankD Well-Known Member
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    It's their vote which is of value.

    HankD
     
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  13. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    You agree huh? So specifically who are these people who denied aid because they are racists?
     
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  14. Brent W

    Brent W Active Member

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    No one now, thanks to the Federal Government stepping in over the last 150 years.
     
  15. Squire Robertsson

    Squire Robertsson Administrator
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    I'd narrow that down to more like in the last 60 years. Jim Crow was alive and well into the 60s.
     
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  16. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    Wait a minute, you said you agreed with the other poster. I assumed you actually knew of some people specifically. So you do not know of someone specifically and you do not agree with that other poster? Which is it?
     
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  17. Brent W

    Brent W Active Member

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    History is full of names that the Church (organized Religion) has let down. I agreed with what I quoted. So feel free to read it again.
     
  18. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
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    Which is where I pulled my question from. Organized religion? That is a very odd term for a Christian to use. Usually that is used by those who have something against church and Christians.
     
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  19. Brent W

    Brent W Active Member

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    Organized religion was probably the incorrect phrase to use for what I meant. I simply mean a large organization of religious minded groups. While not all bad, they have a track record in history of exactly what I quoted above.
     
  20. Calminian

    Calminian Well-Known Member
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    Sounds like you have a beef with Christ, the founder of the Church.
     
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