A right way of doing good for the poor

Benevolent thoughts to ponder, in a context of 'health care reform'

For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." 2 Thessalonians 3:10

I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer. There is no country in the world where so many provisions are established for them; so many hospitals to receive them when they are sick or lame, founded and maintained by voluntary charities; so many alms-houses for the aged of both sexes, together with a solemn general law made by the rich to subject their estates to a heavy tax for the support of the poor. Under all these obligations, are our poor modest, humble, and thankful; and do they use their best endeavours to maintain themselves, and lighten our shoulders of this burthen? On the contrary, I affirm that there is no country in the world in which the poor are more idle, dissolute, drunken, and insolent. The day you passed that act, you took away from before their eyes the greatest of all inducements to industry, frugality, and sobriety, by giving them a dependence on somewhat else than a careful accumulation during youth and health, for support in age or sickness. In short, you offered a premium for the encouragement of idleness, and you should not now wonder that it has had its effect in the increase of poverty. Benjamin Franklin, "The Encouragement of Idleness," 1766

"He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need." Ephesians 4:28

"All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." Proverbs 14:23

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages!" [He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.]

"Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "It was intended that she should do this... You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." John 12:3-8

Statistics to ponder

79 percent -- the number of absent African American fathers after four decades of supposedly kind social programs. 30 percent -- the number before such deadly 'help.'

2 out of every 5 -- the number of African American babies that will be aborted this year, targeted by social programs.

Selah.

A dead giveaway

When someone says they love our country, yet work frantically to destroy its very fabric, it's not America they love.

When someone says they care for the poor, yet mandate programs that destroy the poor, it's not the poor they care about.

When someone uses dark means, backroom deals, bribes, kickbacks, bullying and lies to pass 'health care,' is it really the poor they care about?

When someone uses moral language to create a 'benevolence program' that sets up voracious, taxpayer-funded centers of power, is it really the poor they are helping -- or themselves?

No. When you hear such people use language about helping the poor, hear the parenthetical statement of John 12:6, loud and clear: He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

They don't say these things because they love the poor. It's something else they love...

Selah.

A slow, steady takeover of our true freedoms

The path to a paralyzed nation

Jon Voight quoted at Inside the Beltway:

"We are witnessing a slow, steady takeover of our true freedoms. We are becoming a socialist nation, and whoever can't see this is probably hoping it isn't true. If we permit Mr. Obama to take over all our industries, if we permit him to raise our taxes to support unconstitutional causes, then we will be in default. This great America will become a paralyzed nation."

More here. Worth reading.

Also this related thought:

Why are people scared? The government is about to take over one-sixth of the nation’s economy, even though soaring deficits make it clear that it can’t properly handle what’s on the plate now. It just fumbled a stimulus package and a program to kill old cars, and somehow people have the notion that this competence will continue with something more vital — their health care. They don’t want the government in charge of those decisions and invading their personal lives. The only surprise here is that elected officials didn’t see this coming, although clearly the White House had an inkling — which is why they tried to rush the bill through to a vote.

From Hot Air referencing FL Congressman.

C.S. Lewis on socialism

A prophetic voice for our time

C.S. Lewis speaks:

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

Consider these words in an age when the national deficit gets tripled+ in two months, and moral language is used to force even worse fiscal abuses and future indebtedness on the nation... it's urgent, it must happen, "it's for the good of the people." Note: When politicians start talking about the good of the people meanwhile excluding themselves from the mandated 'good,' it's not good -- benevolence is not the point.

It's the worst kind of hypocrisy and the point is not benevolent. This mind-boggling dept is going somewhere... and the blatant hypocrisy of the leaders should be a neon sign, to those with eyes to see and ears to hear.



All honest Americans should be asking incisively, what is the unspoken chain behind these all these initiatives, in the forms now forced upon us:

• cap-and-trade
• government takeover of industry
• government takeover of finance
• health care 'reform'
• deficit spending
• stimulus

Selah.

The ongoing legacy of socialism

Dostoevsky once remarked, "Socialism is atheism." A person must track with his intellect in order to understand the power behind that statement, of course... but without question the statement reflects sound logic and an incisive historical view. The current century sadly proves the prophetic value of that utterance, in the ongoing human devastation via the children of socialism. Molech isn't full, by half. Joe Huffman makes a marked point that Hitler's crimes pale in comparison by what has been and is now being wrought by socialism: a false belief system forever making common cause with the destruction of civilization and democracy -- an inveterate hatred of the life-saving ephemeral architectures of Judeo-Christian tradition.

Selah.