Many passages in Holy Scriptures implore rulers to treat the poor fairly.
It is only a slight exaggeration to suggest God measures nations
largely by justice towards "the least of these." Is charity best
dispensed publicly through a secular state or privately by churches?
Does Washington really not do enough?
Despite the demagoguery trumpeted every election, America's rich pay
almost all our taxes while the less fortunate are net recipients of
government largesse.
Washington's focus has shifted from defense and
foreign affairs into social programs advancing egalitarianism. The
federal government's primary endeavor reflects paying people not to
produce.
Many assume these public initiatives represent biblical governance
concerning the destitute but such passages were proclaimed under very
different political and economic contexts. Americans take for granted
that those without political connections can still acquire property,
enjoy legal rights, access the ballot, testify in courts, and obtain
medicine, police, fire and other protections.
However, throughout antiquity (and many places still), justice was
seldom blind. Far more frequently the state pillaged the poor.
Government didn't exist to protect all citizens equally, but to empower
rulers as an instrument of plunder.
Might made right. Without defined constitutional parameters, justice generally reflects the whims of the powerful. Keep Reading >>>
HT to Seventh Sola
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