There was a discussion at the kitchen table the other night about social services and government help programs. Food stamps was up for grabs and on the docket on this cold, snowy night.
The republican thought that too many were taking advantage of the system. The Democrat said that “SOMEBODY has to help these people.”
And just after he finished saying that, an epiphany struck me, about why both of them were deceived, and how the problem isn’t about who we should tax, or who we should distribute government and State funds to, but rather, the real issue was much deeper, more critical, and struck at the heart of what it means to be an American.
Immediately I thought of a verse in the Bible that states that we don’t fight a physical struggle, but that the battle is spiritual, against spirits, powers, principalities and dark forces.
So, what would happen if, tomorrow morning, food stamps across the country were cut off, completely, nationwide?
I know what the average liberal or democrat would say. I heard the implications of what they believe last night during our political dialogue.
They would say that people would go starving, that children would go hungry, that within weeks, looting and rioting would occur, and social chaos would ensue.
It would be a net negative. It would be cruel and coldblooded for such a major transformation to occur. It would be heartless, gutless and evil.
But I realized that it just isn’t so.
The democrat is wrong, dead wrong.
Not only that, but it is an anti-Christian sentiment.
Instead, what would happen is that you would see the greatest charitable mobilization ever seen in the history of mankind. You would see Christian, middle-class America come together and fill every food pantry from coast to coast. They would donate money, time and their physical presence to fill that sudden need.
Not one child would go hungry. Not one person would be hospitalized for malnutrition. Not a chance in hell.
And the social ripples that would spread out from this event would lead to a precipitous drop in crime, a major drop in out-of-wedlock childbirth and abortion, and would ultimately be the precursor to a major leap toward societal and political unity like never seen before in this country.
Here’s how.
Democrats have been fostering class warfare for years. It is their bread and butter, and antagonism between economic classes is necessary in order for their brand of political philosophy to flourish. People must be taught that their neighbor is their enemy, not to be trusted, and that they are only out for themselves, and not for you.
This only works today because the church has been replaced by a government-printed check. The church is just a building to most, dotting the roadways with steeples and over-large parking lots.
That disassociation would be broken forever, however, in our hypothetical event.
Because the people in need, who have been taught all of their life that the nameless, faceless government is their best hope in life, would suddenly find themselves face-to-face with their neighbors, as it were. That little old curly-haired middle-class caucasion woman would be handing them a bag bursting with comestibles, that she contributed to, personally. The effects of this would be dramatic and long-lasting.
No longer would poor inner-city citizens be able to carry antagonism and anger in their hearts toward the middle class. No longer would neighbor hate neighbor, steal from neighbor, carjack their neighbor’s car or steal a package off of their porch. Because they would, for the first time, have the scales of socialism fall from their eyes, being able to see clearly that their more-statused neighbors care, and have a Christian love inside of them.
Here is what those who worship at the altar of big government cannot see, that even though it is true that people cannot be trusted to do the right thing, Christian America can.
65% of Americans identify as Christian. That makes this a majority-Christian country.
Despite the hundreds of charity hospitals started by Christians, the thousands of food pantries in churches all over the country, the Saint Judes’ and Saint Agathas’ and so on and so forth, somehow most people are blinded to this Christian infrastructure, though it swamps them, hems them in, cannot be escaped from. Because it is a spiritual war we are fighting, and not a struggle against flesh and blood. They are spiritually blind to the answer to all societal ills in this country, though they are surrounded by the answer, and cannot escape it no matter which way they look.
The fact is, Christian American can be counted on, could always be counted on. It is like a sleeping giant waiting to be roused from its slumber. The country would unify, and the political grifters would be desperate for animosity and hatred to return; desperate to make them believe again that their neighbor should be distrusted, is unreliable, in unchristian, is a hypocrite, is a racist, is a misogynist, and is only out for themselves.
The lie, the false belief that their neighbors must be forced toward social positives in a nation full of Christians would be shattered once and for all. The blinders would be broken from their eyes and the citizenry would gain again a renewed optimism in America, God and country.
The fact is, the government is a natural competitor to the church. The bigger the influence of the state in people’s lives, the lesser the influence of the church in people’s lives, and the more people lose an essential ingredient for social cohesion, being face-to-face interaction with priests, with saints, with everyday Christians.
There has been, throughout history, no government allowed to grow to unparalleled power and moral authority, in which the church has survived and thrived.
Therefore, with every new and over-sized government-sponsored social program, another chip is taken off of the church’s sphere of influence.
The answer to all of America’s social ills lies in its Christian citizenry. They are yet dormant, having been suppressed by the opposing and contradictory reach of the state and government.
In all, the real difference between the republican and the democrat boils down to faith: one has faith in his church, in his neighbors, in his community, in his fellow Christians and countrymen. The other believes, without cause, unblinkingly, as a matter of rote, that people cannot be relied on to do the right thing, to lift up his neighbor when they need it, and that they must be forced to do so, under threat of violence, if need be.
One spreads fear and pessimism about his neighbor, while the other spreads optimism and faith about his neighbor.
Finally, while observing the conversation in the kitchen the other night, the democrat interjected a strange statement, seemingly out of nowhere, about how the church should be paying taxes, should have taxation forced upon them. I’ve noticed this trend when in conversation with liberals, that anti-christian rhetoric somehow, some way, finds itself injected, as a matter of course, into the conversation. Nobody usually takes note of it.
It makes you wonder about it, that if one were inclined to believe such a thing, one might think that the ones who worship government know all of the aforementioned beforehand, and are deeply conscious of the fact that their programs and systems and infrastructures are truly unnecessary in a Christian country, one full of believers, but instead, perhaps they are fully aware that they are fighting an ideological war, a spiritual war, just as the bible tells us.
To take it even a natural step farther, if the majority of a citizenry in a country are Christian, and a political party or faction spreads fear, insinuation, hate and misinformation about the people, who are majority-Christian, it is not crazy to assume that this sentiment is, at heart, anti-christian in nature.
Yes.
Anti-Christian.
Mull that one over.