Bryan Fischer
Republicans have biblical worldview, Democrats don't
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
A recent Gallup Poll revealed that 70% of Democrats believe that it is right for government to use taxes to redistribute wealth. In contrast, 70% of Republicans don't.
Simply put, this means that most Republicans think biblically about wealth and the economy, and most Democrats do not.
The Eighth Commandment prohibits theft of all kinds, even when done under color of law. "Thou shalt not steal" is about as plain as you can get. It's just flat morally wrong to take money from one citizen by force to give that money to another.
To boost money from one man's wallet only to stick that money in another man's wallet is stealing. You do it by holding up somebody on the street, you go to jail. You do it as a politician, you get elected to office as a Democrat.
You can call it welfare, you can call it food stamps, you can call it subsidized housing, you can call it Social Security, you can call it Medicaid, you can call it Medicare, it's still stealing.
The involuntary transfer of wealth is prohibited by the Eighth Commandment, no matter who is doing the transferring. If government does under the threat of fine and incarceration, it's just legalized plunder, to use Frederic Bastiat's colorful and descriptive phrase.
This is not to say that all taxes are a violation of the Eighth Commandment. When taxes are collected for legitimate government purposes — justice and national defense — then taxes are entirely appropriate and biblically justified. As the New Testament says, "This is why you...pay taxes" (Romans 13:6, NIV).
But once the federal government begins coercively extracting money from its own citizens to do things that aren't about justice and national defense and have no authorization under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, it's no longer governing, it's just ripping people off.
Democrats, at least 70% of them, think ripping people off in this way is okay. Republicans, at least 70% of them, believe it's not.
From a conservative and biblical point of view, both Social Security and Medicare are fundamentally flawed, since they are both giant welfare programs and gargantuan Ponzi schemes to boot. Both involve the massive and involuntary transfer of wealth, not from the rich to the poor, but from younger Americans to older ones, who often actually have more accumulated wealth than the young who are carrying them on their backs.
And neither program has any justification under Article I, Section 8. You will look in vain in our Constitution for any permission given by "we the people" to the central government to manage either retirement or health care for anybody, senior citizens included.
Now conservatives do believe in the transfer of wealth, as long as it 's voluntary. They believe that, under the influence of Christianity, Americans are the most generous people on the face of the earth and can be counted on to give generously of their own resources to alleviate legitimate needs.
And conservatives believe in the centrality of the family. Until FDR and LBJ, the family was America's safety net for individuals, with the faith community and private charities serving as the safety net for the family.
This leads to another way of describing the fundamental difference between a liberal and conservative worldview: liberals believe compassion is giving away other people's money, while conservatives believe compassion is giving away your own.
So if you are looking for a political philosophy that's in alignment with Scripture, according to Gallup you will look in vain if you look to the Democratic Party. Republicans at least believe in a scriptural approach to the redistribution of wealth.
This is surely not to say that Republicans are dialed in on this issue. A full 30% of them, according to Gallup, believe in violating the Eighth Commandment just as much as Democrats do, and most of the 70% who do have a biblical worldview on the transfer of wealth toss it out the window by supporting involuntary transfer schemes like Social Security and Medicare.
So we've got work to do. The worldview of Democrats needs to be defeated, and the worldview of Republicans needs to be implemented. Neither is happening right now, but there's no time like the present to start.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
June 5, 2011
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
A recent Gallup Poll revealed that 70% of Democrats believe that it is right for government to use taxes to redistribute wealth. In contrast, 70% of Republicans don't.
Simply put, this means that most Republicans think biblically about wealth and the economy, and most Democrats do not.
The Eighth Commandment prohibits theft of all kinds, even when done under color of law. "Thou shalt not steal" is about as plain as you can get. It's just flat morally wrong to take money from one citizen by force to give that money to another.
To boost money from one man's wallet only to stick that money in another man's wallet is stealing. You do it by holding up somebody on the street, you go to jail. You do it as a politician, you get elected to office as a Democrat.
You can call it welfare, you can call it food stamps, you can call it subsidized housing, you can call it Social Security, you can call it Medicaid, you can call it Medicare, it's still stealing.
The involuntary transfer of wealth is prohibited by the Eighth Commandment, no matter who is doing the transferring. If government does under the threat of fine and incarceration, it's just legalized plunder, to use Frederic Bastiat's colorful and descriptive phrase.
This is not to say that all taxes are a violation of the Eighth Commandment. When taxes are collected for legitimate government purposes — justice and national defense — then taxes are entirely appropriate and biblically justified. As the New Testament says, "This is why you...pay taxes" (Romans 13:6, NIV).
But once the federal government begins coercively extracting money from its own citizens to do things that aren't about justice and national defense and have no authorization under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, it's no longer governing, it's just ripping people off.
Democrats, at least 70% of them, think ripping people off in this way is okay. Republicans, at least 70% of them, believe it's not.
From a conservative and biblical point of view, both Social Security and Medicare are fundamentally flawed, since they are both giant welfare programs and gargantuan Ponzi schemes to boot. Both involve the massive and involuntary transfer of wealth, not from the rich to the poor, but from younger Americans to older ones, who often actually have more accumulated wealth than the young who are carrying them on their backs.
And neither program has any justification under Article I, Section 8. You will look in vain in our Constitution for any permission given by "we the people" to the central government to manage either retirement or health care for anybody, senior citizens included.
Now conservatives do believe in the transfer of wealth, as long as it 's voluntary. They believe that, under the influence of Christianity, Americans are the most generous people on the face of the earth and can be counted on to give generously of their own resources to alleviate legitimate needs.
And conservatives believe in the centrality of the family. Until FDR and LBJ, the family was America's safety net for individuals, with the faith community and private charities serving as the safety net for the family.
This leads to another way of describing the fundamental difference between a liberal and conservative worldview: liberals believe compassion is giving away other people's money, while conservatives believe compassion is giving away your own.
So if you are looking for a political philosophy that's in alignment with Scripture, according to Gallup you will look in vain if you look to the Democratic Party. Republicans at least believe in a scriptural approach to the redistribution of wealth.
This is surely not to say that Republicans are dialed in on this issue. A full 30% of them, according to Gallup, believe in violating the Eighth Commandment just as much as Democrats do, and most of the 70% who do have a biblical worldview on the transfer of wealth toss it out the window by supporting involuntary transfer schemes like Social Security and Medicare.
So we've got work to do. The worldview of Democrats needs to be defeated, and the worldview of Republicans needs to be implemented. Neither is happening right now, but there's no time like the present to start.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
