Fourth of July, Transference or Freedom?
You hear the call to arms from the liberal progressives every day: free food, free housing, free healthcare, etc.
Free? Is anything in life ever truly Free? The answer, much to the chagrin of our liberal neighbors, is sadly not. Nothing in this world is ever free; not even the gift of salvation is truly free, since the price of salvation was borne by our Savior. Yes we receive it at no cost to ourselves; but the price has been paid and most dearly, by someone else, somewhere else. This is the answer to the great myth of the "free" anything. There is nothing in life that does not come without cost, however you try to frame it. The only thing one can do is to try to mitigate the appearance of the costs, and usually by transferring it to another person, and also usually another person as far removed from ourselves as possible.
In the secular state, 'free' programs are funded by taxpayer investment; which rise and fall according to law and/ or governmental regulation. Many people would say that this is an ideal outcome; that taxpayers' money should indeed be spent on such programs, but is it? Is it really an ideal outcome that taxpayers should be forced to foot the bill for a select few to receive allegedly "free" programs and handouts? Is it just to demand that taxpayers, many of whom cannot buy housing for themselves much less afford rent; pay so that someone who has refused to work can have a house themselves? Is it just to demand that those citizens with chronic health conditions should suffer not being able to get access to healthcare, and instead pay so that illegal immigrants who flout the laws of the land be able to go to the doctor instead? Is it wholly righteous and so incredibly just that the mother of 3 young children who are living out of their car be forced to pay her taxes so that the government can feed and house people from foreign lands?
I hear some of you echoing an accusation "oh, he speaks against charity"; no my friends, no. I speak in FAVOR of charity; but AGAINST compelled extortion. When you get down to what the state is doing with taxpayer funds and these programs, it is, at its very essence; an extortionist racket. The state didn't have these programs 100 years ago. It had no need of them; because we had churches and charitable orders and organizations whose sole preserve was to offer charity and care for those in need and destitute. However as time progressed, the state began to seek control and increased power over its people and their lives. They closed the charity hospitals, telling people to go to the state run ones instead; criminally understaffed and ill-run though they may be. They closed the charitable and church schools, proclaiming all children should go to the state funded public schools instead; with no promise or assurances of quality education there. They closed down the homeless shelters and group homes run by charitable organizations, and dumped the residents onto the streets; proclaiming the state would help them, though it has (to this day) so far refused. They told the churches to stick to prayer, and the state would take care of the people's material needs; while offering nothing but excuses when only favored groups receive it alone.
The state has failed in its false oath to uphold the common good of the citizenry; but instead of admitting these faults and seeking to amend them, they attack and assault anyone who dares to try a corrective course of action. They gleefully take the money citizens pay in taxation for these lofty goals; then turn around and squander it rather than investing it wisely for the future. And there are so many people in our society who are blind to this con, that they will actively defend the state's right to rip off citizens; in the name of "common good". They chant slogans such as "tax the rich", "pay your fair share", etc. while not caring to see where the money goes or who it goes to. They prefer to transfer their own responsibility for caring for their brothers and sisters onto the body of the state; and claim they have no fault when the state chooses to ignore those it is entrusted to care for. While you may transfer your feelings of guilt and responsibility onto the state which is far removed from you; know that you have not actually absolved yourself of responsibility. Yes, being responsible is the price that we pay for being free people in a free society.
Until people in the world learn to be accountable for their own lives and deeds, and stop placing their lives in the hands of unscrupulous politicians who don't even know their names; they will not be free from willful bondage they place themselves in. So this July 4th for those in America, here's an exercise for you to try-
Rather than blame someone in Washington, DC for not taking care of your neighbor; why don't you take yourself over there and check on them yourself? If they are hungry, share your food. If they are thirsty, give them to drink. If they are homeless, give them shelter. Revolutionary Idea? Not really, after all: That's what Christ commands us to do in the gospels, not the State.
