"Can you compel another person to provide a service to you?"

[cashmcall]

I know I've said this before, we the Church hold much blame for what’s going on in Government…
Entitlement welfare is a degenerate counterfeit for real human charity. It's easy to confuse tax-funded handouts with charity because they can look the same on the surface. We all need a charitable hand-up once in a while, and it's how and who we get that help from that is the key. Did the giver choose to give or was it taken from him without his consent? Is anyone being edified by the action? Was there a real human connection made that increased love on both sides of the transaction? It's in these moments when we need help or see a need that we can learn the difference.

The current lack of faith in charity is what has led to us thinking that the welfare state is necessary for our society to function. If the people were charitable and had faith in the charity of others we would have no need for welfare checks, and such. We would be taking care of ourselves, our families, and our neighbors if we were a charity-based society. But when the mentality is that needs should be met by the state, the state necessarily becomes oppressive. The lack of human charity and affection in our culture is what is feeding the big government monster (or at least the spread of the doubt in our charity, considering that I do still believe we are generally a charitable people.)
Charity as defined by God is "the pure love of Christ." If we care about others we do what is right for them, not what is easy or convenient for us. When we see a need we help. That is the way charitable giving should be. We shouldn't say, "There's a government program for that." We should open our homes, our wallets, our hearts, and give what is necessary to fulfilling Christ's law to "love one another." When we, of our own free will, give charitably the government loses its job as the savior of the downtrodden just a little bit. Can we in some small way make big government welfare irrelevant?
I just don’t know..

 

[Cruella]

Charity as we understand it through the bible is under attack. There are cities that have made it illegal to give food to the homeless. The government wants control of everything.

But getting back to giving in the bible.

2 Thessalonians 3:10
King James Version (KJV)
10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

There is the story of the Pilgrims that Rush likes to read every Thanksgiving. I didn't take his word for it, so I read it myself in "Of Plymouth Plantation" written by William Bradford. They tried the socialist experiment. But what they found was that not everyone pulled their weight. Some of them put in the most effort while others were okay with letting someone else do all the work. That's when Bradford split up the land among everyone to own/work for themselves and they all prospered much better. Instead of everyone pooling their efforts to be divided, they started to barter.

 

[cashmcall]

Charity as we understand it through the bible is under attack. There are cities that have made it illegal to give food to the homeless. The government wants control of everything.

But getting back to giving in the bible.

2 Thessalonians 3:10
King James Version (KJV)
10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

There is the story of the Pilgrims that Rush likes to read every Thanksgiving. I didn't take his word for it, so I read it myself in "Of Plymouth Plantation" written by William Bradford. They tried the socialist experiment. But what they found was that not everyone pulled their weight. Some of them put in the most effort while others were okay with letting someone else do all the work. That's when Bradford split up the land among everyone to own/work for themselves and they all prospered much better. Instead of everyone pooling their efforts to be divided, they started to barter.

Exactly...like I said.. social justice cannot be achieved until men are righteous to the degree that each exercises self-sufficiency to the full measure of their ability. There are some in our society who are content to live off the labor of others. Whether this comes as a result of laziness, a misplaced sense of entitlement, or any other reason, it is an obstacle to achieving equality and justice in our society and it is a WRONG. When possessions are taken from he who earned it and given to one who did not earn it, but was capable of doing so, justice is not present.