Clearing out all of the abusers in the system would go a long way to fixing our society that is off balance with too many people siphoning out money and too few creating it. But why do we need welfare in the first place?

Now of course, I will agree with you that there are people who are mentally or physically “challenged” (gotta be PC) who under normal circumstances would not be able to provide for themselves. Then there are children or the elderly who cannot work. I’m sure that there are other examples of people who could genuinely need welfare. But the real question is who should provide this aid? An easy answer is of course, the government but I believe this is an error from which we already see the negative fruit.

God didn’t intend for the government to tie our shoes for us, but to provide order and protection. What we end up seeing is a system that is designed to help those who cannot help themselves, but is abused by many more who should not be able to use it in the first place.

So let’s imagine a world in which government welfare does not exist. Suddenly all those able-bodied people who were sitting on their butts are starving to death, which as it turns out, is a great motivator to get a job. Sure there is a rough transition, but now we are left with the small percentage who still cannot work and maybe even through no fault of their own due to disability. Do we need a government program? Well we know that doesn’t work. So what now?

This is where I had my epiphany. The family and the church are the two institutions that God designed to care for these people – not the government. And the disintegration of the family unit and the neglect for God and the church is where we fail as a nation so badly that the government has to step in.

Proverbs 22:9 – He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor
Proverbs 28:27 – He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.

Galations 2:10 – Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

1 Tim 5:1-5 – Honor widows who are widows indeed

These verses show our personal responsibility to help the poor, but also the church’s responsibility. It should also go without saying that families should care for their own that are incapable of doing so for themselves. Remember that if you don’t provide for your own house you are worse than an infidel. If families would provide for their own children, elderly and mentally challenged there would be no need for the government to do so. The problem is that families are more fractured, disjointed, and dysfunctional than several decades ago.

In a situation where a family could not care for someone, the church should help (with some qualifications). In 1 Tim 5, we see this exact situation. A widow without family and no way to provide for herself should be cared for by the church. But in order to qualify she has to have no other means of providing (re-marriage) and also be a dedicated, faithful member of the church. I think those are good stipulations for anyone seeking assistance from the local church. The problem again is that Americans do not care about God like in times past. God is far from our thoughts as is church attendance. We would rather get free handouts from the church then be dedicated faithful members.

The welfare problem needs a big dose of Christianity before it will ever be solved.

Related posts:

1. Health Care Reform: Moral Necessity
2. 4 Reasons Why Atheists Should Go to Church

What I am talking about today is the concept of morality. Right and wrong is not taught in the classroom any more. I hope that does not surprise you. What has replaced mom and dad’s black and white concepts of good and bad is the concept of “moral reasoning”.

You see, while we are teaching the next generation to do whatever they please, we all still like to feel good about ourselves. This is where moral reasoning comes into play. The basic tenet of this philosophy is that morality is something that can be reasoned out in our head and not something that is taught.

Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg is one of the key players in instituting this form of moral thinking. He rejects character education and rather implies that students must not learn rules, but must instead learn how to reason out their own rules. While this makes us feel good about our sin, because we “reasoned” that it was okay, this is teaching the next generation that they can participate in any type of immoral debauchery as long as they can justify it in their head.

This is exactly what was taught in my classroom less than a week ago!

It is better disguised than what I have portrayed though. To teach this method, a moral dilemma is imposed on the class and a discussion determines the morality of the situation. The situation usually is presented to imply that honesty may not be the correct course of action, and that stealing or killing may in fact be a legitimate answer to the dilemma.

I attend pharmacy school, so this was the example that was presented to me in class:

A man’s wife is dying of a rare form of cancer and there appeared to be no cure until a druggist recently discovered a rare form of radiation that could possibly cure the cancer. It only cost the pharmacist $200 to obtain, but he is selling the cure for $2000, far above what it originally cost him. The man tried everything to collect the money, borrowing from anyone who would lend him a dime but could only scrape together $1000. The druggist refused to lower his price.

Should the man steal the drug?

The problem here is that without some moral standard, the issue gets cloudy very fast. About half of my class said they would steal the drug! Those that said they would steal used various ways of justifying it, but under Kohlberg’s model, any way of justifying it was good enough because their reasoning was their morality.

Of course the man should not steal the drug. Why? Stealing is wrong! It’s a sin! I don’t have to reason that out or think about because I have a moral standard that surpasses my own reasoning. The Bible is the key for deciphering right and wrong and knowing what is moral or not. Exodus 20:15 says very plainly, “Thou shalt not steal.”

Our education system is undermining future generations by teaching them that morality is relative. The new 21st century mantra is: Do what you want as long as you can justify it in your head!

That’s exactly what the Devil wants us to do. In the garden of eden the serpent was doing this almost 6,000 years ago. He questioned God’s moral code and tried to help Adam and Eve justify their disobedience with some absurb form of moral reasoning. I wonder how that ended…

Base your life on the real moral standard: The 1611 King James Bible!

Related posts:

1. 4 Reasons Why Evolution is a Religion
2. Rules = Fun

Pro 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

Remember that our presidents heart is in the hand of the Lord! God is still in control folks, and if you’re a Christian you get to sit back knowing that in the end we win!

Related posts:

1. Be Thankful For America
2. The Benefit of Christianity