Why Liberalism is Unchristian, Part II

We have pointed out that when Jesus commanded his followers to take care of the poor, the sick, and the needy, he never said, “Take what your neighbor has by force, and give that to the poor,” which is what government welfare does. Nowhere in the Bible is it suggested that we should take from our neighbors to help the poor. That’s not an oversight. If the malady is selfishness, it can’t be cured by force. Forced “charity” only increases interclass resentment and a sense of entitlement. Consider some other consequences of the voluntary vs. forced approaches:

	Jesus’s Way – Voluntary Giving	Liberals’ Way – Taxation
Virtue	Loving Others, Obeying God	None
Motivation of the Donor	Help Those in Need	Avoid Fines, Penalties, Prosecution, and Jail
Attitude of Donor	Concern for recipients	Resentment of bullying government and those receiving entitlements
Instigated by	God	Man
Cause	Choice	Force
Locus of Choice	Internal; Lies with the owner of the money	External; Lies with the holder of political power
Monitored by	The donor or church	Wasteful bureaucracy, if there is any monitoring at all
Additional Benefits	Since aid is given out of a sense of concern, additional help may be given in the form of mentoring, housing, babysitting, and other intangibles	No additional benefits
Use of Resources	Responsible; very efficient	Irresponsible; inefficient
Effectiveness	Very high	Low
Attitude of Recipient	Encourages gratitude because specific donor can be known	Encourages a sense of entitlement because bureaucracy has no face, identity, and rarely any real expectations
Result	Growth and progress in both donor and recipient	Progress is unlikely
Result	Spiritually and socially rewarding; donor more likely to give to the poor; recipient more likely to help others when able	No spiritual reward. Donor less likely to give voluntarily in future and recipient less likely to give when able because “it’s the government’s job”
Result	Decrease in the public’s burden	Increase in public’s burden; Another government entitlement to grow out of control
Result	Relationship	Increased dependence; increased racism; increased classism

This is why the Church, families, and individuals have the God-assigned job of taking care of “the widow and the orphan.” It should not be the government’s job because the government can’t do it well. This is why many people on government aid have no plans to get off of government aid. Anonymous government aid can’t solve the actual problem, which, in our nation, is usually the behavior of the person in need.