PoliticalChic
Diamond Member
While Leftism is a religion of 'rights,' real religion is based on obligations.
The great difference between the two concepts can best be seen when the discussion gets around to the welfare system.
1. Marvin Olasky, in "The Tragedy of American Compassion," explains that, in earlier times,human needs were taken care of by other human beings-not by bureaucracies. The important difference was that the latter may take care of food and shelter...but the formeralso dealt with the human spirit and behavior.
Welfare programs today, are Liberal….conservatives don’t look for material solutions, but understand that changing values is what solves the problem of poverty..
a. The government's welfare plan is based on a lack of understanding of human nature: those accepting largesse without working for same hate themselves, and learn to hate the giver as well.
"If you pick up a stray dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. That is the principal difference between dogs and men." Mark Twain.
2. In earlier times, before materialism and secularism took their toll, social communication proceeded, largely, from church sermons. And sermons, frequently propounding the need for personal help and hospitality, were "powerful in shaping cultural values, meanings, and a sense of corporate purpose."
"The New England Soul: Preaching and Religious Culture in Colonial New England," p. 3,byHarry S. Stout
a. "...compassion and Mercy to the poor is Conformity to God."
Benjamin Colman, " The merchandise of a people holiness to the Lord : A sermon preached in part at the publick lecture in Boston, July 1. 1725"
b. So, in times where God was considered a personal intervenor ( e.g., "God's Providence"), the premise was that charity should not be limited to the clockwork view that it was simply money to be handed over...."God values our hearts and spirits above all our silver and gold....If a man gives all the substance of his house instead of love, ....it would be condemned."
Benjamin Colman, Op. Cit.
3. In the earlier times, as Gertrude Himmelfarb explains: "There was nothing invidious in being preached to. What was invidious was not being preached to, not having access to the kinds of moral, religious and communal experiences that were a normal part of life for those not so poor as to be deprived of them".
A stark reversal was the result of the new emphasis on materialism, actually producing folks who rail about 'religion being forced down their throat.'
Quite an exaggeration, I believe.
'Welfare' was was taken over by Franklin Roosevelt's government, moving it out of the realm of the private charities.
Lyndon Johnson was the second coming of Franklin Roosevelt.
4. " Governments have enacted enormous welfare programs to try to feed, clothe, shelter, educate and transport their citizens and even to put cell phones in their hands....the welfare state has grown to consume nearly a third of the government’s annual budget. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson launched a massive spending program to eradicate poverty in the world’s richest nation. But the program didn’t defeat poverty. Instead, it created welfare dependency, laziness and opportunity for fraud.
a. In 1960, nearly two thirds of these heads of households worked. But by 1991, only one third of them worked, and only 11 percent worked full-time, year-round.... 45 million Americans (14.5 percent) are still living below the poverty line."
The Welfare System That Works - theTrumpet.com
Of course, the current resident of the White House has made it even worse.
The great difference between the two concepts can best be seen when the discussion gets around to the welfare system.
1. Marvin Olasky, in "The Tragedy of American Compassion," explains that, in earlier times,human needs were taken care of by other human beings-not by bureaucracies. The important difference was that the latter may take care of food and shelter...but the formeralso dealt with the human spirit and behavior.
Welfare programs today, are Liberal….conservatives don’t look for material solutions, but understand that changing values is what solves the problem of poverty..
a. The government's welfare plan is based on a lack of understanding of human nature: those accepting largesse without working for same hate themselves, and learn to hate the giver as well.
"If you pick up a stray dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. That is the principal difference between dogs and men." Mark Twain.
2. In earlier times, before materialism and secularism took their toll, social communication proceeded, largely, from church sermons. And sermons, frequently propounding the need for personal help and hospitality, were "powerful in shaping cultural values, meanings, and a sense of corporate purpose."
"The New England Soul: Preaching and Religious Culture in Colonial New England," p. 3,byHarry S. Stout
a. "...compassion and Mercy to the poor is Conformity to God."
Benjamin Colman, " The merchandise of a people holiness to the Lord : A sermon preached in part at the publick lecture in Boston, July 1. 1725"
b. So, in times where God was considered a personal intervenor ( e.g., "God's Providence"), the premise was that charity should not be limited to the clockwork view that it was simply money to be handed over...."God values our hearts and spirits above all our silver and gold....If a man gives all the substance of his house instead of love, ....it would be condemned."
Benjamin Colman, Op. Cit.
3. In the earlier times, as Gertrude Himmelfarb explains: "There was nothing invidious in being preached to. What was invidious was not being preached to, not having access to the kinds of moral, religious and communal experiences that were a normal part of life for those not so poor as to be deprived of them".
A stark reversal was the result of the new emphasis on materialism, actually producing folks who rail about 'religion being forced down their throat.'
Quite an exaggeration, I believe.
'Welfare' was was taken over by Franklin Roosevelt's government, moving it out of the realm of the private charities.
Lyndon Johnson was the second coming of Franklin Roosevelt.
4. " Governments have enacted enormous welfare programs to try to feed, clothe, shelter, educate and transport their citizens and even to put cell phones in their hands....the welfare state has grown to consume nearly a third of the government’s annual budget. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson launched a massive spending program to eradicate poverty in the world’s richest nation. But the program didn’t defeat poverty. Instead, it created welfare dependency, laziness and opportunity for fraud.
a. In 1960, nearly two thirds of these heads of households worked. But by 1991, only one third of them worked, and only 11 percent worked full-time, year-round.... 45 million Americans (14.5 percent) are still living below the poverty line."
The Welfare System That Works - theTrumpet.com
Of course, the current resident of the White House has made it even worse.