Translation - somebody ELSE will take care of it; bill me via my taxes? - Granite Grok

Translation – somebody ELSE will take care of it; bill me via my taxes?

We come back to the moral imperative:

Is charity a function of individual will and heart, or should Christianity outsource a primary raison d’etre to Government?

Translation – somebody ELSE will take care of it; bill me via my taxes:

"In the era of American big government, it appears that Catholic leaders have taken the leap of assigning government the responsibility of safeguarding this particular Catholic value – in short, through its support of welfare and entitlement programs, the church has institutionalized this element of spirituality in government. In the petition, even signed by five professors from Boehner’s alma mater, Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH, the distinction between government and individual responsibility for charity to the poor seems nonexistent."

Last this week, a group of Catholic theologians decided to attack  US House Speaker Boehner on the Republican budget "to be antithetical to Catholic beliefs, specifically the Christian responsibility of charity and almsgiving."

First thought: is the Catholic Church deciding, as back in the Middle Ages, that it has the capability to tell Government what to do? 

Second thought: Is this just a renegade group of professors, who tend to drive as far Left as their secular bedmates in the Ivory Towers?

Now, I’m not Catholic, but as an Evangelical Christian, I see the first as wrongness and this new tendency rings badly (but we have seen this here in NH as well, making the same demand of State Government; I have made the anti-argument at our town level (more and more and more) and Steve has thoughts here).  Christ came to save sinners, one by one, as their hearts became convicted by their sin.  I may lead you to that knowledge, but I cannot "save" you – that is an  action solely by you.  Not that salvation is based on "works" – but a by product of that newness of spiritual life and living.  Same too, is the action after that change of heart – an individual act of charitable works. You can do charity, I can do charity, we as a group of individuals can perform such acts of kindness, but once government gets involved, it is no longer charity – it is simply a tax supported program.

Yet, we seem to see this "collective salvation" meme, supported by Obama, that I paraphrase as "no one is saved unless we are all saved, and if we act, we act as a group [like it or not]" – and that is to be worked out as a group rather than as an individual step of faith. And Government is nothing more than one huge group.  I have also blogged here about the conflation / confusion of Individuals, Society, and Government (and I maintain that Society and Government are not the same and should never be considered to be one lumped together entity). 

And, oh, by the way?  Color me surprised – those Catholic theologians attacking US House Speaker Boehner are well connected to Mr. "Spooky Dude" – George Soros. Who’da thunk it?

Which gives rise to the next question:

Is the attack based solely on a strongly held sense of faith, a strongly held sense of political ideology, or a strongly held sense of "show me the money"?

And if it is the first, a follow on question:

what happened to the theological principal of  "free will"?

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