Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Well, again I'm not sure how "spiritual" this issue is...but, I'd love to have the opportunity to rant a bit on this topic. I intend to post links here, as they are appropriate.

For now...this is from my friend Brent Hellickson:

When our country was founded, what made it different than every other country on the planet? It was the idea of individual rights. I'm having a hard time understanding why our country now thinks that it should abandon (and has started doing so in the last 50 years of the welfare state) this idea of individual liberties and move towards collectivism.

This is not an economic issue. It's a moral issue. Should one person die to help save 5, 10, or 100? Well of course, it's for the common good! Well, sure, unless you're the one who has to die. If I have a bushel of wheat and 100 other people don't, should I be forced to share it with others because it's the right thing to do?

From an abstract perspective, it can be argued that slavery was the ultimate form of taxation.... collectivism. Work all day and have nothing to show for it. It's fascinating to me that we continue to think it's not fair that the rich are rich and they shouldn't be allowed to be so rich, so let's tax the bejesus out of them so that life is more fair for everyone else.

It's very realistic that in some states, when you add the local and state taxes to the Federal, wealthy individuals will be taxed at nearly 50% if all of this legislation gets passed...Does this not seem like robbery? If this continues, the rich are going to stop working so hard and live off what they've already made. What incentive do they have to keep working so hard just to have half of it taken from them? It should be noted that the majority of wealthy individuals in America are first generation rich. They were not handed their wealth by their daddy or grandaddy.

Are we going to let our country and our freedoms be taken away from us? Of course, this is a philosophical debate on where your politics lie. If you think that it is fair to steal from the rich so that the non-rich can have better lives, why aren't you the first one in line to say you'd like to be taxed higher? Why aren't you writing checks to the government every month to help subsidize other people? Ohhh, well when I'm the one who has to be stolen from, I don't want to do it. Oh really? Why? Is that not fair?

The people that are for having the village raise the child and want to abandon their individual freedoms to do what they want, should be the first ones giving their time and money away to those who need it. As for me, I want to be able to give my time and money when I choose to and what amount I choose to give. Not to be told I have to because it's not fair that other people are less fortunate than me.