510 likes | 615 Views
God Cares About Government so you should !. Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous rule , the people will rejoice, but when the wicked govern they will groan Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people It is very important whom we choose to govern us.
E N D
God Cares About Government so you should ! • Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous rule, the people will rejoice, but when the wicked govern they will groan • Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people • It is very important whom we choose to govern us
God Cares About Government so you should ! • Politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000.00 a plate campaign fund-raising event. • People claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when they have a black President, a black Attorney General, and roughly 18% of the federal workforce is black while only 12% of the population is black. • Two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner, the head of the Treasury Department and Charles Rangel who once ran the Ways and Means Committee, BOTH turn out to be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes
God Cares About Government so you should ! • Terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.We make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege while we discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just 'magically' become American citizens.“ Extremists - those wanting to balance the budget and stick by the country's Constitution
God Cares About Government so you should ! • You need to present a driver's license to cash a check or buy cigarettes or alcohol, but not to vote.The government collects more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, still spend a Trillion dollars more than it has per year - for total spending of $7-Million PER MINUTE, and complain that it doesn't have nearly enough money. • Rich people, who pay 86% of all income taxes, are accused of not paying their "fair share" by people who don't
The duty to vote and participate • The revivalist of the 2nd Great Awakening, Charles Finney • The Church must take right ground in regard to politics. . . The time has come that Christians must vote for honest men, and take consistent ground in politics….[T]he Church must act rightly or the country will be ruined. God cannot sustain this free and blessed country, which we love and pray for, unless the Church will take right ground. Politics are a part of a religion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to the country as a part of their duty to God…. He will bless or curse this nation, according to the course they [Christians]take [in politics]. Charles G. Finney, Revivals of Religion, Virginia Beach: CBN University Press, 1978, pp.311-312.
The duty to vote and Participate • Noah Webster • When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, just men who will rule in the fear of God. The preservation of [our] government depends on the faithful discharge of this Duty; if the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office
The duty to vote and Participate • Noah Webster • the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded. If [our] government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the Divine Commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the Laws.
Marxism • The name comes from Karl Marx (1818 – 1883), a German thinker born into a Jewish family that converted to Christianity when he was born. He became an atheist before college. • rejected any notion of a Creator or transcendent being • The universe started and sustains itself – no outside force required • We created God and religion in our image to meet our needs • Matter is the highest reality – evolved into mankind as its most elevated form
Marxism • Since no transcendent Lawgiver exists, Marxism rejects moral absolutes. It considers: • mankind good • but believes in evil, described as economic inequity and the ensuing abuse of power • Human injustice results from class conflict between the haves and have-nots. Private property amplifies greed, leading to social ills, which must be corrected by revolution replacing the old economic structures with new ones. • The ends justify the means as long as they promote the communist society Marxism seeks
Marxism • The new society will have no wages, money, or social classes, an eventually no state. Utopia is achieved when there is eventually no state!?!
Socialism • seeks to create immediate material equality for all people by standardizing wages, confiscating from wealthier residents much of their personal holdings and also highly regulating and taxing industry. • legislates government control over property, handing over production and delivery of material goods to the state. • Socialism springs forth from Marxism and is the ½ step communism.
Universal Healthcare • The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly called Obamacare (or the federal health care law), is a United States federal statue signed into law by Obama on March 23, 2010 • The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a massive 2,407 pages of healthcare reform legislation that will span out over the next eight years
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), • The House of Representatives, by a vote of 219 to 212, passed the health care reform bill • No Republicans voted for the bill • 34 Democrats voted against the measure
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), Good v Bad Specifics
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), • A healthcare plan that we are forced to purchase • fined if we don't • purportedly covers at least 10 more million people • without adding a single doctor or clinical practitioner • but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), • written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it • passed by a Congress that didn't read it but exempted themselves from it • 100% opposed by the other party • created and signed by a president who smokes • with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), • from which we will be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect • by a government which is bankrupting Social Security, Medicare and put us trillions of dollars in debt • all to be overseen by a committee with socialistic ideologies and by Surgeon General whois obese • and financed by a country that is broke • so what's wrong with it?
Universal Healthcare Does Jesus care about the poor? YES Primarily concerned about those poor in spirit John 1:29 Yes, the church will help the physical poor as a result
Universal Healthcare Christ’s Love Christ’s Love
Universal Healthcare Government Government
Universal Healthcare • Is it everyone’s right to have equal healthcare?
Universal Healthcare • Remember our government (our taxes) already provide: • Section 8 housing • Food stamps • WIC • Utilities relief • Unemployment comp • Workers comp • SS Disability • Medicare • Medicaid • Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) • Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) • The Emergency Food and Shelter Program • Homeless Assistance Grants • Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program • Childcare • workforce training
Universal Healthcare • Is it everyone’s right to have equal healthcare? • Everyone has access to emergency healthcare • If so, who would provide it and pay for it? • Private or Government? • Either way it is socialism • How about: • Dental • Wellness programs • Funeral services
Universal Healthcare • Declaration of Independence • We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. • Nowhere does it mention anything about free MRIs...
Universal Healthcare • the first 10 amendments to the Constitution were ratified in 1791, and collectively they form our Bill of Rights. • Rights are not about giving you something for free; they are about protecting natural liberties from those who would take them away from you. • For instance, the Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms. It does not however, say that you get guns for free if you don't have one.
Universal Healthcare • A 'right' to services without charge, that forces someone else to provide for you, does not and should not ever exist. • No one in a free society should have a 'right' to anything that requires others to toil against their will on behalf of those unwilling to provide for themselves
7 reasons why Universal Healthcareis a bad idea • Socialized anything is antithetical to the Gospel • Historic and Economic Reality • Government Inefficiency, Waste and Virtually Unlimited Demand • Government Bureaucracy Rationing vs. Free Market Forces and Charity • Suppression of Creativity, Invention and the Attraction of Talent • Fundamental change in the relationship between Citizens and Elected Officials • Erosion of Liberties and Impairing the Freedom to Dissent and Criticize Elected Officials
Universal Healthcare • Historic and Economic Reality • Universal Health Care has been tried elsewhere in the world and consistently fails • Universal Health Care has been tried in the USA and is our worst healthcare • The only way to control expense in that system is rationing or denial of services. This leads to long waits for appointments and treatment or just plain denial of service. • Medicare • Medicaid • VA • Universal Health Care is anything but free
Universal Healthcare • Historic and Economic Reality • Universal Health Care is anything but free
Universal Healthcare • Government Inefficiency, Waste and Virtually Unlimited Demand • In any private business, the business must take care to manage efficiency and waste or it will go out of business. Government is very insulated from this consequence • If they have efficiency and waste problems they just increase taxes , or delay/provide deficient services so they can stay in business. • And because they can just raise taxes, efficiency and waste do not get the scrutiny they should. • 400 dollar hammers and 500 dollar toilet seat covers
Universal Healthcare • Government Inefficiency, Waste and Virtually Unlimited Demand
Universal Healthcare • Government Bureaucracy Rationing vs. Free Market Forces and Charity • Every place that Universal Health Care has been tried, the Government is forced to resort to rationing of health care to control expenses • VA Hospitals have small symbols they put on patients charts that indicate how much effort and expense a patient is entitled to • This rationing also takes the form of long waits, delayed appointments, delayed diagnosis, delayed treatments and/or denial of all of the foregoing
Universal Healthcare • Government Bureaucracy Rationing vs. Free Market Forces and Charity • There is a gentleman under Canada's Universal Health Care that suffers from incontinence. He must wear adult diapers. The treatment is a routine surgery with a terrific success rate. The treatment generally cost less than 5000 dollars. He is scheduled (rationed) to get the operation in 3 years. 3 years of embarrassment and adult diapers. No big deal to you? Change places with the man and tell me how you feel now • Great Britain can’t get a THR if you are overweight • No heart transplant if you are to old • … and a million other similar stories
Universal Healthcare • Government Bureaucracy Rationing vs. Free Market Forces and Charity • Many charities exist which can help persons with medical expenses. Most Hospitals have foundations for this purpose. Churches and other charities also assist persons with medically related expenses. And sometimes, communities gather to raise funds for persons with medical needs. This is the traditional spirit of America. Charity is Voluntary. Money forcibly acquired through taxation given to help another is not charity.
Universal Healthcare • Suppression of Creativity, Invention and the Attraction of Talent • The United States has been a leader in medical creativity and invention for many years. New medicines, vaccines and treatment spring forth because of the economic incentives and opportunities that the current overall US environment provides • And this economic incentive and opportunity attracts the best and brightest minds.
Universal Healthcare • Suppression of Creativity, Invention and the Attraction of Talent • Countries that adopt a policy of universal or guaranteed health care soon come to put policies in place that stifle creativity and invention and stop drawing the best and the brightest minds • The best and brightest who have not yet been trained, choose other careers
Universal Healthcare • Fundamental change in the relationship between Citizens and Elected Officials • The Founding Fathers intended that the Citizens be the Sovereigns of our Country and the elected officials be the servants of the Citizens. • Citizens were expected to be responsible for pursuing there own happiness and providing for their own fundamental security.
Universal Healthcare • Fundamental change in the relationship between Citizens and Elected Officials • As Citizens become dependent on the government, the government begins to have the ability to threaten to take the security away. • Suddenly, dissent and criticism of the government will be stifled as citizens realize that the government can retaliate for criticism and dissent.
Universal Healthcare • Fundamental change in the relationship between Citizens and Elected Officials • In Nazi Germany, many Citizens joined the Nazi Party not because they agreed with their politics but to ensure bread on the table and heating fuel. • if you were not a member of the party, you were a lot less likely to get basic necessities just because you did not belong to the Nazi Party
Universal Healthcare • Fundamental change in the relationship between Citizens and Elected Officials • Are you really free if the government controls your medical care, welfare, social security and your unemployment insurance? • Are you free to dissent and criticize your elected officials if they control your access to these programs?
Universal Healthcare • Fundamental change in the relationship between Citizens and Elected Officials • Thomas Jefferson, "He who trades liberty for security, deserves neither and will lose both." • Benjamin Franklin, "He who gives up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety."
Universal Healthcare • Erosion of Liberties and Impairing the Freedom to Dissent and Criticize Elected Officials • The only thing standing between a further widening of the tyranny of American Government is the Citizenries' right to overtly dissent and persuade others to join us in voting the persons that engage in tyranny out of office. • Currently, our elected officials have ignored our constitution and eroded our rights because we have • In the mean time, they have been moving to actually take away our rights and our ability to overtly express our dissent.
Government • God created government and it is his minister or servant • With the exception of the coming theocracy, all governments are fallen • Therefore we must promote and facilitate governments which will be the most reflective of biblical principles and facilitate freedom of the gospel