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While the PA Coalition for Responsible Government is a secular organization, we do believe that our country and government were founded on values derived from our Judeo-Christian heritage, referenced by our founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In that vein, I found the following commentary by our Director of Education and Advocacy an enlightening view of expansive government from a libertarian/religious perspective.

More God, Less Government the solution to the human condition!

If you sincerely believe that God instructs us to enable the poor then you may have some concern with recent developments. These developments regardless of their intent are known to build dependency on the idols of government and diminish reliance on God for salvation and hope.

1. The recently passed “Stimulus Bill” is reported to have rolled back the welfare reform that was passed in 1995 under the Clinton administration. What did welfare reform do for the poor? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between 1995 (the year before welfare reform was enacted) and 2003, the number of Americans in poverty fell by 3.5 million. Children in poverty declined by 2.9 million. The number of children born out of wedlock leveled off at 32 percent. But the numbers tell only part of the story. The real story is about enabling the poor through various incentives to join the work force vs. fostering and retaining dependency on government. In the 12 years of welfare reform, millions of parents and their children benefited materially and psychologically from the dignity of work.   

What can we expect with a roll back of welfare reform? We can expect a devaluation of both work and education in the American culture. Instead of lifting people up to be engaged in work programs, states and welfare agencies will be rewarded for dependency. In other words the incentives for the states and welfare agencies have been changed. Their funding now depends on enrolling more and more welfare participates rather than enabling welfare recipients to escape welfare.  

1. Recently proposed as part of Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget are tax changes to diminish the tax deductions for charitable giving by persons in the top tax brackets. This like the step above will shift more people into government dependency rather than faith based enabling help. Continued erosion of the tax deduction for charitable giving will transfer more funding to the government and away from churches and other charitable organizations.    

If we are sincere about social justice our friends and neighbors need to be educated about the fundamental difference between the intent of Christ’s message and bondage of governments.  We need to speak out as did the Biblical prophets about the injustice of building government social programs designed to create dependency and exploit the poor among us. We need to speak out for faith based solutions that deliver results. “More God and less government” enables the poor. As Biblical and modern history clearly demonstrates, kings and governments use poverty and the dependency of the poor to ensure their continuance. That is why Samuel warned the Israelites about kings. That is why Christ did not appeal to Rome for social justice.        

Wexford Bob – April 2009
wexfordbob@parespgov.org

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