“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
–James Madison
Lately, I have witnessed a lot of animosity about the pro-life community. The recent reversal of former President George W. Bush's legislation on embryonic stem cell research by President Obama sent shock waves through the pro-life community.
Personally, I am against embryonic stem cell research. I did not appreciate that President Obama, in his speech on the matter, spoke of the pro-life advocates as "politicizing religion" and dismissing their--my--very relevant opinions about scientific experimentation on human beings. I resent that my tax dollars are being used to fund what I view as Dr. Mengela-esque murder.
That said, I cannot oppose President Obama's move to overturn the legislation. In order to pass it through in the first place, President Bush overstepped his office, bypassed the appropriate channels of legislation, and took power into his hands that was not his to take. To simply repeal this misuse of government would have been appropriate. Even those with noble causes cannot be permitted to strong-arm our nation's government, which would undermine not only the government but the cause in question.
And, so I stop and think: What exactly is our government FOR? I do not believe our government should require pharmacists to supply oral contraception if it is against their morals. No more do I believe that our goverment has the right to ban birth control. When did it all become so black-and-white? When did we lose the vision of a pharmacist and a patient who could simply conduct a transaction between themselves without government intervention? When did we stop believing in the sovereignty of the citizen?
In America, our government was formed in order to protect our rights to self-government. Yet, this is not the America I have known in my lifetime. I am not a Republican. I sympathize very much with many policies that Democrats support: protection of the environment, regulation of business practices, aid and assitance to the poor. But, on principle, I must ask myself: Is it the government's job to do these things? Perhaps it would be better if the poor were helped by their neighbors--real faces, real relationships--rather than a government agency which must waste valuable funds in order to staff its offices and file a lot of paperwork? Would it not be better if we, as citizen, took a greater roll in demanding regulation of business practices through boycott and the power of our consumer demand, rather than trusting that our government will take care of it? Would we not be more discerning in our business transactions?
It seems to me that, today, we often think that the average citizen (Joe Six-Pack, if you will :-P) is neither intelligent nor discerning enough to do the right thing. Yet, why do we think this way today, when our founding fathers died for Joe Six-Pack's right to the dignity of self-governance and real voice? Has our nation actually gotten "dumber" over the past 200 years? Have we actually declined morally so much that we cannot live our own lives without legislation that determines even what we do in our own homes? Can we not be trusted to govern our own destinies? Are we really so far gone?
If so, what made us this way? How do we reform? Something tells me, it won't be by passing more laws; we have enough of those already. How do we turn the tide?
Seriously, I'm asking. Any suggestions?
As always, an interesting and thought-provoking post.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a solution to the problem you point out, but it has always seemed to me that a good first step would be to put a lot of the power abrogated by the federal government back into the hands of state and local government...
Natalie
I agree with Natalie, state and local power is much more effective in actually getting things done and it keeps the power more where it belongs: in the hands of the "real" people. I think you're absolutely right. And "Dr. Mengela-esque", oooo, that was good, girl. It's not that we (in general) are to intelligent enough; we are lazy and want the government to just take care of everything for us. That's a dangerous state of mind indeed. Have you ever read "The Tragedy of American Compassion" Marvin Olasky? I think you'd like it. It describes the current welfare system and what it was like before it was instituted, you know, when real people helped real people and held them accountable.
ReplyDeleteGood post.
Here Here! I think the first step towards change is through our Churches and Homes. Assistance to the needy used to be a duty of the Church, not the government!
ReplyDeleteLeaning toward the Libertarian view, eh? [smile] That's okay. There's much good thinking there.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure much has changed. In fact, one of the main reasons for having the election model that we do, is to help keep Joe Six-Pack and his buddies from messing things up. That's theoretically one of the reasons for the Electoral College.
I don't think we've gotten "dumber"--but we have shifted in our thinking. And this "new" thinking may be a less accurate portrayal of reality.
How do we fix this?
I don't know. But it would require that everyone know and follow the truth. And that's not really going to happen.
~Luke
This begs the question: What caused the change from charity beginning at home and church to be moved to the state? Was it the Great Depression? or perhaps the import of some of the principles of communism (i.e. big government will take care of all the people)? Were home and church not seen as effective enough and then the government agencies decided to step in to help? I'm not sure of the answer, just thinking out loud.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Luke; our thinking has shifted and is perhaps not as realistic as it once was.
ReplyDeleteMuch has changed in the last century and this surely has impacted the average American, how they see themselves in the world, and how current events & policy effect them.
*Television has impacted our collective thoughts for the worse and also the time Americans spent involved in community and civic activities. Screen time is now considered 'experience' and has quickly replaced meaningful experiences the masses could be having with others, the real debate and discourse that once existed on important issues, and the brainstorming of ways to help problems here at home. We are spoonfed opinions without the means to fact check or open up a page of citations to see if the information is correct. We are told to simply believe the news because they are reporting "fairly and accurately"
*With the decline of civic activities has come the decline of caring about politics on the local level where change can be most effective. People have also stepped away from groups such as the Jaycees, Elks Lodge, Masonic Lodge, and other such organizations that provided both social events and charity work.
*The fact that the ongoing wars do not touch the bulk of Americans as they did in the past is a good thing on one hand, but also leaves many people gravely desensitized to what is actually going on around them. The same principle holds true for many other issues: the plight of farmers, the decline in manufacturing jobs, economic problems that have long been brewing, and so forth. It's easy to look the other way and do nothing when the problems do not effect you sand yours.
*Economic hardship can make critical thinking mighty difficult as people are simply struggling to survive. to think of the big picture is nearly impossible when somebody is trying to find a way to get dinner on the table this evening.
*Many people do not understand their Constitutional rights. They also do not understand the form of government we have how it works, and why we have it. Without this understanding they may not appreciate the reality that is the rule of law, as opposed to the rule of the majority or the rule of an elite. (Many people believe America is a 'majority rules' system ;o))
*Anti-Americanism is high and can greatly harm the pride in this country many people might have otherwise have. Without love and pride in one's nation, what point is there to work toward change?
*Many social ills, from the high divorce rate, the decline of religious practice, and the lack of meaningful connections can leave people demoralized and not the types to care about what is going on around them. If you feel defeated and as if there is nothing you can do to change the problems in your life, you likely wouldn't feel too motivated to look beyond and see what could be done.
Obviously not an exhaustive list, nor one that really offers any thoughts as to what to do, but humble little thoughts I offer nonetheless. :o)
Bethany-
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I had to chuckle when you said you are not a republican, and you sympathize with democratic causes. Most republicans are passionate about those same causes. The difference is the approach in dealing with them. Democrats want government to fix it, while republicans want to government to stay out so they can deal with it on their own. (At least that is what the rebuplican party platform USED to be about, it has changed alot and moved farther from it's roots.)
Brooke- I haven't read that book...I will have to check it out once I've whittled down my "To Read" list a bit :)
ReplyDeleteLuke- You know, I was thinking about the Electoral College even as I wrote this. You're quite right; the whole point of our electoral system being the way it is was to temper the common man by giving the ultimate power to the elite. I always wondered how this fit into our country's founding ideals at all, even while learning about it in school. Perhaps our country was never meant to self-govern, and all our ideals were just a lot of lip service that got colonials on board for the Revolution? I really don't know.
Amy- You brought up so many things that I was thinking of! One I would add is our modern system of education: There are exceptions, but for the vast majority of American youth, they are simply meant to ingest and regurgitate preformulated answers, a doctored history of our world, and classes like Economics are often relegated to elite Advanced Placement courses for the college-bound.
I do think a lot has changed in the past 200 years--how could it not? But, has humanity itself, at its core changed? If not, then surely we could reform, couldn't we?
Thank you all for responding. This really is something I don't have formulated fully in my mind; I'm mulling it over and chewing on it, and all your input is really giving me lots of food for thought.
~Bethany
The question came up, is it the government's job to help the poor...and should that be done by neighbors instead. (I'm paraphrasing.)
ReplyDeleteI think that's a great idea, but then, I think back to my father's stories of being a child in the Great Depression. Their neighbors couldn't help them, because they were poor themselves. There were no jobs (my father's father was a welder, but couldn't get a job until the US got heavy into the war). So, because there wasn't much (if any) government assistance at the time, my brother and his brother went hungry. Gangs of starving kids would roam through the parks, stealing money and food just so they could eat.
My father's mother was so malnourished that when she was nursing, her milk dried up. My father and his brother are both small people now and I suspect it's partly because they went to bed hungry a lot. When they did get to eat, it would be things like lard sandwiches or mayonnaise sandwiches. Sometimes his mom would feed them dandelions that she picked out of the vacant lots. (I think it was dandelion leaves...my memory could be wrong though, so "don't try this at home" as they say!)
He said the churches did try to help, but they just didn't have enough for everyone. You'd wait in long lines for barely anything, or nothing at all. There was no gov assistance available to them at the time, though I do not know the details about when welfare, food stamps etc actually began. I believe it was in response to the great depression, but by the time it came out, many had already gone hungry for a long time. I'm not an expert on the topic though.
My fear is, if everyone in a neighborhood or time period is poor, as in the Great Depression, then children would go hungry without some sort of government assistance. Also, in some neighborhoods now, the "neighbors" are crack addicts and gang members, so I don't think they'd help. It's the children who would suffer.
Again, I think it's a great idea that neighbors help neighbors and of course we should. My husband and I both give money and food to the food pantry at our church etc. But would that be enough if another depression hit? I just can't forget my father's stories of living with hunger at 2, 3, 4 years old.
On a personal level, I've been blessed to never go hungry. As someone whose husband has a well-paying job as a computer programmer, let's face it, I'm living in a bubble. But my father is still haunted by growing up in those times. He is not a perfect man, but I think those early memories impacted him and perhaps had lasting physical and emotional damage. I think it's something that someone my age can't relate to in today's society. I believe that welfare, food stamps etc were created so that children wouldn't have to go through the hunger that he did. I'm a little nervous about taking those programs away. (Though reform seems necessary.)
Thanks for the interesting discussion.
We turn the tide one home committed to Christ at a time. You are turning the tide by serving in your home and raising your children to know Christ and to live for HIM. Your family inspires others to live in obedience to Christ through your web sight and witness to your church and neighbors. The only thing we can do is walk in obedience.
ReplyDeleteBethany,
ReplyDeleteThe government exists to perform three duties: protect our lives, liberty, and property. That's it! Anything else is overstepping its bounds.
MarkyMark