By Bill Hawkins
We are not to worship anything other than God. Whatever man puts his faith in and sets up as a guide that influences his actions is what he worships. Therefore, the person who believes the highest authority we are answerable to is government, worships government.
The Second Commandment simply states that, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” (Exodus 20:4) Meaning, we are not to have idols or anything we put before God.
It goes hand in hand with the first commandment with the difference being, the first commandment is speaking spiritually of God alone being worthy of worship. Whereas the second commandment is referring to the physical world and worshiping something man made, or tangible, such as government.
Where do the two parties stand when it comes to God? On page ii of the 2016 Republican Party Platform it states, “Every time we sing, “God Bless America,” we are asking for help. We ask for divine help that our country can fulfill its promise. We earn that help by recommitting ourselves to the ideas and ideals that are the true greatness of America.”
Conversely, the 2016 Democratic Party Platform says on page 17, “Democrats know that our nation, our communities, and our lives are made vastly stronger and richer by faith in many forms and the countless acts of justice, mercy, and tolerance it inspires. We believe in lifting up and valuing the good work of people of faith and religious organizations and finding ways to support that work where possible.”
The difference between the two platforms is the Republican Party turns to God for divine help for America whereas the Democrat Platform says that faith comes in many forms and the government will help where possible. Where the Republicans seek God and his help, Democrats say there are many gods.
In the New Testament, Jesus had this to say about the second commandment. Matthew 22:37-39 says, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
How do the two parties go about loving our neighbor? Notice that there is no financial litmus test on who we are to love. If we love our neighbor, it goes well beyond helping the poor. However, for the purpose of this article let us limit our discussion to how the two parties help the poor.
First, let us realize there are two different definitions of poor we are dealing with here. The Bible’s defines a poor person as a person who cannot help themselves. Specifically the widow, fatherless, or physically handicapped. The Bible does not define the poor as someone who has less money, or someone who lives under the government defined poverty line. The latter is how our government defines poor. But since we are talking about government, we will use the governments definition in this article.
The question then becomes, whose responsibility is it to help the poor? Is it the individuals responsibility to help the poor, or is it the governments?
We can see how compassion is practiced by members of both parties by how they want to help the poor and less fortunate. Republicans tend to give of their own personal belongings to the needy without coercion and out of an inner motivation of compassion. Whereas, Democrats tend to believe the government needs to help the poor and needy and to do so they take, through taxation, what belongs to someone else and then redistributes it in an effort to help those below the poverty line, or in need, as defined by the government.
In a nutshell, the conservative sees compassion as an individual choice. Whereas, the liberal sees it as a collective and compulsory duty of our government.
Former President Barak Obama incorrectly used the Bible in an attempt to justify welfare programs to help those deemed poor by the government. He would say we are to be our brothers keeper. Meaning, in a Democrats way of thinking, that it is up to the government to provide for our needy brother.
The “brother’s keeper” story is found in Genesis 4:9 and it is the story of Cain killing his brother Abel. When God inquired of Cain the whereabouts of Abel, Cain answered, “I know not, am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain didn’t ask God that question expecting the answer to be yes. He knew the answer would was “no,” because he correctly knew that God never called us to be our brother’s keeper. That phrase, “brother’s keeper,” in today’s parlance is akin to saying, “That’s not my job.” Cain was right, it wasn’t his job. Biblically speaking, we are not our brother’s keeper.
That doesn’t mean we are cold and callous to those in need. Quite the contrary, it is part of our personal responsibility to help those in need. We are not to leave it up to the government.
When we believe it is the responsibility of government to provide for the needy, we are transferring that responsibility from the individual to the government. That is a convenient way for the Democrat to say they care, when in reality they don’t care enough to do something themselves.
God says we are personally responsible to love our neighbor as ourselves. He doesn’t say, the government is to love your neighbor, you are the one with that responsibility.
I am not my brother’s keeper. I am my brother’s helper in time of need.
The Democrat Party violates the second commandment because it denies God and places its faith in the government as demonstrated by their practice of using government welfare to fool people into thinking they are helping the poor. After all, which is more compassionate? The number of people a party can add to the welfare rolls, or the number of people a party can free from the welfare rolls. Welfare keeps people where they are, it does not cause them to rise above their circumstances.
Keeping someone poor is not love.