Debunking the lie: Christian Principles = taking from the rich and giving to the poor

After the Truckers Ride for the Constitution and the Vets March to Washington October 11th-13th, 2013 I saw thousands of men who were willing to stand up, speak out and demand a change in our nation. I couldn't be more proud of these men, many of who already fought for our freedom and shouldn't have to be doing it again,                                              
but are. I see valiant men and women doing whatever they can to not sit quietly and will be able to say before God, "I did all I could to save Your country." But I also know that many of us are ill-equipped to answer some of the seemingly rational sounding lies that get thrown up in conversations like the following:


"If you don't want your tax dollars to help the poor then stop saying you want a country based on Christian principles, because you don't."

The "left" here (no pun intended... okay maybe a little) is an image a friend of mine posted on Facebook. How fine those words sound, how righteous and good... and misleading. It causes people to look at themselves- in a matter of seconds- and question their own goodness. "I am a good person. I want to help the poor, I am a Christian, and I want a nation founded on Christian principles just like our founding fathers did... so could I be wrong?" After that short self reflection, you have now begun to believe the lie that Christian principles say that it is Godly to take from one person without their permission and give it to someone less fortunate.

So I realized, someone needs to start getting the answers into the hands of these men and women who are going on the front lines, as it were, standing to retain the integrity of this great nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The first thing you need to know is that when it comes to finding out exactly what Christian principles are there is only one place that you can go: the Bible. Throughout (from the Old Testament to the New) you find a loving God, but also a just God. You will find that God always fights for the "under-dog" and does often take from wicked people to give to the less fortunate. But wait, did I just say God "took" from someone to give to the poor? Why, yes, yes I did. But what part are we missing class? Anyone know the answer? He took from the wicked, not from people simply because they had more than someone else.

In the book of Mark, chapter 10, starting in verse 17, Jesus has a rich young ruler come to him and ask him what he needed to do to get into heaven. Jesus told him ^"You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”  And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”  Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 


The above scripture is what people would like to use to back up the Jimmy Carter quote. But wait, did I miss the part where Jesus actually took the rich young ruler's things, sold them and gave them to the poor? Maybe that's what really happened and it just got left out of scripture... NO- it's not. Jesus understood that you have to give people the choice to do good or not. "So what you're telling me is that all these people in government who want to help the poor so badly have sold everything that they have and given to the poor!? Sweet!" Um, no, they haven't, but they are more than happy to take your money, give to the poor and then have it look like they are the ones personally sacrificing to do so.

Allow me to give you my absolute favorite history lesson. Many of you may not know of one of our greatest presidents, "the honest" Grover Cleveland because he didn't accomplish any huge changes. However, he wasn't out to make any changes, he was out to defend the constitution from those who would try to usurp it.
"Cleveland derived his devotion to limited government from his reverence for the U.S. Constitution. An honest man—an extraordinarily honest man for a politician—he took seriously his oath to “preserve, protect, and defend” that document." Why Grover Cleveland vetoed the Texas Seed Bill

Now, in 1886-1887 Texas had a massively debilitating drought and in early 1887 a bill was proposed that $10,000 be sent down to the farmers in counties that had suffered from the drought. Now, even at the time $10,000 wasn't that much money and the government could have easily sent it without making much of a dent, but Cleveland vetoed the bill. Why? Was he just a mean, selfish, spiteful man who hated farmers? No, listen to what he says, "I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution; and I do not believe that the power and duty of the General Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadily resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that, though the people support the Government, the Government should not support the people."
 

"Wait Michelle, so are you saying he did nothing to help those poor farmers!?" I'm not saying that at all, listen here to what he says next  "The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated. Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood. It is within my personal knowledge that individual aid has, to some extent, already been extended to the sufferers mentioned in this bill. The failure of the proposed appropriation of $10,000 additional, to meet their remaining wants, will not necessarily result in continued distress if the emergency is fully made known to the people of the country." And here is the real kicker! Further, he suggested that if members of Congress really wanted to send seed to the suffering Texans, the congressmen might personally carry out this charitable transfer by using the seed routinely provided to all members for distribution to their constituents (at an expense of $100,000 in that fiscal year). Read Grover Cleveland's Entire Response to the bill here

Whoa, whoa, whoa. He suggested that they  personally give up some of the grain that would go to their constituents who were not suffering from a drought that would have equaled 10x's that of what was needed and would have amounted to everyone giving up less than 10%!? This is what is lacking in government today: the willingness of not only government officials, but the people to give up what they have in order to help others. Now, I understand why the people don't want to give what they have- Why? Because they already gave! They've been taxed to death! But what about the officials, they have no excuse. They actually don't care for the poor as much as they would have you believe. They only care insomuch as being able to have the power and control over who, what, where, when and how your money gets donated. Thus they are

saying that you don't know how to give and that you wouldn't give even if you could because you are inherently selfish. What!? Yes. That is exactly what they are saying. They are saying that the American people would not give on their own if left in charge of their own money, when in fact, the opposite is true. I would like to translate one of the Cleveland quotes from above into layman's terms. When you give federal aid not only does it encourage the expectation of paternal care (which the government was NEVER set up to give) it takes away what he refers to as an indulgence of kindness to give. Which he says "strengthens the bonds of common brotherhood". Meaning, we are stronger, we are closer, we are more firmly knit together as a country when we come together out of the kindness and goodness of our own hearts to give and help those in need, without being forced. 

We don't give out of compulsion, or else it's not a gift at all. And when you take away a man's right to give how he sees fit, you take away the reward that goes along with it: pride and joy. That pride and joy that comes from giving is contagious, it's addicting, it leaves you wanting more. It truly is more blessed to give

than to receive, but it most certainly is not blessed to have something taken from you and given to someone else. Where is the pride in that? 

When I was a child, and my mom asked me to do the dishes, I would do them and she would be happy. But, the times that I chose to do the dishes on my own, without being asked, she was over the moon! That was reward enough for me, and left me wanting to do more without being asked! That is what Christian principles are all about. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 says, "...whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." And BAM! There you go. The next time someone tries to use the Jimmy Carter quote in your face, you come back with the WORD! That right there is the Christian principle on giving, that is how God would have us give.

I would like to end this with something for you to chew on. We'll call it practical application of what we just learned. We DO need to help the poor, we DO need to help single mothers and take care of the elderly. So if the government doesn't do it, who will? We will! "Okay, I'm all for it, how do we make the change!?" We start by using a phrase that has been thrown around very popularly as of late, "privatization." We have to start by privatizing charity. Charity isn't charity at all if it's funded through stolen money. That is called socialism. I propose an experiment. Take 100 families out of the government taxation system, rich and poor alike, that live in the same locale. The rich don't pay exorbitant taxes and the poor receive NO government handouts. You make each family well aware of the needs of the others and let them know that if they don't personally help out each other, then they will go without needs such as clothing, food, shelter, education etc... Now, I don't have to actually perform this experiment to tell you exactly how this would play out. Sure, you will have a few of the wealthy families who won't care and just be glad to have their own money in their pockets, but most of the wealthier families will see to it that the poor are taken care of. Not only that, but let me tell you what else will happen. Not only will those poor families have food, clothing and shelter, but the rich will take an interest in those families, they will take them to their places of work, be it at an office, or on a family farm and they will help those families get back on their feet so that they don't have to depend on others for help. They will take the single moms into their

families and give them value so that they don't have to seek it from dead beat men. Sure, a few will fall through the cracks, but giving breeds giving! The poor will start helping out other poor people, the elderly will be taken in by their families instead of going to nursing homes. The family unit will be valued again and ALL of this love and giving will lead to one thing and one thing only: Jesus. 

I challenge the American government to implement this experiment, to see if I am correct. But they will not, I will let you in on a little secret as to why: they actually don't want you to be independent. They don't want you freely giving to your fellow man, in charge of your own resources. They want the poor dependent upon them, to keep them "under" them, ill-educated, and unable to stand up against them. They are hungry for power and it's time we took it back. We don't need them to perform this experiment because it's already been done. It's what was done successfully in our country for 150 years until the government slowly stepped in, despite men like Grover Cleveland trying to hold it back, and said, "I am your parent, and I tell you what you can and cannot do." But just as Cleveland said, "the people support the government, not the government the people." We need to remember that we are the parent for the government and WE tell it how they can spend the money that we freely give them. Not money that was stolen from us. We the people support the poor and needy, not the government. Why? Because we are selfish, we actually want that good feeling that comes from giving freely to a single mom out of our own pocket, and they have stolen that good feeling from us! Lets take it back!

Thanks yall!! ~Michelle (P.S. for more on this subject, see Leah's Blog- The government cannot tax you to make you care for the poor.   )   

 

Prayer of a 21st Century Bride

Wow!    This is definitely Something to ponder.  

Thank You Leah,

Poem

Prayer of a 21st Century Bride   

   by Leah Svensson

I sit here and ponder, how did this become the dream?

2 cars 2 jobs and a couple big screens

We make enough for a fancy house, we recycle and buy organic food

Honey, is this what we signed up for when we said 'I do?'

Working 5 days a week, sometimes 6. Dinner is mostly take out cause I don’t have time to fix it

I love the view off the back porch, beautiful evergreen trees,

You’re still at work I miss you much, wish you were sitting here with me

I don't hear the sounds of baby's feet, just our cat and our dog

There's something comforting in having pets but our only children have  paws 

Come home turn on the tv ask me how was my day

Making another man’s dream come true for  a bit of pay

I wish I could say it was great I am fulfilled and it’s fun

But really I can't wait until the day is done

I graduated with honors, got my 4.yr degree

Married someone I wanted to grow old with and who said they loved me

But now I'm questioning all the choices I've made

Was it God in all I've done, I've always tried to pray

I thought God heard me, maybe He did, but I could never hear his reply

For the world told me the way to go or I would surly die

Can't live off the land, can't go without a car

God forbid we lose electricity, no that would go too far

No, I'll wait for my loved one to come home we'll have an hr or two alone

Then we separate again, hey we always have the phone

Is this truly what I want or what somebody forced on me?

Does God have a more peaceful way to live where I can live and work side by side with my family?

Can a farmer make it with a wife and a broad of kids, Isn't that the original American dream

Where we grow our own food, build our own homes and milk our own cream

Father I want your blessings I want the best you've got

And this is the place of fulfillment, the land for which our forefathers fought

Take my hand lead me where milk and honey flow

Where you lead I will follow where you point I will go

And as you bless all of our belongings I will continually praise thy name

In this I bow my head before you, let us start our new life today!

The Dark Side of "Cheap Labor" and Illegal Immigrants

       Cheap Labor. Serious oxymoron!  When someone is working hard or laboring for you then they are not cheap, they are valuable and should be treated honorably and with great respect, with pay that equals what you feel you would deserve to be paid if you were doing the same job. The only people that deserve the term "cheap labor" are the teenagers down the street just out of the blocks who need to learn the value of hard work mowing lawns or other odd jobs. I was working the soil in my garden today thinking just how hard of a job it is to work the soil and grow food for ourselves and to give away to others. Now, the cheap labor the news and government likes to tout is the illegal immigrants on top of roofs all over the country, in landscaping businesses and, the majority of which are working on America's farms. This last group is why the  Obama administration as well as the previous Bush admin pushes for the "amnesty" of an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. My question is why are these people on one side of the border considered illegal and on the other a "cheap underground labor force?"

Listen, I love California strawberries in January just as much as anyone else but something in the equation does not play out. We are told lies...LIES that the entire farming industry would collapse if not for these cheap laborers. Keep in mind what that term means. It doesn't mean there is someone else who would do the job for cheaper. We all are looking for the least expensive way to get things done. What the term cheap labor REALLY means is that someone somewhere is not being paid a livable wage, one that the employer would want to be paid himself. When I hire something out that I cannot do myself, it's always important to me to not just find the least expensive but the best I can for my money. That is probably true for everyone but I also judge a job and when someone underbids to the extent that he or she is not being paid what they are worth, Michelle, mom, Uncle Jac, and I always make sure that we pay the person what they are worth.

This is not true for the farming industry. Now, many of us have seen the Farming Dodge Ram commercial. It shoes the epitome of hard work and farmers today don't want to underbid the people they hire when help is needed. However, farmers cry foul because they cannot produce a product without these illegal cheap laborers at the same price that their foreign competitors can. There is actually an answer for this. It is both Constitutional and American. It's called  A Tariff. We've all heard about these things in public schools. Here's a link that easily explains the different kinds of tariffs but the ones: Tariffs Explained

Our founders knew very well that in order for America to flourish we could not allow cheap products to overtake American made products. We would become the nation of exporters, not importers. Did you know  WITHOUT INCOME AND SALES TAXES, U.S. tariffs on imported goods and products till 1916 ranged from 10% to 30% (averaging about 28%) and supported nearly all the Federal Governments expenses until the 16th Amendment allowing Federal Income Taxes was passed in 1916.

Also, tariffs provided Government with money to pay its operating expenses and Federal debts and the debts the states had accumulated during the American Revolutionary War. Despite excise taxes on goods, such as, whiskey, rum, tobacco, snuff and refined sugar and sales of Federal land, there were initially no other significant sources of federal income besides tariffs. The excise tax on whiskey collected so little and was so despised it was abolished by Thomas Jefferson in 1800.

The Founding Fathers did not drink British tea as they camped in the mud, froze in the snow, or marched into battle. Yet we are afraid to be without grapes in December because we can't get a fresh supply from Chile because we're making money on the tariffs instead and our California growers can pay legal employees the wage they deserve. 

Farming used to be a way of life. In fact, the majority of Americans WERE farmers! Total population 1850: 23,191,786; farm population; 11,680,000 (est.); farmers 64% of labor force; Number of farms: 1,449,000; average acres: 203
As late as 1 1910
Total population: 91,972,266; farm population: 32,077,000 (est.); farmers 31% of labor force; Number of farms: 6,366,000; average acres: 138

In 60 yrs the number of farms went up by 6X!  Then, in the next 80 yrs it just shrunk to 

1990
Total population: 261,423,000; farm population: 2,987,552; farmers 2.6% of labor force; Number of farms: 2,143,150; average acres: 461; irrigated acres: 49,404,000 (1992)

Number of farmers/number of farms

Let's see these numbers up close: 1850: 11,680,000     1,449,00                                                          1910:   32,077,00        6,366,00
                                                          1990:     2,987,552      2,143,150



How is it that a man could get up out of bed and work his land from dusk till dawn and be able to put not just food on the table for his ample family but also provide for many of life's creature comforts in 1850 but now in order to make money growing food you have to be a large corporation?

The answer is simple and yet complex. Let's try the simple answer for the purpose of this blog as ya'll don't want to read a book on blogger.com. Greed. Greed for cheaply produced goods. Greed for food out of season. Greed for anything and everything. Not greed country wide. Greed up top. The top where government officials are supposed to be looking out for American's needs first. The top which says "bring on in the cheap goods and forget our farmers and woodworkers and cattlemen. Forget anyone in America who would rather work hard with their hands than sit at a desk with a phone to their ear collecting overdue credit bills."


If you haven't read my blog called Why I Want to Marry A Farmer, read it now Why I Want to Marry A Farmer. Don't let the title fool you, it's all about how Jefferson and our other founders believed the VERY BEST job in all of America was to be a farmer.


“ Cultivators of the earth are the MOST VALUABLE CITIZENS. They are the most VIGOROUS, most INDEPENDENT, the most VIRTUOUS, and they are TIED TO THEIR COUNTRY, and WEDDED TO IT’S LIBERTY, by the most LASTING BONDS.  As long, therefore, as they can find employment in this line, I would not convert them to mariners, artisans (any regular job), or anything else.” -Thomas Jefferson

The answer is so simple. You cannot stop other countries from producing the same goods we can here in the United States, but you sure can tariff their little rear ends to high heaven. We need to put a lid on government spending. How do we do this? Do what our founding fathers did. Don't tax your citizens, tax foreign imports  and then make that your budget you cannot go over, period!  Ever wonder why, if the Constitution grants the power to tax, our founders shied so far away from it?Everything we will ever need is RIGHT HERE! If there are goods we cannot produce, allow them in but if allowing products in hurts Americans, hurts our farmers, you've got to financially shut the door. 

As for these so called "cheap laborers," these "illegal immigrants," well, they have to go back home. When you take away the flawed reasoning- ie that American farms NEED these cheap laborers- then your sound minds come back and you say "Wait a minute, we are a country open to all kinds of immigrants, but the rules have to be the same across the board." Some people wait for years for their family to be able to move to the United States when 11 million golden tickets are being thrown around to those who skipped the process? This is not the American way. Ha! Okay, so cheating has become the norm in America, but it shouldn't be.

WE NEED EVERYMAN KIND OF FARMERS, those whose blood, sweat, and tears, on his OWN LAND, produces the food we consume. We cannot allow underpriced goods to wet our appetite for illegal behavior, and the illegal behavior I'm talking about is not paying a farmer what his goods and labor is worth. 

And one more issue needs to be addressed- LAND. I supposedly own a little over an acre with my sister. This provides us with enough land to have a hobby garden and room for dogs to play. However, I am taxed and will be taxed every year for the rest of my life for this privilege. If I want to add a barn, I am adding nothing to my income but I will add to the supposed "value" of my property and therefore will own more money to my county, a majority will go to fund a public school system that, while professing to teach civil liberties, omits the teaching of where these liberties originate. 

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights..." You cannot teach the rest of the Declaration without teaching who our Creator is and you cannot teach evolution without first denying the awesomeness of a God who Created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th.

This land issue, as well, has to be addressed. You cannot tax someone on something for the rest of their lives. It's laughable. You also cannot take money from childless people or people who do not have children in a publically run school. If people want to get together and combine their resources to hire a central teacher, that is their free will, but do not go knocking on your neighbor's door. If people want to hold community wide events, that is wonderful, encouraged. Again, please, if you come knocking on my door for a donation, I may or may not donate, but that would be my free will. You cannot make people participate in  things of convenience. Yes, every child has a right to be educated, to be able to read and write so they can understand their rights under our founding documents but ultimately it is the parent's responsibility and duty to educate. Catholic churches for years have opened up their doors to the poor but I say educate the poor AND their parents. Teach the parents so they can teach their children. I daresay, if there are evil parents that do not care about their children that is another issue of child abuse. 

Some would tout the low illiteracy rate as praise for the public school system. Ha! In the past 100 yrs has shown the exponential rise in children being born outside of marriage. Yay! At least they can read. In the early 1900's a black child had about an 18% chance of being born without 2 married parents, which means they had an 82% chance of being born in a home both an mom and a dad. Now, stats show over 70% of black babies are born to a single parent home. For white babies, the chances were a mere 3-4% of being born out of wedlock, now it's over 35% or much higher. Everyone knows how hard it is for children of a single parent home to develop strong. There is a reason why it takes two to make a baby- nature says that it also takes 2 to raise a child. 

Cut the public school strings. It causes nothing but harm and is illegally funded causing neighbors to steal from neighbors. Additionally, as long as God is shut out at the front door, it's duty to educate children properly cannot be fulfilled.

When tariffs and other legal measures are employed to allow our farmers to grow and earn a decent income, when the income tax and social security are abolished and government is funded through tariff taxation on imports, when the public school is dismantled and the truly poor are helped with family education through churches and good Christians, then our country will be on par with the original intent. Then, and only then, will the blood shed for our freedoms cease to cry foul for what we have done to the system they worked so hard to create through the power of God, their Creator!