The Dirty Little Secret of Liberalism
There are Christians who say that we should avoid politics. But our Creator is God of all (including civil government), or He is not God at all. There is an undeniable overlap between government and religion, and Christians are responsible to legally effect biblical truth in society.
The liberal agenda has as its centerpiece the twin noble goals of compassion and fairness. Christians would agree with these goals. But the average American who considers himself a liberal is often unaware of the end result, when liberalism is implemented as a political philosophy. These noble goals fade into a deceptive illusion.
The dirty little secret of liberalism is that behind its respectable front is the fact that liberal policies actually lead to the opposite of compassion and fairness! Consider the evidence. America has been fighting the War on Poverty for over 40 years. As of 2012 (under Democrat control of Washington) we have more people on food stamps than ever before! Only the most naive would fail to see the irony of the association with (a) the march of government interference into our lives with (b) this astounding moral failure. There must be an explanation.
The evidence suggests that the utopian perfectibility that liberalism seeks is ultimately detrimental to society—indeed, not even possible by government edict or by any human effort. People holding to these utopian ideals are deceived in thinking they are working for good. We argue that the left’s banner upon which they claim legitimacy—that they are compassionate—is a false diversion. A just society will make provisions for those in need. But the bureaucratic welfare state, while well-intentioned, institutionalizes indolence, dependency, and poverty—and is thereby immoral.
The practical reality of liberal politics is the diminishment of institutions that promote true compassion and fairness—including the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, federalism, the Rule of Law, natural law, and traditional western values—all of which have their roots in Biblical Christianity. Biblical Christianity becomes the ultimate target of most left-wing elements of the liberal elite, and they have been successful in diminishing it in recent decades. There is an undeniable thread of atheism within liberalism.
We argue that liberal Christianity itself has contributed to the decline of Christian influence in society. Speaking specifically to liberal Christians: OPEN YOUR EYES!
Arguably, the unstated goals of the liberal elite political machine are the unchristian values of tyranny and cronyism—ultimately the obliteration of anything that gets in the way of their lust for power. We are concerned that elements of this may be behind Barack Hussein Obama’s historical 2008 statement about “fundamentally transforming America.”
Liberal politics by its nature selectively favors groups of Americans over others, separating people by race, income, or political affiliation. Is it purely coincidence that even after having elected a black President that we hear more about racism than any time in recent memory? But racism is not the only dividing focus of liberalism. Liberalism culls identifiable groups for mutual support including union bosses, abortionists, bankrupting solar executives, or guilt-ridden movie stars. The obvious result of the welfare state is not virtuous charity; rather it is theft from one group to benefit another group to buy political votes. Too often the recipients of income redistribution are not the poor, but bureaucrats and political cronies.
Its cronyism is divisive, promoting envy and covetousness between groups of people. Liberalism promotes offenses against the Eighth Commandment (theft) by its forced redistribution of wealth as well as against the Tenth Commandment (covetousness). Liberalism fosters cultural divisiveness as once the first divisions become apparent other groups clamor for a share of the favors! Contrary to what liberal Christians think, there is no biblical mandate for government welfare. The Good Samaritan did not call for Caesar's help with the man at the roadside.
Reckless government spending is seldom an impediment to leftist political aims. The result is a government run amuck. We recall Nancy Pelosi's incredibly disgusting statement about ObamaCare: "We have to pass our bill so that you can find out what is in it."
Benjamin Franklin warned Americans to beware of trading our liberty for a little illusory security. Instead of a hand up, liberalism offers a hand out. The alluring deception is that a handout may indeed be a great benefit to one person, but the same handout is an albatross of dependency for someone else—and an overall disaster for society. As put by Paul Ryan, liberalism leads us to "a country where everything is free but us."
While there are legitimate beneficiaries in need of assistance, we must ask: Who is really “legitimate” and who should be the provider of benefits? The federal bureaucracy too often doles out rewards arbitrarily and inefficiently. Should we re-examine our support for a system in which young men in baggy pants with their hats on backwards can sit in front of a TV all day? And what about the single moms around town that these studs impregnated? Is their future determined and limited by food stamps, WIC and a welfare check as a way of life? How is that freedom? How compassionate is it really? This dignity-robbing degenerate sub-culture is instituted and sustained by federal government liberal ideology!
The contrast is the difference between earned success and learned helplessness and dependency.
Liberal policies reward failure, so of course we get more of it. The result is a pessimistic society, always seeking the victim and punishing the successful. The liberal culture, as put by former Arkansas governor and Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee, is one of “feed me, lead me, and bleed me.” The true American spirit encourages initiative, personal responsibility, and the optimism of a limitless horizon—rather than blame, grievance, and entitlement.
History proves that liberalism’s march toward utopian statism ultimately will find nothing sacred, not even life itself. Thus liberalism is the least likely system to honor the inherent worth of the individual—and the most likely to harm the most vulnerable in society such as the expendable elderly and the innocent unborn. Liberalism’s profession of tolerance is hypocritical, as liberals certainly seldom tolerate opposition to their errant views. Indeed, this hypocritical intolerance is so severe that it falls into the category of radical hatred, evidenced by the continuous barrage of untruthful ad hominem attacks on those who question them. (Just do an Internet search for “Obama Lies” or try listening to MSNBC sometime.)
While liberals may be moral and well-intentioned in their own lives, their views are not consistent with what is good. In actuality they are working to tear down or distort just about everything that is good and elevate what is evil—including in art, music, culture, business, politics, science, sexuality, education, truth, beauty, justice, morality, and logic. So ironically liberalism is neither moral, compassionate, tolerant, nor effective.
Liberalism has everything turned on its head. It punishes achievement, but rewards failure. Liberal thought is often opposed to a moral authority above itself, promotes the silliness of moral relativism, and is thus opposed to unalienable rights and obligations from God. It elevates the creation above the Creator, and many times places earth-worship over real people.
Biblically ordered liberty with its emphasis on individual sovereignty and respect for others is moral. But liberalism in any form (progressivism, socialism, social democracy, communism, state capitalism, collectivism, regulationism)—and all other forms of aggressive utopian statism—are forms of tyranny, which is immoral. All forms of nanny statism have at their root the need to control other people by edict rather than by conscience.
“Christian” capitalism is the most moral, leads to the most freedom, promotes the work ethic and self-rel
iance, encourages responsible behavior, produces the most economic benefits for society, and serves as the foundation for true compassion and a virtuous society. Consider the many hospitals and outreaches to the poor and handicapped that churches run today. They provide charity more efficiently than the federal government, and they do it with heart and personal contact! Statism is inherently cold and inefficient, produces little, takes resources from the productive economy, and is therefore detrimental to growth and the welfare of its people.
History proves that the more that an economy is centrally planned by an elite group of people, the more it suffers. Interference into business by the state or confiscation of profits usually makes it more difficult for both employers and employees to earn success. Its reliance on big government leads to inefficiency of resources while teaching lack of discipline by example—all leading to the spiraling decline of society.
Among many things that liberals fail to grasp about economics is that it is not a zero-sum game. It is not like a fixed pie to be divided up. Over time, conservative principles will grow the whole pie to everyone's benefit!
Bottom line? Liberalism is a huge scam. Its failure is open and obvious.