Dear Friends,
It seems to me that charity is a form of love. When we are charitable to our fellow man, we are expressing not only love for him or her, but to humanity itself. To be charitable is to be loving, but love is a human feeling, and can only be felt by a human being, (and a dog). The State is not a human being, therefore it cannot feel human emotions, like love and charity. The State is an expression of the power of the collective over the individual. Power is not love nor can a mob practice charity. Those who seek to be charitable then, must be charitable, but cannot pass to the State their human requirement for charity, doing so causes injury, not benevolence.
When confronted by the Pharisees, whether or not to pay taxes, Jesus asked for a coin. He looked the coin over and asked who’s face was on it. “Caesar” was the answer. Jesus said, “Render onto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s.” The State coined the money, which is a thing, God coined mankind’s soul, which is divine. The State is of the Earth, charity and love is of God. The State cannot do that which is divine, it is not in it’s nature, but human beings can… it is in ours.
To expect anything to do that which is not in it’s nature is foolishness. Just as a crow eats carrion, and a clam strains algae from the water, the State survives on the power to coerce. If we understand this, then we can clearly see, charity is not a thing the State can do. If it tries then it must be uncharitable to be charitable. Since the end does not justify the means, the means taint the ends, to have charity handled by the State, renders the entire operation uncharitable and unloving.
Giving is said to be it’s own reward. When we try to pass our very human feelings of charity to the State we don’t get the personal reward from being charitable. Those that are forced to pay for the State’s giving, (which is, after all, injury to them), are disconnected from charity, they begin to resent the recipient of the State’s largess, and become indifferent to the plight of the poor. The person being helped gets a fish for a day. That fish for a day comes at great cost to the recipient of the State’s giving however. More often than not, welfare leads people to dependence on the State, undermining their personal drive to get ahead. This again, is not loving charity that uplifts the recipient, it is crushing dependence that stagnates the individual and undermines their ability to grow as a human being. The benefit of charity is totally lost, to society, the giver and the receiver.
There are three parts to the human being, physical, mental and spiritual. As we exercise those parts they become stronger, as we allow them to atrophy, they become weak. True charity and love are uplifting for both the giver and the receiver. Our divine nature is fed by voluntary giving, not only of money, but our time and attention too. As we nourish our divinity we grow stronger in spirituality. The recipient of our love and charity grows as well. They see the example we set and are inclined to follow it. Goodness begets goodness and injury begets injury. This is a simple concept to understand. Individual charity grows the souls of those involved, but fake charity withers the soul.
It is up to each one of us to be loving to our fellow men and women. Charity is an act of love, and the State is incapable of love, and so cannot be truly charitable. Jesus himself tells us that the property of the State, power, money and pomp, should be practiced by the State, and that which is the property of God, love charity and kindness, should be practiced by human beings. The only ones to benefit from the State’s faux charity, are the political elite, who amass greater and greater power to run the lives of individuals… for their own good, since the State’s charity does injury to the receiver. We ignore this lesson to the detriment of our children, who we fail to set a good example for, by passing our very human need to be charitable to the State, and we all slide further down the slippery slope to oppression. The answer is to take back that power from the State, and be personally charitable, love your neighbors, act as you would have others act, leading by example and let show the divine nature God gave each and every one of us. To do otherwise is to deny that Godly spark within us, and even to let it die, a leper in the cold dark prison of indifference.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
