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Originally Posted by Daniel Ritchie  Is the civil government stealing the money of some people and giving it to others whom it does not belong to? If so, that is a breach of God's Law. Surely Joseph's interpretation of the dream shows us that he was divinely guided in this specific affair? |
Daniel, philosophically and politically I'm much aligned with you. I'm familiar with theonomy and before I was a Christian I was a zealous Randian. I even voted for Ron Paul the
first time he ran for president.
But you seem to be missing my question. I'm trying to pin down what is the moral basis for saying the government is stealing? We can call it a breach of God's law, but I want to see why.
I think the key is figuring what an ownership interest is, what a debt is, and how did the debt come about.
Obviously, if someone, whether a government or an individual, took something I owned outright, it would be theft. But if I owed money on it and the creditor repossessed it for non-payment, it would not be theft.
So what I'm trying to get at is this: is there a situation in which a government has a legitimate (however limited) claim on things possessed by its citizens? It doesn't do to say flatly "no", especially when we are told by scripture (the Deuteronomy passage I initially quoted) that some (at least in ancient Israel) had a moral claim at least on part of another's income. The second question is, if the Deuteronomy passage establishes a moral claim on another's income, is the government a legitimate agent to adjudicate and regulate that claim?
I agree, a total claim exceeds the bounds, but what are the bounds?
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Its alright saying things are "facile" but often fallen sinners to not want the Biblical solutions to problems. Moreover, a lot of poverty is caused in the world as a result of Socialist policies.
Wealth redistribution can never work, because the rich people do not have enough money to give to the poor equally. The only people enriched by state welfare are the bureaucrats needed to run it.
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I meant no offense with the term, brother. I merely was trying to point out that I thought the response was trying to dismiss my question without answering it. (Hey, I do it all the time when I'm busy or distracted).
As for wealth redistribution never working, fine. I agree with the statement as an empirical observation. I even acknowledge that scripture gives us hints about why it doesn't work. But describing the practical evils resulting from welfare still doesn't pin my issue down.