Your Opinion: Worship of government

Dear Editor:

On Dec. 21 the News Tribune printed an article titled, "Clergy Join Effort to Encourage Safety Net." It stuns me that so many local pastors now bow down to the god of government when it comes to helping the poor.

Perhaps I need to learn from them the biblical basis for sending the needy to the government for assistance. Is it possible that in their translation of the Bible the Samaritan calls for more government aid when he finds the injured man along the road, rather than actually "dirtying" his own hands by helping the man.

When did the Christian God become so weak that He needs a government to forcibly extract money from some, and redistribute it to others? Perhaps these pastors preach from a Bible that allows members of their congregations to enjoy their luxuries (cable/satellite TV, cell phone data plans, etc.) while expecting the government to force others (the nasty "rich") to care for the needy.

We regularly read about the decline of Christianity in our nation. Is the decline any surprise when the form of "Christianity" being offered is built on a god so weak that he must rely on the god of government to care for the needy, rather than Christians sharing both their abundance and need, first with one another and then with those outside the faith?

Government gets it resources from two places. One is the pockets of "We the People." Sometimes in the form of direct taxes, but most often in the form of indirect taxes as we pay the taxes imposed on corporations when we purchase their products. The other form is fiscal child abuse. (When money is borrowed with no intention that the current generation will ever pay it back, that is fiscal child abuse.)

It is sad that the form of Christianity being preached from out pulpits has become so weak that it requires government to be god. I suggest that if true Christianity were being preached, and practiced, we would see astounding growth, rather than decline, in our numbers.