Thursday, January 17, 2008

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Conservatives believe that government is not the answer but the problem. I trust that I can spend my money better than the government can. I can help more people through my own efforts than letting the government do it for me. In the stats that I showed in my comment on your last entry it shows that the people are more caring than the government. The people can be trust to help people, why would we trust the government?! Whatever the government touches it messes up. Look at how messed up social security is, the welfare program, the educational system. Look at how it's messed up Iraq and Hurricane Katrina. And yet liberals want to give it more power?! Liberals place their faith in government to solve society's problems. Conservatives place their faith in the people. The people run the private sector and are responsible for America becoming great. Historically America has had lower taxes than other nations in addition to protecting rights. This has innovation and motivation to do better. If I knew the government was going to take 50% of what I make this year, what incentive do I have to really make more...it just means the government will take more. However, if I keep more of what I make, I will try harder, make better products, look for a niche in the market and try to create a product that will help people, because then they will buy it.

Christ taught us to give to the poor, but he didn't force his followers to do so. In fact, Christ even made a distinction between what is Gods' and what is the governments'. King Benjamin led by example, but he didn't make laws saying his subjects had to do the same. King Noah taxed the people to make himself, the government, bigger. Maybe the people under him rationalized that they gave more in taxes because it would help out the poor more. I wouldn't have trusted King Noah with my hard earned money, and I don't trust the government with my money. We should give, but we shouldn't be forced to give. I trust certain non-profit organizations with my money because I know where it's going. I trust the Church with my money for the same reason. We don't have to rely on the government to help the world, we do it ourselves. The longest civil war, the war in heaven...and now earth, has been about freedom. One side seeks to restrain it, the other seeks to protect it. I'm not saying liberalism is evil, but I am saying that our ability to make our own choices should be our most loved possession. If liberals had their way, they would tell us what schools to go to, how many miles a day we were allowed to drive, what kind of light bulbs we could have, how little of our income we could keep. That is not freedom. John Locke said that government's responsiblity was to protect life, liberty, and property. Empowering the government to make those choices for me goes against the purpose of government. The God-inspired document of the Constitution protects the individual from the government. The Book of Mormon taught that freedom is to be fiercely defended, which is why we shouldn't just let the government take our money...you give the government an inch and it'll take a mile.

Conservatives care about the poor which is why we emphasize the private sector which does a much better job of taking care of the poor through social services agencies than the government does (see Kasey for a PERFECT example). If we're going to point fingers on who's to blame for poverty, I blame drugs, greed, desentragation of the family, lack of morals, society's prejudices, inherited circumstances, and the GOVERNMENT. I really believe that the eroding of the family has been a major cause of poverty. We are making too many people dependent on the government which replaces the father role in many empoverished family. Fathers don't have to committ to help raise a family if it is more financially beneficial for the mother and children to get checks from the government. In 1996 there was some good reforms to welfare made, but more work has to help people not be dependent on the government but to be helped to the point where they can help themselves. The Church doesn't teach self-reliance because it doesn't care about the poor, but because it does care about the poor and the best way to help others is help them help themselves.

Global warming! It's such a shame. Not only are we destroying our planet, but we're also destroying Venus, Mars, Jupiter and other planets that are ALSO experiencing climate change. I can't believe that there are still thousands of scientists that think Al Gore is a hack, don't they know that there is a concensus on global warming?! Well, they were wrong about global cooling in in the 80's so they must be wrong now as well. Sorry for the cynicsm, because I do love the earth and agree that we have a responsibility to be stewards over it. I agree that humans have had some effect on the environment, but not to the point of giving away freedoms so Algore can tell me how to live my life. If he is so concerned about the environment then why is he flying all over the world contributing to the problem? Why does he need 20 (or something like that) to accept an award about how he is the environment's best friend. I can't believe that these are the same people that say we are cruel to the developing world?! If nations in the developing world aren't allowed to industrialize how else are they going to get out of poverty?! The best way for these nations to get out of poverty is by trade. Trade requires resources. The earth gives us resources. God gave us this earth to be stewards over, but also to take care of ourselves. There has to be a fine balance, and when the liberals keep on throwing lies out there about how the earth is going to be destroyed in 20 years due to global warming, I don't trust them to define that balance. Of course, on days like today I wouldn't mind global warming. Capitalism obviously has some real problems, but it's the best thing we have until Christ comes and governs the world himself.

Abortion is the furthest issue from superficial. What has killed the most Americans the past 30-40 years? Abortion. We are talking about human life. A child of God. Do people realize how babies are killed in an abortion? There are different methods such as puncturing the head or crushing it, but it's taken out with a vaccuum and thrown away in garbage. What's the result? In the trash can are hands, arms, legs, feet, a stomach, a heart, a head with ears, a nose, and eyes. I wonder if the doctors who kill the babies look into the eyes of the baby they just killed. Human life. A child of God. Not even given a chance. And this is a political issue discussed along with taxes, saving the car industry, smoking bans. Wow, that's how much liberals value life. I guess that can be mostly blamed on misinformation, I should probably post more about abortion because this is the most evil thing that our government can allow to happen. I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but I'd say at least 25 million babies have been killed...probably more about 35 million. I wonder if some of these liberal politicians or judges have held a newborn baby. If they have, only the devil could possess them to allow such an innocent creature to be killed. A lot of the argument depends on definitions. There is so much doubt about when human life starts. Ya know what...we dont't know. I think when there's doubt, go with life. A human life. A child of God.

Liberal politicians are trying to allow the government to allow the destruction of life, our liberties, and our ability to pursue happiness.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kasey,

Your post prompts a question or two...

Whom has God entrusted as stewards over temporal goods? Us. And we are expected to use these goods righteously for the betterment of the human family. How can we use our agency righteously if the gov't insists that it must exercise our agency for us?

So here are my thoughts...

if liberals want to take away that God-given right of agency over our resources, what role does that put them in? I'll leave that for you to decide (Hint: see the Pearl of Great Price, Moses 4 specifically).

Becca said...

I love this. Thank you.

Caitlin Carroll said...

I don't have the time to respond to all of that right now... but just to the abortion thing. First trimester abortions (the most common) involve taking a pill (it's a high-dose of hormone) and simply shedding the endometrial lining. The embryo is barely recognizable and simply comes out in what is essentially a really heavy menstrual period-- what you're talking about here is late term abortion or partial birth abortion, which I do feel is wrong. And I don't think anyone really believes in abortion or feels it is right. What they believe in is choice- you preach free agency, yet you want a government of white males to make a woman's reproductive choices for her. Not to mention the fact that if abortion is illegal, desperate girls and women will still find ways to terminate their pregnancy, and will often rely on unsafe and potentially life-threatening ways to do so. There are many cases where a government banned abortion, only to have their maternal mortality rate rise dramatically because girls were getting back alley abortions using unsterilized equipment or even coat hangers. I think the United States is progressive enough to allow for safe and effective ways to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. And as for the sanctity of life, have you ever held a baby whose mother was addicted to crack? Have you ever seen a child with fetal alcohol syndrome? Have you ever met a 15-yr-old who has been sexually assaulted by her uncle and so seeks an abortion? Abortion is necessary in some circumstances, so do not dismiss it as highly unethical and taking a human life when sometimes it gives a woman her life back.

Be sure to check out Becca's Blog