A Hand Up or a Hand Out?
In the first GOP primary debate, John Kasich earned big points for his compassion and provision for the poor in his State of Ohio; unfortunately his help comes by way of more government and more government money. Gov. Kasich justifies this expansion of government to help the poor by invoking God; he said that when he is called to account, God will not ask how small he kept government but will ask what he did for the poor.
I beg to differ with Gov. Kasich as follows: God will surely hold the Governor accountable for what he did with other people’s money, which is what “government money” is. This is called stewardship.
Always I find it astonishing how easily the burden of compassion our politicians so arduously carry can be lifted from their shoulders simply by taking money from those who work and giving it to those who do not. If the Governor’s compassion for the poor is such that he wants to give them money, then it needs to be his money.
Scripture also tells us that a man who does not work should not eat, and that is why I am in favor of giving a hand up instead of a hand out. We do the poor the best service by helping them learn to help themselves and thereby to become productive and successful citizens. There are many ways to do that, but expansion of government is not one of them.
