Saturday, January 25, 2014

Liberal Compassion Versus Conservative Compassion

By:  Dale Weckbacher

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
NKJV

It is an election year again and even though this is not a Presidential Election year, it is a critical election.  In the upcoming election, we have an opportunity to change the leadership in the Senate by removing Democrats from power and thus removing Harry Reid from his position as majority leader in the Senate.  By changing the Senate leadership and maintaining GOP control of the House of Representatives, we will be able to force President Obama’s hand making him either sign or veto legislation sent to him by Congress instead of the Senate acting as a buffer for him.  Of course, this all hinges upon the GOP leadership having the guts to stand up to Obama which is an issue we will no doubt will have to continually deal with until we can expand conservative control of both houses of Congress. 

Like all elections, politicians will again subject us to a litany of promises, claiming compassion and “being for the little guy.”  This is why it is important for us as informed voters to learn to distinguish between liberal compassion and conservative compassion as we decide who deserves our vote. 

In the aftermath of the 2012 Presidential election, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh came under fire for the following comment "Conservatism in my humble opinion did not lose last night, it's just very difficult to beat Santa Claus.”  (1)  Unfortunately, when someone like Rush Limbaugh comments on something, it quickly becomes a political hot potato and the true meaning and reason for the comment becomes lost. 

As a long time listener of Rush Limbaugh, I understand the he was simply trying to point out the difference between liberal compassion and conservative compassion.  Rush Limbaugh was pointing out that even though the polls indicated that a majority did not like Obama’s policies or believe he was taking the country in the right direction, Obama had promised goodies like free health care, extensions of unemployment, expansion of welfare, and a higher minimum wage.  These voters were voting with their wallet, or should I say the hard working taxpayers of our nation’s wallet, so in essence, Obama was running as Santa Claus. 

This is what liberal compassion is all about.  It is in reality not compassion at all but politicians creating a dependent class by redistributing other people’s money and continually winning reelection by promising the expansion and continuance of government goodies.  Using rush Limbaugh’s illustration, we could call this form of compassion “Santa Claus Compassion.” 

Conservative compassion on the other hand is all about empowerment.  Conservative compassion is not about creating a dependent class of people that will give their vote away to the one promising the most gifts from the government but is about empowering individuals to become independent and self-sufficient. 

A politician that believes in conservative compassion will not run for office promising to expand government programs but will instead run promising to reduce governmental intrusion into the lives of individuals.  These politicians understand that reducing governmental intrusion will result in increased opportunity for economic growth in the private sector.  They understand that this will empower individuals to start or expand businesses, resulting in the creation of jobs for those currently out of work and receiving governmental handouts from liberally compassionate politicians. 

This week Time wrote that the Federal Government expects to reach the debt limit in late February.  (2)  These continual debit limit crisis in our government are the result of excessive liberally compassionate politicians in Washington D.C., Including the President.  It appears we may be reaching the point that Margaret Thatcher spoke of when she said, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”  (3) 

It appears that liberal compassion is running out of money to redistribute and it is time for more conservative compassion in our government.  Granted the transformation from liberal to conservative compassion will not be easy because of the large percentage of people in our society receiving some form of government assistance but for those of us that love our country and wish to see it remain a super power, it is a transformation that we must make. 

We must begin by educating individuals on the benefits of dependence on God and their own abilities and not some government bureaucrat or politician that could care less about their situation and is only interested in preserving and expanding their own career in government.  Our history is full of individuals that have succeeded without any form of government assistance.  By pointing individuals to these examples and not some politician for solutions to their problems, I believe we can begin creating voters that will vote for politicians wanting to create opportunities instead of politicians wanting to steal from someone else to give them a handout. 

I understand this process will be difficult and take some time but, if we do not start now, we run the risk of losing this country and that, my friends, is totally unacceptable.  We have the power through social media, email, texting, and old-fashioned face-to-face conversation to begin the grassroots reeducation process and begin transforming us from a dependent society to an empowered opportunistic society.  Will you join me in this effort?

1. Fox News Insider. Rush Limbaugh on Election: 'It's Practically Impossible to Beat Santa Claus'. foxnewsinsider.com. [Online] Fox News Corp, November 8, 2012. [Cited: January 25, 2014.] http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/11/08/rush-limbaugh-on-election-its-practically-impossible-to-beat-santa-claus.

2. Altman, Alex. U.S. to Hit Debt Limit in Late February. swampland.time.com. [Online] Time Magazine, January 22, 2014. [Cited: January 25, 2014.] http://swampland.time.com/2014/01/22/u-s-to-hit-debt-limit-in-late-february/.


3. Goodreads. Margaret Thatcher Quotes. www.goodreads.com. [Online] Good Reads. [Cited: January 25, 2014.] http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/138248-the-problem-with-socialism-is-that-you-eventually-run-out.

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