How Do You Define Equality?

By Dale Weckbacher

Gal 3:26-29

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

NKJV

There has been much in the news lately about equality.  We have seen the president traveling all over the country calling for income equality, which means he wants an increase in the minimum wage as well as raising taxes in the rich and Obamacare.  However, these policies do more to promote income inequality and little to bring about income equality.  (1) Then the Pope entered the fray with his favoring forced income redistribution by the state in an effort to bring about income equality.  He has made such comments in the past but the difference this time was that he made his comments to the UN, hardly a bastion of income equality.  (2)  Outside of the economic realm, we have gays, lesbians, minorities all claiming they are treated unequal.     

In this posting, I want to explore equality from the perspective of God according to His Word, the liberal view of equality, and the conservative view on equality.  As we look at equality from each of these perspectives, we will discover one thing that is blatantly unequal, how each side defines equality.  I then ask each of you to decide which definition of equality you agree with. 

Liberals – Liberal equality revolves around the values of justice and fairness.  This view of equality’s basic moral value is utility of welfare.  The goal is doing what is viewed as most beneficial for the community as a whole.  This view of equality places the human person in a secondary position with the human person viewed as the mechanism used to achieve equality.  (3) 

We see this philosophy in action among the liberal elite in our nation whose interest is not in equality of opportunity but equality of outcomes.  This explains why they believe, as President Obama and even Pope Francis have stated, that redistribution of income from the wealthy to the poor is somehow moral because it insures equal outcomes by equalizing incomes.  Sounds good in theory, but we also observe that everywhere this is attempted you still see poverty among the citizens and wealth among the ruling elite.  Just look at North Korea and Venezuela. 

Conservatives – Conservatives believe in equality of opportunity.  This stems from the belief that rights are endowed from the creator and that each person is born with an equal opportunity to the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  (4)  Outcomes will be unequal and based upon how each individual utilizes the opportunities they have been given.  Conservatives understand that this means some will become wealthy and some will not.  However, this is justified for it is the wealthy that create opportunities for others in society through the creation of jobs within their businesses and through spending their wealth.  President Reagan believed in conservative equality and expressed it by saying that “a rising tide lifts all boats.” and adopting supply side economics, restoring the entrepreneurial spirit in the United States.  (5)

God – If we were to only read Galatians 3:26, we would conclude that God’s views all men and women as equal.  However, when we read the Bible, or any other literature for that matter, we must place it in context and also consider the audience the literature is written to.  In the case of the above passage of scripture, the audience is the Church in Galatia or those who already believe in Jesus as their Messiah.  We can therefore conclude that when he says they are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, he means that all that have chosen to believe,  This position is clarified in the remainder of the passage above (Galatians 3:27-29). 

God sees all that believe in Jesus as Messiah as equal but draws a distinction between believers and unbelievers.  With God there is equality of opportunity for all have an opportunity to come to Christ (Revelation 3:20, 2 Peter 3:9).  With God there is equality of outcomes for those choosing to believe for all who believe in Jesus inherit eternal live in the presence of God (John 3:16).  However, there is inequality of outcomes between believers and unbelievers for unbelievers are condemned to eternal separation from God (Matthew 25:31-46). 

As we can observe, the Godly view of equality leans more towards conservative equality and might explain why many professing faith in Jesus Christ as their savior lean conservative.  In our nation over the past 100 years of the progressive movement, we have tried numerous government programs designed to achieve equality of outcomes.  The results are more people on Foodstamps, (6) record deficits, (7) and many giving up on finding work.  (8)  In other words, evidence shows we still have income inequality in spite of our efforts to create income equality. 

In the other hand supply-side economic policies, especially tax cuts result in increased economic activity and since we tax income, increased revenues to government.  Historically, the tax cuts of the 1920’s, 1960’s and 1980’s resulted in faster growth, rising incomes, and more job creation and in spite of the caterwauling of progressives, the rich ended up paying a greater share of the tax burden.  (9)

God on the other hand has a longer-term outlook for he does not just promise to meet our needs here on earth but promises eternal life equally to everyone placing their belief in Him.  I am not sure about the rest of you, but as for me, I choose God’s equality. 

1. Matthews, Merrill. Obama's Quest to Increase Income Inequality--Starting With The Minimum Wage and Obamacare. www.forbes.com. [Online] Forbes, December 16, 2013. [Cited: May 13, 2014.] http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2013/12/16/obamas-quest-to-increase-income-inequality-starting-with-the-minimum-wage-and-obamacare/.

2. Moody, John. Pope Francis should stick to doctrine, stay away from economic 'redistribution. www.foxnews.com. [Online] Fox News, May 9, 2014. [Cited: May 13, 2014.] http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/05/09/pope-francis-should-stick-to-doctrine-stay-away-from-economic-redistribution/.

3. Right and Wrong. ryanmaboloc.blogspot.com. [Online] PHAVISMINDA Journal Volume 12 , March 13, 2008. [Cited: 13 2014, May.] http://ryanmaboloc.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-rawls-and-liberal-equality.html.

4. Hillsdale College. The Declaration of Independance. The U.S. Constitution: A reader. Hillsdale Michigan : Hillsdale College Press, 2012.

5. Lloyd, Attorney Rees. RONALD REAGAN, TEA PARTY PATRIOTS, AND AN HISTORIC ELECTION. www.newswithviews.com. [Online] NewsWithviews.com, November 6, 2010. [Cited: May 13, 2014.] http://www.newswithviews.com/Lloyd/rees108.htm.

6. Tucker, Rich. Rise in Food Stamps Part of Growing Dependence on Washington. blog.heritage.org. [Online] the Heritage Foundation, August 2, 2012. [Cited: aUGUST 7, 2012.] http://blog.heritage.org/2012/08/02/rise-in-food-stamps-part-of-growing-dependence-on-washington/.

7. Chantrill, Christopher. US Federal Debt Since 1900. www.usgovernmentrevenue.com. [Online] US government Revenue. [Cited: February 7, 2014.] 16,738.2.

8. Durben, Tyler. People Not In Labor Force Soar To Record 91.8 Million; Participation Rate Plunges To 1978 Levels. www.zerohedge.com. [Online] Zerohedge, January 10, 2014. [Cited: January 10, 2014.] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-01-10/people-not-labor-force-soar-record-918-million-participation-rate-plunges-1978-level.

9. Ph.D., Daniel J. Mitchell. Time for Lower Income Tax Rates: The Historical Case for Supply-Side Economics. www.heritage.org. [Online] The Heritage Foundation, February 19, 1999. [Cited: May 13, 2014.] http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1999/02/time-for-lower-income-tax-rate.