Reformedville

I recently read a few interviews from churchmen and from a former President slamming the United States government over peoples rights and standing up for peoples rights both home and abroad; from the poor, to the illegal immigrant, to Hamas overseas. They use the word ‘rights’ as loosely as the use the word ‘democracy’ (something the United States is not.) As Christians I believe since we have allowed so many duties of the Christian community to be assumed by the government (deaconal), we too have lost sight of rights and responsibility. Today I saw a good quote from Walter Williams that sums “rights” up.

“A right, such as a right to free speech, imposes no obligation on another, except that of non-interference. The so-called right to health care, food or housing, whether a person can afford it or not, is something entirely different. It does impose an obligation on another. If one person has a right to something he didn’t produce, simultaneously and of necessity it means that some other person does not have right to something he did produce. That’s because, since there’s no Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy, in order for government to give one American a dollar, it must, through intimidation, threats and coercion, confiscate that dollar from some other American. I’d like to hear the moral argument for taking what belongs to one person to give to another person.” —Walter Williams

So would I.

Filed under: culture, Government, Media