Bernie Sanders’ pagan view of charity

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“Sanders’ preference for government programs over private philanthropy echoes that of ancient pagan rulers. Sanders, a democratic socialist, has said that private charity should not exist, because it usurps the authority of the government.” - Acton

Discussion

What the Anti-Poverty Activists Hath Wrought

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Who Killed Civil Society?: The Rise of Big Government and the Decline of Bourgeois Norms argues that ‘formative’ efforts by private organizations to prevent social problems from appearing … have been supplanted by the ‘reformative’ efforts of government programs to remedy problems once they appear.

Discussion

AG Barr on the idea that government social programs can replace the virtues instilled by religion

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“What Barr describes is a long-term shift from an understanding that a robust civil society, including religious institutions, could promote healthy norms such as sobriety and self-discipline to a belief that government could be relied upon for rehabilitation, the term emphasized by the Kennedy administration when it first authorized federal grants for social services.” - National Review

Discussion

6 Quotes: C.S. Lewis on government, economics, and freedom

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“Is there any possibility of getting the super Welfare State’s honey and avoiding the sting? Let us make no mistake about the sting. The Swedish sadness is only a foretaste. To live his life in his own way, to call his house his castle, to enjoy the fruits of his own labour, to educate his children as his conscience directs, to save for their prosperity after his death—these are wishes deeply ingrained in civilised man.

Discussion

Jim Wallis and Michael Wear: Is Gov't Aid Christian Charity?

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“My objection to Wallis was and is that he teaches and many of his followers repeat that support of socialist redistribution policies is synonymous with obedience to the call of Christ to care for the ‘least of these.”’ CPost

Discussion