Bryan Fischer
The president sins on national television
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
It's rare that you can actually watch the president of the United States commit a sin live and on national television.
But that's what happened yesterday when President Obama told the nation that he is compelled to take more money from the rich.
This is a direct, public and disgraceful violation of the 10th Commandment.
The 10th Commandment, of course, flatly prohibits the sin of lust for another man's wife or for his possessions. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife...or anything that is your neighbor's."
Clearly, General Petraeus and General Allen are in a world of hurt created by their own lust for another man's wife. But the sinful lust for another man's possession is just as much a violation of the law of God. And our president is committing the same sin of lust that took down the careers of two distinguished members of the military, but is receiving praise rather than censure from a sycophantic and amoral media and a morally benumbed public.
The president and virtually all the members of his party have a slavering, slobbering lust for the money of those they deem to be wealthy. This gross and ugly sin was committed shamelessly yesterday by the man who would be king in front of the entire world and was committed with pride, hubris and arrogance rather than the abject humiliation that should have accompanied it.
In truth, President Obama should be as ashamed of himself today as both Gen. Petraeus and Gen. Allen are.
Worse, the president is determined to perpetuate the ongoing violation of the 8th commandment as well. God unambiguously says, "You shall not steal." It doesn't make it right when the central government does it under color of law. Taking money from some citizens against their will only to give it to others to whom it does not belong is not good public policy, it is theft. It is legalized plunder.
Now when Congress imposes taxes to fund the powers of action given to it by "We the People" in Article I, Section 8, that is not robbery. That is a proper exercise of its constitutional authority. But when it coercively extracts, under threat of fine or incarceration, the money of its citizen serfs in order to spend it on functions for which it has no legal or moral authority, it is engaging in legalized plunder and sinning not only against its own citizens but against God.
The involuntary transfer of wealth, which now comprises 65% of all government spending, is profoundly immoral and profoundly unconstitutional. James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, said, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."
The reason he couldn't lay his finger on such an article of the Constitution is that it does not exist.
It might be one thing if such immoral transfers of wealth worked, but they don't. We have spent, according to the Heritage Foundation, over $16 trillion fighting the War on Poverty since 1965, and we have more poor people today than ever. We have 47 million people on food stamps and more than 20% of Americans dependent on government plunder for their health care.
It's striking that our national debt happens to be just over $16 trillion too. The bottom line is that if we had never violated the 10 Commandments and the Constitution in a vain attempt to solve the problem of poverty through legalized theft, we'd be running surpluses today and we'd have far fewer poor people.
That $16 trillion could have been left in the economy, where it would have stimulated the growth of jobs and wages for the poor and given productive Americans more disposable income to voluntarily contribute to anti-poverty programs that actually work.
Even if the president gets his way, and the "rich" are soaked for even more than we are wringing out of them now, it will do nothing to avoid the fiscal cliff. By the president's own estimates, his tax increase on those who make more than $250,000 will raise $800 billion over the next 10 years. That pencils out to $80 billion a year or $6.6 billion a month.
But his government is now running $120 billion a month in the hole (the deficit number for October alone), which means his heist of the wealthy will leave him just a tad shy of a balanced budget, shy by $113.6 billion a month. In other words, it's a total farce as well as being immoral, unethical, unbiblical and unconstitutional.
And it will take even more money from job creators, which means fewer jobs and lower wages for all working Americans.
We have many national sins for which to repent, abortion and the embrace of sexual perversion being chief among them. But while we're repenting for our violations of the 6th and 7th commandments ("You shall not murder" and "You shall not commit adultery") let's not forget to repent of our rebellion against the 8th and 10th commandments as well.
Mr. President, it's time for you to lead the way and become our chief penitent. Please repent of your shameful lust and your complicity in the robbery of your own citizens before it's too late. The king of Ninevah repented in dust and ashes. You can too.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
November 16, 2012
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
It's rare that you can actually watch the president of the United States commit a sin live and on national television.
But that's what happened yesterday when President Obama told the nation that he is compelled to take more money from the rich.
This is a direct, public and disgraceful violation of the 10th Commandment.
The 10th Commandment, of course, flatly prohibits the sin of lust for another man's wife or for his possessions. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife...or anything that is your neighbor's."
Clearly, General Petraeus and General Allen are in a world of hurt created by their own lust for another man's wife. But the sinful lust for another man's possession is just as much a violation of the law of God. And our president is committing the same sin of lust that took down the careers of two distinguished members of the military, but is receiving praise rather than censure from a sycophantic and amoral media and a morally benumbed public.
The president and virtually all the members of his party have a slavering, slobbering lust for the money of those they deem to be wealthy. This gross and ugly sin was committed shamelessly yesterday by the man who would be king in front of the entire world and was committed with pride, hubris and arrogance rather than the abject humiliation that should have accompanied it.
In truth, President Obama should be as ashamed of himself today as both Gen. Petraeus and Gen. Allen are.
Worse, the president is determined to perpetuate the ongoing violation of the 8th commandment as well. God unambiguously says, "You shall not steal." It doesn't make it right when the central government does it under color of law. Taking money from some citizens against their will only to give it to others to whom it does not belong is not good public policy, it is theft. It is legalized plunder.
Now when Congress imposes taxes to fund the powers of action given to it by "We the People" in Article I, Section 8, that is not robbery. That is a proper exercise of its constitutional authority. But when it coercively extracts, under threat of fine or incarceration, the money of its citizen serfs in order to spend it on functions for which it has no legal or moral authority, it is engaging in legalized plunder and sinning not only against its own citizens but against God.
The involuntary transfer of wealth, which now comprises 65% of all government spending, is profoundly immoral and profoundly unconstitutional. James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, said, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."
The reason he couldn't lay his finger on such an article of the Constitution is that it does not exist.
It might be one thing if such immoral transfers of wealth worked, but they don't. We have spent, according to the Heritage Foundation, over $16 trillion fighting the War on Poverty since 1965, and we have more poor people today than ever. We have 47 million people on food stamps and more than 20% of Americans dependent on government plunder for their health care.
It's striking that our national debt happens to be just over $16 trillion too. The bottom line is that if we had never violated the 10 Commandments and the Constitution in a vain attempt to solve the problem of poverty through legalized theft, we'd be running surpluses today and we'd have far fewer poor people.
That $16 trillion could have been left in the economy, where it would have stimulated the growth of jobs and wages for the poor and given productive Americans more disposable income to voluntarily contribute to anti-poverty programs that actually work.
Even if the president gets his way, and the "rich" are soaked for even more than we are wringing out of them now, it will do nothing to avoid the fiscal cliff. By the president's own estimates, his tax increase on those who make more than $250,000 will raise $800 billion over the next 10 years. That pencils out to $80 billion a year or $6.6 billion a month.
But his government is now running $120 billion a month in the hole (the deficit number for October alone), which means his heist of the wealthy will leave him just a tad shy of a balanced budget, shy by $113.6 billion a month. In other words, it's a total farce as well as being immoral, unethical, unbiblical and unconstitutional.
And it will take even more money from job creators, which means fewer jobs and lower wages for all working Americans.
We have many national sins for which to repent, abortion and the embrace of sexual perversion being chief among them. But while we're repenting for our violations of the 6th and 7th commandments ("You shall not murder" and "You shall not commit adultery") let's not forget to repent of our rebellion against the 8th and 10th commandments as well.
Mr. President, it's time for you to lead the way and become our chief penitent. Please repent of your shameful lust and your complicity in the robbery of your own citizens before it's too late. The king of Ninevah repented in dust and ashes. You can too.
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
