A tragedy is staring us down today, we have lost our grip on a vital part of our world: what is the true purpose of U.S. government anymore? But, backing up farther, why is government such an important part of our world? Why has it become something we all should care about?
Foremostly, look at this issue in light of all the people it affects. Who is under government, here in America? Everyone. Nationally and personally, everyone faces the results and lives in the midst of the type of government we have. Our society and culture swiftly shapes to either what we believe about government, or what we let others believe about it for us. Does that make sense? We either come to an understanding about what we believe, and find where to go from there, or we let other people decide what we should believe, and they choose where we move from there.
Only once we have this under our belts, knowing what we believe and, therefore, where we stand, can we move forward. Finally, the moral, social, political and economical issues that need answering and fixing can be addressed. Yet, until we know where we stand, we will never know what we are fighting for. Firm beliefs are half the battle.
I would guess almost everybody has heard of what other people think about this issue. We know many of the opinions. We’ve seen, or even been in the arguments. And, due to that, we remain distant from the issue, because, quite simply, it’s confusing and controversial.
Thankfully, two categories seem to emerge from the governmental brawl. Generally put, they are less or more government. That is, the government either acts as a limited power, purely to protect citizens, or as a broader power that defines and enforces the conduct of its citizens.
Let me demonstrate:
Beginning with our very own Constitution, this governmental establishment is rather narrow. It gives us a military, head of military and a federal law-making system regulated by the states through representation. This establishment also allows citizens vast freedoms compared to the rest of the nations. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “...We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” and it remains clear that the Constitution was written to follow-up with those thoughts. It lands in the first category, being purely meant to protect the people under it.
An even older form of government presented in the Bible, has the support of some of our fellow citizens as the true role of government. It established laws on how to worship, what to wear, what to eat, when and how to do business, how to get married, etc. It was established to protect its citizens, true. But it mainly focuses on moulding people’s conduct. The government presented in the Old Testament of the Bible falls in the second category; larger government.
That could be labeled an aging document however, so let’s consider more modern ideas. Richard Ebeling, president of the Foundation of Economic Education, discussed a more recent view on American government, “...Modern American liberals, [Michael Medved ] explained, are all about government solving problems of “victimhood” and alleviating the effects of...private-sector oppression of the poor and the weak. They wish to use the power of government to redistribute wealth from the rich to the...needy and deserving. They want to use the regulatory power of the state to assure certain ‘ethically desirable’ patterns of employment and to divert business from producing things without ‘real’ social value.” This is an example of the second category: government is given a broad duty of shaping its citizens’ behavior.
From the more conservative standpoint, Republican New Hampshire Rep. Josh Moore explained, “...Simply...the role of government is to protect the God-given rights of every individual. When Thomas Jefferson first drafted the Declaration of Independence, he enumerated those rights; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Then those rights are to be protected by our government, bound by the Constitution.” When interviewed on this same subject, Tracy Menard, a stay-at-home mom, stated her belief on the role of government was along these same lines. However, she saw that neither small nor large government is good or bad. She pointed out, either form of government is placed in the hands of fallible humans, so either way can become corrupted.
This raises to the forefront the primary issue, again. It must be determined in our minds, where we stand on this. We cannot fight corruption. We cannot preserve freedom. We cannot wade through these muddied waters without making a decision.
So, what should you do?
You have to choose. Simply and honestly put, you have to decide what you believe. Otherwise, someone else will do it for you, then they will tell you what to do, how to act, who to be, what battles to fight. Yet, we were by no means made to be mindless creatures like that.
This is your challenge, then. Decide where and on what you stand. Then, fight for that belief. Fight for what you know to be noble, wise, right and true. Preserving our culture, society, families, in short the world, revolves around our vigilance and endurance.
