Just How Small Should a Government Be?

As I was reading and responding to another of Griper's Posts; "Taxes, Blessed are the Poor.", there were so many issues that came up relating to Taxes that I couldn't say it all in the Comment Section of that Post.

I got thinking about another whole Tax issue when I was reading a Comment by BB-Idaho that was submitted to the Linked Post on 4/19/09, at 2:38 PM. In this Comment, I found it interesting that the Flat Tax Rate that he was suggesting contained an 11% Tax Rate, which isn't much different from the 10% that is spoken of in the Bible. I wonder if everyone really did give 10% of their Income to the Church, if the Church could do a lot of the things that the Government is currently doing.

Another interesting thing to note about Taxes is that when Taxes go up, often Donations to Churches and Charities go down and when Taxes are down, Donation go up.

The idea that the Churches and Private Charities should be taking care of people, rather than the Government is an interesting one that is held by some Republican Christians. The problem is that not all Republicans think this way. Many Republicans just want the freedom to keep their money and let the Poor fend for themselves. They forget that some of the Poor are actually Handicapped or Disabled. Aside from the Physically Challenged and the Mentally Challenged, some people are also Emotionally Challenged in ways that hinder their ability to function in our Society. Due to the basic Selfishness of people in general, if the Government wasn't supporting the needs of those who genuinely do need the assistance, would there be enough money Donated to Churches and Private Charities to take care of these needs?

One thing that has concerned me quite a bit in relation to this is that the Severely Challenged are better able to get Governmental Assistance than those whose Physical, Mental and/or Emotional Limits are more Minor, yet even Minor Limits and Handicaps can prevent someone from succeeding in a Capitalist Society. Remember, we are not talking about Laziness here. We are talking about actual real Conditioned or Genetic Limits.

Below the Post that I Linked to above, we had a really interesting discussion about the Flat Tax verses the Progressive Tax System, as well as the Fair Tax System that has been suggested by Mike Huckabee.  In the Post that you are reading now, I am addressing the idea of expanding the role of Churches and Private Charities to meet more of the needs in our Society.

Before we carry this idea too far, let's consider the fact that the Government also provides Fire Protection and Law Enforcement, so we obviously do need some Government.  Another problem that comes to my mind is whether or not the Church could really handle the burden when people really do genuinely need on going help due to a very real Handicap that prevents them from working not only temporarily, but indefinitely.  Isn't the task of caring for such people a rather large burden to place on a Church?

I guess the question that I am really asking to some of you Republicans is how far exactly do you want this "Small Government" idea to go?  Where should we draw the line between the Reasonable and the Extreme?  Just how much of the needs of Society should be handled by the Government and how much of it should be handled by Private Churches and Charities?  I'm not sure that I know the answer to these questions, but I eagerly await your Responses.

Preaching to the Choir

As I was responding to someone's Comment on a Blog just now, I realized something. Earlier in the discussion, I had commented that while talking about this particular subject with this person, I felt as if I was preaching to the Choir. Of course, I'm sure, no doubt, that the person I was talking too probably felt the same way about me. In the last Comment that I left, however, a light bulb went off in my head and I finally understood something about what he was trying to say to me.

There are many Possible Reasons why Communication between people can fail. One Possible Reason for Failed Communication that always comes to my mind is that one or both of the Communicators are too caught up in an Extreme Position and are not willing to Compromise and find some Middle Ground. This is only one of the Reasons, though, Communication can fail.

When ever there is disagreement in a Conversation, it can always be debated who exactly is the Preacher and who exactly is the Unreceptive Choir, yet sometimes I see these things in a totally different light. Could it be instead that the Individuals in the discussion are simply not understanding one another? When ever we feel as if we are Preaching to the Choir, there are at least two possible explanations: no, actually maybe three. One is that I'm right and the other person is Unreceptive. Another is that the other person is right and I am the one being Unreceptive. The third possibility is that we are not in disagreement to the extent that we think and the problem is that we have not adequately explained our position.

Also in the last Comment that I left on this Blog, I made the statement. "Here's where you and I have trouble communicating. We are both too General and we don't understand each other until we become more Specific."

Here is the Post that the Conversation that I'm describing is on. The Post is about Socialism, yet the discussion eventually lead into a very common subject between Griper and I; Compromise between the Extremes. You can read the entire discussion if you like, but I think that the point at which it really got interesting was in my Comment on 4/4/09, at 6:14 PM. If you start from this point, you will only have to read 12 Comments, instead of 65. At least those were the numbers when I wrote this Post.

God's Guidance/Decisions in Life & in Blogging

I first wrote this Post Yesterday morning and now I'm wondering if I should Post it or not. At the time in which I wrote it, the comments on my Previous Post had slowed down quite a bit and I was wondering if I should just keep Rambling for the sake of keeping my Blog moving and I also wanted to Expand on what I had just said in that Post.

In my last post, I was sort of hoping for comments relating to Experiences within our lives that actually have Life verses those that make us feel as if we are Going Through the Motions, but that subject didn't seem to move anyone to comment on it. I've seen a Parallel to this in Blogging, such as when I Post just to Post, verses when I sort of Feel Led to Post by something deep inside of me. Such Inspirations come occasionally, but not anywhere close to daily.

I guess I didn't want to just let the subject drop because I do sort of want the chance to answer some of my own Questions.

It is the Spirit of God that brings me Life and when I sense His guidance and Inspiration, I feel very much Alive. In my Previous Post, I asked the question "How do I keep a feeling of Life and Energy in the things that I do throughout the day and how do I keep Life and Energy in my Blog?". Usually the answer to this is to remain as connected as possible to God, because He is where my Energy and Life comes from, especially when it comes to Writing Inspiration.

So I guess that this Post is just an expansion of my Previous Post. I expanded on it a little in the comment section and I am doing so again now.

When I made the Statement in that Post that "Some of the Questions that I keep asking myself just don't seem to have answers.", I was thinking about an issue that reflects my continuous struggle with simply making up my mind, such as "Should I or shouldn't I Post to my Blog?". I talked about this in one of the comments that I made beneath my Previous Post and the Post itself addressed the Question of "Significance verses Posting Speed".

I wonder if I should just repeat some of what I said in one of the Comments below the Previous Post. The Question "Should I or shouldn't I Post to my Blog?" comes up often and quite often it relates to whether or not I feel that what's on my mind at the moment is "Significant" enough to be "Worthy" of Posting and thus the Question, "Is it more important to Post often or to Post something that's 'Significant and Meaningful'?" and I continue to be Indecisive on the issue and may never fully figure it out and/or decide which the most matters to me.

The Bottom Line is that when I sense God's Direction and Guidance in my writing, my Blog really Comes to Life, but when God doesn't appear to be saying anything to me that's specific, I have trouble making up my mind what to say.

For some people, God's Guidance is more on going and continuous. For me, it is more occasional than continuous. When I'm not sensing anything that strongly, it's as if God is saying, "I don't care. Do what ever you want" (aside from sinning of course), yet when left on my own like that, I have trouble making decisions.

When I originally wrote this Post, I was feeling as if my most recent Post wasn't really that Significant and perhaps neither is this one, yet I may have at least one Thesis Statement that has meaning. The answer to the Questions "How do I keep a feeling of Energy and Life in the things that I do throughout the day?" and "How do I keep Life and Energy in my Blog?" is to "remain as connected as possible to God".

Anyway, when I originally wrote this Post, it contained the below links because when it feels as if I'm not Posting anything that's really that Significant, I feel tempted to tell my fans what Blogs I've been conversing on, so that they can find me if they want to, for just because I'm not Posting on my Blog does not mean that I'm not writing interesting things somewhere. So here's where I have been lately if anyone is interested. The links are listed in the order of the most recent comment that was below them at the time that I collected the Links some time Yesterday morning.

Which is Most Likely to be True? (Z-Man's Blog) (Among other things - a UFO discussion)
Socialism, Exploitation of the Worker? (Griper's Blog)
Abstinence is Not "Realistic" (Lastrow's Blog)
Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Neighbors' Goods (Beth's Blog)
Who Defines Marriage? (Kris' Blog) (A Discussion about Homosexuality)
Moral Instruction (Z-Man's Blog) (A Discussion about Romantic Love, Soul Mates and Love at First Sight)