For the most part, I don't want to write about politics. I think it's because politics aren't eternal; it could also be because I serve a King, not a political ideology; I also think it's because, since it's a human institution (necessary, but human), it is doomed to be corrupt in some respects, regardless of your party. But since health care reform is the talk of the day, I just wanted to get my thoughts down and organized.
I think this all starts on how you view the rich. I am sure that there is a large segment of American society that feels that, if you are rich, you have taken advantage of someone, or you inherited your wealth, or you benefited from tax breaks, or you don't give, or something else like that. I think that is false, at least in the majority. If you pick up the book, "The Millionaire Next Door," or "The Millionaire Mind," you will find that the modern "rich" person is much different than one might think:
*Most millionaires only make $131,000 (50th percentile), while those making $500,000 a year or more (only about 13% of millionaires) skew the overall numbers upwards;
*Most live on less than 7% of their wealth;
*80% of millionaires are first-generation millionaires;
*About 2/3 work 45-55 hours a week;
*About half have wives who work at home, but are considered more conservative than their husbands;
*Less than 20% are not college graduates;
*Most regularly attend religious services;
*Most have never received any handout ever, and never believed they would.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/stanley-millionaire.html
My point is that millionaires are not born, but are made. In the words of Dave Ramsey, the radio show host I listen to, "people are rich because they do rich people stuff, people are poor because they do poor people stuff...poor is a state of mind, broke is a temporary existence." Until we become a thorough Communist country, the rich will keep getting richer, and the poor will keep getting poor.
Capitalism doesn't make people rich or poor. People do. Just because a few CEOs and companies took advantage doesn't mean there is something wrong with our economic system; it just means there is something wrong with those people. Should we outlaw prescription medicine or guns or cars just because people abuse them for their own personal gain?
There are a bunch of people without health insurance right now. I am one of them! A portion of them will work out of it, and be better off. And there will be a portion of them that won't try to work out of it, and just wait for the government to take care of them. It all depends on their mindset. And that leads me into why I am against this new government health reform stuff!
As a human, we are sinners. Me, you, big CEOs, Congress; we are all sinners. One common sin I am seeing more and more of is laziness. When given the choice, most people will choose the easy road. Why work hard when there is an easier way?? Millionaires don't think this way. Poor people do.
I am against the health care reform because it will further our national debt (show me a federal program that hasn't), which will eventually lead to higher taxes for everyone. I am against it because it will pay for abortions, regardless of the fancy talk coming out of Washington. I am against it because it does not protect doctors from working in accordance with their beliefs. I am against it because the federal government does not have a right to force anyone to buy anything.
And I am against it because it doesn't motivate people. It doesn't encourage people to rise up out of their circumstances. If I am just making ends meet, and I get to pay a fraction of the current premiums to cover my family, what incentive is their for me to seek out that full-time job, that promotion, that raise? How is this reform encouraging human flourish and personal responsibility?
Right now, if I want insurance, I have to work hard and get it. It's called personal responsibility. Paul says that if you don't work, than you shouldn't eat. (2 Thess 3:10) Does that apply to health insurance as well?
Are there temporary circumstances, or exceptions, that inhibit people from getting insurance? I'm sure there is, and we need to make room for that. But the exception isn't the rule, and the government shouldn't make us pay for it.
So I would like to keep my capitalism, thank you very much. I can get my own insurance. I am not going to sit around and wait for the government to force me to pay for something I should earn on my own.
God bless
"We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right." -2 Thess 3:11-13
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Decline of the Christian West
I have never been one to shy away from controversial topics, and I found this one to hard to resist. I saw a video several months ago that got me thinking about how liberal the “West” has become in the last 40-50 years, and what it has now done to the demographics of the world. Now, I wanted to show the video, but I think that some of the images, music and verbage used, are a little too controversial to show. So, I decided to just give you the facts of the video, and my opinion, and we’ll go from there.
(Statistics are of 2007)
Statistically, in order for a culture to maintain itself for more than 25 years, there must be a required fertility rate of 2.11 children per family. Historically, no culture has ever reversed a 1.9 fertility rate. A 1.3 fertility rate is impossible to reverse because it would take 80-100 years to correct itself, and there is no economic model that can sustain a culture during that time. Why? If every couple has less than 2 children, when there are 1 million people working in 2006, it would be impossible for 2 million to enter the workforce in 2026.
As the population shrinks, so does the culture…
As of 2007, the fertility rates of natural citizens:
France 1.8
England 1.6
Greece 1.3
Germany 1.3
Italy 1.2
Spain 1.1
European Union (31 nations): 1.38
(Remember the fertility rate that is impossible to reverse from above?)
But the population in Europe is not declining…Why?
Immigration.
90% of population growth in Europe since 1990 has been from Islamic countries.
France:
Fertility rate of Islamic families: 8.1
In southern France, there are now more mosques than churches
30% of children age 20 and younger are Muslim
In larger cites, that number is 45%
In 2027, 1 in 5 Frenchmen will be Muslim
Great Britian
In the last 30 years Muslim population has grown from 82,000 to 2.5 million.
There are over 1,000 mosques.
Netherlands
50% of all newborns are Muslims
In 15 years, half of the population will be Muslim
Russia
23 million Russians are Muslims (1 in 5)
In just a few years, 40% of Russian Army will be Islamic
Belgium
25% of population is Muslim
50% of all newborns of Muslim
The Belgium government has stated that 1/3 of all European children will be born to Muslim families by 2025
“The fall in the [German] population can no longer be stopped. It’s downward spiral is no longer reversible. It will be a Muslim state by the year 2050” –German government
“There are signs that Allah will grant victory to Islam in Europe without swords, without guns, without conquest. We don’t need terrorists, we don’t need homicide bombers. The 50+ million Muslims [in Europe] will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.” –Mummar al-Gaddafi of Libya
There are similar trends closer to home as well
Canada
Fertility rate of natural born citizens is 1.6 (2.11 is required to sustain culture)
Islam is the fastest growing religion in the country
2001-2006, there was a 1.6 million increase in population. 1.2 was due to immigration
United States
Natural born citizens fertility rate: 1.6
Latino immigration raises rate to 2.11
In 1970 there were 100,000 Muslims
2008, there were over 9,000,000
“Islam has overtaken Roman Catholicism as the biggest single religious denomination in the world,” –Vatican, March 2008
[you can see the video here, if you like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU&feature=player_embedded ]
For me, these statistics are amazing, and scary. I’m worried, not so much about the rise of Islam, although that is a concern to me. My larger concern is the decline and fall of Western Christianity. Just like the Old Testament, God is using different cultures to shame His people. Now it is us here in the West. Muslims seem much more concerned about family than we are. Muslims seem to care much more about passing on their faith than we do. Muslims are much more hospitable than we are (at least in my travels to Turkey). Shame on us, Christianity, for not fulfilling God’s call!
Why is this? I believe there are three main, although not exclusive, explanations as to why are birth rate is low, and that are against God’s will: Homosexuality, abortion, and artificial contraception. Jesus came to give us life, life to the fullest (Jn 10:10). The three reasons I give cut off life, for physical life cannot spring forth; fullness of life can never be reached with those three boundaries in the way. My previous post stated that God wants us to have children because that makes us better people. He also knows that if we don’t have enough children that our culture will die. Is it no surprise that our low birth rate, both a reason for and result of the decrees in quantity and quality of Christians, is leading to the demise of Christian culture in the West as we know it? (Now do you know why I suggested in my last post everyone needs to have at least 3 children?!?!)
As faithful believers, what can we do? First, we need to pray, for ourselves, and for Christians around the country and around the world. I know I need all the prayers I can get! Secondly, share the Gospel. Tell someone, anyone, how good God has been to you. Thirdly, be open to life, in all it’s ways and all it’s forms. It’s not too late for America. We need to be radically for life, both personally and publicly, and against everything that stands in the way of life. This is God’s will for us, and this country.
May God bless you
(Statistics are of 2007)
Statistically, in order for a culture to maintain itself for more than 25 years, there must be a required fertility rate of 2.11 children per family. Historically, no culture has ever reversed a 1.9 fertility rate. A 1.3 fertility rate is impossible to reverse because it would take 80-100 years to correct itself, and there is no economic model that can sustain a culture during that time. Why? If every couple has less than 2 children, when there are 1 million people working in 2006, it would be impossible for 2 million to enter the workforce in 2026.
As the population shrinks, so does the culture…
As of 2007, the fertility rates of natural citizens:
France 1.8
England 1.6
Greece 1.3
Germany 1.3
Italy 1.2
Spain 1.1
European Union (31 nations): 1.38
(Remember the fertility rate that is impossible to reverse from above?)
But the population in Europe is not declining…Why?
Immigration.
90% of population growth in Europe since 1990 has been from Islamic countries.
France:
Fertility rate of Islamic families: 8.1
In southern France, there are now more mosques than churches
30% of children age 20 and younger are Muslim
In larger cites, that number is 45%
In 2027, 1 in 5 Frenchmen will be Muslim
Great Britian
In the last 30 years Muslim population has grown from 82,000 to 2.5 million.
There are over 1,000 mosques.
Netherlands
50% of all newborns are Muslims
In 15 years, half of the population will be Muslim
Russia
23 million Russians are Muslims (1 in 5)
In just a few years, 40% of Russian Army will be Islamic
Belgium
25% of population is Muslim
50% of all newborns of Muslim
The Belgium government has stated that 1/3 of all European children will be born to Muslim families by 2025
“The fall in the [German] population can no longer be stopped. It’s downward spiral is no longer reversible. It will be a Muslim state by the year 2050” –German government
“There are signs that Allah will grant victory to Islam in Europe without swords, without guns, without conquest. We don’t need terrorists, we don’t need homicide bombers. The 50+ million Muslims [in Europe] will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.” –Mummar al-Gaddafi of Libya
There are similar trends closer to home as well
Canada
Fertility rate of natural born citizens is 1.6 (2.11 is required to sustain culture)
Islam is the fastest growing religion in the country
2001-2006, there was a 1.6 million increase in population. 1.2 was due to immigration
United States
Natural born citizens fertility rate: 1.6
Latino immigration raises rate to 2.11
In 1970 there were 100,000 Muslims
2008, there were over 9,000,000
“Islam has overtaken Roman Catholicism as the biggest single religious denomination in the world,” –Vatican, March 2008
[you can see the video here, if you like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU&feature=player_embedded ]
For me, these statistics are amazing, and scary. I’m worried, not so much about the rise of Islam, although that is a concern to me. My larger concern is the decline and fall of Western Christianity. Just like the Old Testament, God is using different cultures to shame His people. Now it is us here in the West. Muslims seem much more concerned about family than we are. Muslims seem to care much more about passing on their faith than we do. Muslims are much more hospitable than we are (at least in my travels to Turkey). Shame on us, Christianity, for not fulfilling God’s call!
Why is this? I believe there are three main, although not exclusive, explanations as to why are birth rate is low, and that are against God’s will: Homosexuality, abortion, and artificial contraception. Jesus came to give us life, life to the fullest (Jn 10:10). The three reasons I give cut off life, for physical life cannot spring forth; fullness of life can never be reached with those three boundaries in the way. My previous post stated that God wants us to have children because that makes us better people. He also knows that if we don’t have enough children that our culture will die. Is it no surprise that our low birth rate, both a reason for and result of the decrees in quantity and quality of Christians, is leading to the demise of Christian culture in the West as we know it? (Now do you know why I suggested in my last post everyone needs to have at least 3 children?!?!)
As faithful believers, what can we do? First, we need to pray, for ourselves, and for Christians around the country and around the world. I know I need all the prayers I can get! Secondly, share the Gospel. Tell someone, anyone, how good God has been to you. Thirdly, be open to life, in all it’s ways and all it’s forms. It’s not too late for America. We need to be radically for life, both personally and publicly, and against everything that stands in the way of life. This is God’s will for us, and this country.
May God bless you
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
