I’m not going to include any links in this post—just some random observations—all you have to do is check out any of the major media outlets in the last couple of days to see what I’m talking about…
Sen. Edward Moore Kennedy (aka “Ted”) was laid to rest today. It would be tough to to deny that he has had an impact on national politics for the last four decades—although I wonder if we didn’t overdo the whole thing a bit. Kennedy had never been elected nationally—only in his home state of Massachusetts—so why were flags throughout the country ordered at half-mast? Flags in D.C.—o.k.; flags in Massachusetts—sure; but why in Nebraska or Texas or California? Seems to me that he’s been treated as the “President who was never elected” in some ways.
That said, we were told (at least in the very brief stories and news snippets that I saw), that Senator Kennedy had been a man of faith. Certainly he was raised in the Catholic faith, and while one might question his fidelity to that faith at some points in his life (consider the alleged infidelities, his promotion of abortion “rights”, etc.—that his Church would certainly frown on), there seems some indication, accurate or not, that he had rediscovered a more sincere faith sometime after his second marriage (which by most accounts, changed him for the better), and that in the wake of his cancer diagnosis over a year ago, he worked at preparing himself spiritually for eternity. The story that he asked President Obama to deliver a personal letter to the Pope earlier this summer is apparently true: excerpts of it were read at his interment. Paraphrasing, he told the Pope that he was sick, that while treatments were continuing, they were taking a toll on him, and that he was preparing for the hereafter—and he asked the Pope to pray for him. The Pontiff apparently returned a letter, which included a blessing on Kennedy and his family.
Now, to the real point of this. Kennedy’s political views seem to me (a Protestant, so I’ll pledge some ignorance) a reflection of the focus of Catholicism’s social goals in an earlier era: feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, clothing and housing the poor, etc. All of those are virtuous goals. Those are goals that—as a Christian—I can easily (and have) support. But as a Citizen, I cannot support those as goals of the government. As a Christian, if I feel a calling to promote those social goals, I am perfectly free to do so. If I want to donate 30% or 40% or 50% of my income to that cause, I can, as a matter of choice or calling.
But when government makes those goals part of its policy, not only is it less efficient than most charitable organizations that make a dollar stretch farther, but it can only achieve those goals through confiscating the earnings of others.
The assorted commentators and eulogizers of Sen. Kennedy have pointed out that his goal was to provide liberty and justice for all—by which he meant, I guess, a forced leveling of the playing field through income redistribution. I am sympathetic to the notion of caring for those who need our help; but I believe that forcing people to care for others by grabbing their hard-earned money so that it can be given to others in some form provides neither. Liberty is not increased for the poor by making them more dependent on the government; and justice does not condone stealing from one to give to the other.
Senator Kennedy may have been a nice guy, personally (many have testified to such over the last few days—although some of the scandals, including the death of Mary Jo Kopechne might cast some shadows over that view); he may have been fun to be around (indeed, as a political junkie, I think it would have been fun to be a fly on the wall around him sometimes—when he wasn’t “Borking” someone, some snippets of his life suggest he might have been a teller of great stories); he may have sincerely believed that social justice could only come about by government fiat…but Senator Kennedy was, in my view, wrong. Jesus’ command to “care for the least of these” was a command to his followers—not to Caesar’s government. Kennedy should have known this, and those who seek to use his name to promote government mandated social justice ought to consider this, as well.
LLE
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