Government Welfare is Not Charity

To the Editor:

In support of Patsy Parker, I would like to point out a key oversight in Ms. Deanna’s letter from April 2. While Ms. Deanna’s letter is correct, what she is missing is the element of free will.

God gave mankind free will and without it, there can be no charity. Government welfare, through taxation or money printing, is forced upon the taxpayers whether they like it or not and often without their knowledge. The food program in question, as I understand it, is funded at least in part by the US Department of Agriculture and so it represents yet another expansion of the welfare state. What happens when the funds run out? Will local school taxes be increased to fund the new dinner program because families have become dependent upon it?

In fact, the free food program (breakfast, lunch and now dinner?) is not limited to those who are needy but is made available to all students who show up. Furthermore, it breeds increased dependence upon the state and less reliance on the family. More and more, the public education system seems to be less about education and more about childcare. “It takes a village,” they say? Absolutely not, it takes a family.

The charitable thing to do for those in need is not to increase involuntary taxes (government is exceptionally good at spending money inefficiently), but to donate directly to the families in need or by supporting local charities such as AMEN. When did the state replace the community and churches as the primary source of “charity”? Would it not be better to work as a community to build up local charities and support one another directly?

William Bernsen

Plum