Can you provide examples of this Biblical Gov't provision?
- not harvesting the corners of the field, (Lv. 19:10; 23:22) and also;
- letting the land rest the 7th year with the poor being the harvesters (meaning work: Exodus 30 23:11). As well as leaving that which dies of itself for the poor. (Deuteronomy 14:21) And;
- at the end of every seven years making a release of every creditor of his neighbour, or of his brother, excluding foreigners. (Deuteronomy 15:1-3) And;
- giving to every family per tribes a portion of the conquered land by lot for an inheritance forever. (Numbers 33:53,54)
- ever fiftieth year proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants to return every man unto his possession (in case they sold it, such as out of need), and every man unto his family. (Leviticus 25:10)
- And personal charity to brethren who waxed poor, and with loans having no interest, (Leviticus 25:35,36; Deuteronomy 15:7,8; cf. 1 Timothy 6:17,18; 1 John 3:16,17) and;
- not keeping overnight what he placed down as collateral/pledge (Deuteronomy 24:12) and;
- paying workers daily. (Deuteronomy 24:15) And with;
- the same tax (an half shekel) for rich and poor for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. (Exodus 30:15,16)?
- A yearly tithe of produce, dough, etc. for the Levites to do the service of the Tabernacle (Numbers 18:20,21; Leviticus 27:30-31)
- The yearly tithe of their increase of the field (being an agrarian-based society) for the feasts, to eat (or buy food if one came from far away, who could sell their increase) at the feast unto the Lord in the place which He would choose to place his name. (Deuteronomy 14:22-26)
- The free-will offerings by inviolable vows, of persons, cattle, houses, or land, (Leviticus 27:2-25) according to administrative estimation based on value and ability.
- The tithe of thine increase at the end of three years, thus, "the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest." (Deuteronomy 14:28,29)
In any case, while you might can support in principal for "redistributive social welfare tax," the devil is in the details, and if you want to use the theocracy of Israel for support and to make it applicable today, you need deal with it as part a whole system, which was opposed to,
- a welfare system which subsidizes having children due to rampant continued fornication. And fosters;
- absentee fathers, and;
- able persons/recipients who would not seek to be productive. And
- a vast penal system, and;
- redundant overlapping (federal and "tribal") programs providing $ignificant aid for a whole host of aspects, including education, housing, heat, power, health care, utility rates, and a multitude of adult health issues as well as children, and including,
- funding the cost of treatment for a disease primarily caused by a sinful activity the Scriptures only condemn,and even funding so that they may engage in it without becoming infected. And;
- with the support largely being an impersonal means in the mail or similar, And;
- administered by a vast bureaucracy largely staffed by supporters of said system;
- many of who are naive idealistic students of secular schools choosing this employment in order to obtain forgiveness of their remaining significant debt. And with political powers;
- fostering a victim-entitlement mentality, in which all those lack benefits others earned are told they are victims of injustice, and have the right to benefits others earned, and who are generally portrayed as oppressors who need to have more taken from them to provide what the victims are told is their right (thus working against the concept of mercy and grace and acts of gratitude), and by which Communist-type seduction said political powers obtain their power (in the end resulting in dictatorships and the most extreme economic discrepancy), all of which is
- funded by approx. just half the adult population, and;
- with certain benefits for the working poor effectively being a disincentive to work, since recipients quickly lose more benefits for each additional dollar they earn.
And i am sure the list could go on. If this is not what you are defending, then what hypothetical system is it that you condemn conservatives for opposing?
Where is the scriptural admonition against a group of people freely banding together and democratically arriving at a framework that creates a system where everyone pitches in a little (so the burden is spread out) to keep the less fortunate among them from succumbing to disease or injury, starving or freezing to death, where people who don't want to take part in that framework are free to leave the organization and give up all it's benefits if they so choose?
I've looked for such an admonition, but have yet to find it.
Sounds overall good to me, something evangelicals overall would favor, seeing as the movement engages
in substantial humanitarian work.
Every week we receive news of evangelical type agencies providing humanitarian aid, along with spiritual help (and i check out some to see how they are using their funds), from such ministries as
Persecution Project,
Barnabas Fund | Hope and Aid for the Persecuted Church,
Food for the Hungry,
Samaritans Purse,
Operation Blessing International, and others, which are just a few.
However, in contrast to what you describe is a system in which rather than people freely banding together to sacrificially to help actual victims in need, and share their blessings, is the system in which people are compelled to subsidize a system that fosters Godlessness, immorality, class and race warfare (including denying jobs to the best qualified because they are of the wrong race, and who are demonized), and that of attacking and penalizing those who earned greater benefits while fostering a generational culture of indolence, fatherless families, and or a political correct culture of oppression of any who dare express objections to it. Which is a support system for certain elitist proxy $ervants of the devil who, use actual injustice as well as invent a scenario of such in order to present themselves as saviors of the oppressed.
Whether it be Stalin or Venezuela, the end of this socialist paradise is that of the so-called saviors being ones sitting in "first class," while the rest who helped their mutiny realize an quality of poverty.
Obviously there are two extremes, but the political welfare system, of America is not the answer.