What is wrong with us?

As we get closer and closer to electing a new President I often sit and scratch my head as I listen to the comments of fellow Americans.  The one that blows me away is when someone says “I am voting for so and so because they are going to take care of my needs.”  What an awful way to live.  I can’t imagine having to depend on the government to take care of my needs.

Recently on my pastor’s blog he mentioned that Republicans have hardened over the years in their views on helping those in need.  I consider myself a moderate with a lean to the right and that lean is because I am sick and tired of people expecting hand outs.  There are people truly in need and then there are people that America has simply enabled to be in need and the number of people in “need” continues to multiply as we continue to enable.

I received an email this week about a little 4 year old girl named Catherine.  Her parents were solid liberals.  Catherine says to an adult republican friend in front of her parents “when I become President of the United States I am going to provide homes for all of the homeless people.”  The republican says “Catherine you do not have to wait until you become president in order to help shelter the homeless.”  “In fact if you come over to my house today and clean up the dog poop in my yard, I will give you $5.00 and you can give that $5.00 to a homeless person and tell them to use it towards buying a house.”  Catherine scratched her head and said back to the conservative thinking gentleman “why don’t I have the homeless guy come over to your house and clean up the dog poop and you can give him the $5.00?”  The conservative gentleman replied “exactly!! welcome to the republicans’ way of thinking.”

I have helped hundreds of people who were truly in need over the years but I am very cautious to do it in a way that does not enable them.  I often view liberals as enablers and conservatives as teachers.  Liberals buy the “needy” people fish to eat while conservatives choose to teach them how to fish.  When a nation is accustomed to having everything handed to them why wouldn’t they vote for the person who will do the most for them?

Like JFK once said “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country!”  This kind of tells me how left the democrats have gone over the past 45 years.  Even one of their most glorified leaders knew what enabling was all about.

P.E.A.C.E.