Confession Required

While attending a Catholic Mass out of town last weekend, I was disappointed to hear a political prayer mixed in with the Prayers of the Faithful.  It was not only political, but contrary to the true teachings of Jesus Christ.

Here's the prayer, paraphrased:
May our leaders take action to affect a more equal distribution of wealth among the people

The prayer may as well have been for all Catholics to cast their vote for Obama.

It's time someone took the time to refute this misguided attempt by liberal christians to mislead others about what charity really means.

The idea that Christians should support socialism is horribly wrong.  If Jesus believed that Caesar should confiscate money from his wealthy Roman citizens and give it to the poor throughout the empire, perhaps he would have preached that lesson.  Instead, he was very clear that it is each individual's responsibility to help the poor.  If we encounter someone in need, he challenges us to meet that need - not by demanding someone else take care of them, but by meeting the need personally and immediately.

The major flaws in the philosophy proposed by that prayer are numerous, and helping someone in need on a person-by-person basis is far superior:

Whenever a liberal expounds on the need for government driven social welfare, the source of the money to be redistributed is never them.  Proponents of government redistribution always intend for somebody else's wealth to be redistributed.  Because it makes them feel better to tell themselves that they care, because they helped take care of the poor by voting for candidates who promised to take money from those who deserve to have their money taken from them.  The liberal never considers himself someone who deserves to have his wealth redistributed.

Government socialism is inherently corrupting.  When you give a bureaucrat authority to redistribute other people's money, you are guaranteed that the bureaucrat will stuff as much of that money in his own pocket as he thinks he can get away with.  The less sophisticated bureaucrats just steal it, while the savvy bureaucrat makes sure to write volumes of rules and regulations that will allow him to steal it "legally".

Government socialism fails to recognize that people are individuals, and each individual has his own set of needs.  Government socialism is by definition a "one size fits all" solution.  Therefore, people truly in need will fall through the cracks of the system if they fail to meet some obscure regulation, while others who don't really need the help receive it in excess by simply learning how to exploit those regulations to their own benefit.

The fruits of socialism are corruption, waste, fraud, and failure.  It fails to lift people out of dependence while teaching them how to turn their dependence into a money-making lifestyle.  It fails to deal with people as individuals and solve each needy person's individual problem.

Worst of all, socialism is the last step on the way to dictatorship and authoritarianism.  Because it kills initiative and industry by punishing achievers in order to reward bureaucrats and sloths.

Therefore, the prayer itself is a sin.