I am thinking as a good Christian, devoid of political leanings, it is our responsibility in this system that laws are just and justly enforced. When it comes to Caesar this should be the end of the discussion and is where subjects like abortion and marriage dwell.
Charity, that which provides adequate food, shelter and health care to our neighbors, should be the provence of individual Christians and the Church, Catholic or protestant, though the vast sums given joyously by those whose hope lies in Christ. This is the heart and soul of what Edwardian’s would have recognized as the animating force of the progressive movement.
I am not Catholic, so I perhaps cannot understand the Archbishop’s reasoning. I witness the effective outreach in Christian love for our neighbors my protestant church accomplishes daily and on a personal level, that covers the needs of the downtrodden, both in worldly terms and spiritual and wonder why this is not evident to the Archbishop. Indeed, it is the familiar touch of ordinary Christians going into the community to bring help with their own sweat and their own resources that brings the greatest results.
Lobbying Caesar, I do like how this is put, to coerce charity from the citizenry leads to impersonal handouts designed to pacify the hoi polloi for the purpose of political power in place of genuine concern, at a deeply Christian personal level, for their well being. Ultimately it is an infection of corruption that murders the poor. It is well to understand that it is not an article of Christian Faith that counting compassion does not come by the number of people accepting government largess, but rather by the number who your personal Christian charity has helped to no longer need it.
As the Government increases the resources it takes from God loving Christians to accomplish all the Archbishop believes Christians must support, does it not seem logical this results in less resources that can be set aside to do those things Christians must do to emulate Jesus in direct love for our neighbor. I should hope the Archbishop sees the fallacy of hiring government to be our agents of compassion as a worthy competitor for resources that could be used more effectively with our own hands and by the power of a Church centered effort.
If we continue down this path, passing charity to government, I see Christian churches as empty as those of Europe.
The NappyOne
Bingo, NappyOne. You hit the nail on the head and I can tell you are an "it getter".
Outsourcing charity to Caesar solves nothing and does not absolve Christians of the individual responsibility that we have to voluntarily be charitable to our family and neighbors.
I'm afraid the Church will one day regret its continued attempts to join forces with government. I believe Jesus was quite clear when he separated Caesar from God. Love can only be freely given from each of us. Caesar's coerced charity is devoid of any love at all by the very fact that it is coerced via taxation and penalty of imprisonment if one fails to pay those taxes.
It's a matter of conscience versus coercion. God always sides with conscience and is eternally patient with His creation, though we continually fail to keep His Word and obey His commandment to love one another.