1. It takes the place of family by providing welfare that the family, by divine design, should provide

2. It weakens the family by taking from them the very opportunities to serve each other that are essential to bringing them closer together.

Of all creation, man is one of the most unique. We are created in a way that nearly prohibits complete independence but rather demands that we work together and depend on one other to satisfy personal, human needs. From the beginning of the human race, families have existed. Each human is a member of one. Since that time, we have depended on our families for our food, clothing and sustenance. We grow and form families of our own, but never leave the family into which we were born. We forever maintain that identity and that responsibility to and for our parents, siblings, children, grandchildren, etc. That responsibility is one given by the Author of Nature and is one that cannot be forfeited without consequences. For those whose families are gone, their churches, communities and closest friends must take them in as one of their own – an adopted member. This is a natural responsibility we have to one another.

The Family is there to welcome us when we come into this world and mourns our loss when we leave it. It clothes us, feeds us, teaches us, supports us and protects us throughout our lives.

The family is the fundamental unit of society. Therefore, a nation can be no stronger than its families. Confucius said it this way, “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.” Therefore, it can also be said that the stronger the family, the stronger the nation. Likewise, the more loving and caring the family is, the more loving and caring will be the Nation. If what we seek is peace on earth then it must be created in the individual heart and caused to prevail within the home. There is no other way. Some things really are black and white. If this is the case, then Government should promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family and to discourage and oppose those measures that weaken it.

Our current welfare system weakens the family by taking the family’s role in providing that care.

This kind of welfare is only going to expand with the Government’s vision for creating a practical Utopia through the Government and its institutions. This type of Utopia is one where none go without, all have the same opportunities, each has health care, food, shelter, a home of their own, a decent job and personal self esteem. It is a society where we are a strong nation, loved at home and respected abroad – the true envy of the world.

Government will fail in this attempt as every Nation, not under God, has in the past. Secular Utopia through Government has never, and will never, exist. The closest examples always ended in tyranny and a loss of hope for the true society they sought to build. Utopia through the free exercise of agency of a God fearing people has existed and I believe can exist again. The family is core to building that world. The government is essential for protecting it.

It is the ideal of communism to create such a society. The vision of it is truly captivating and many gravitated to it and still do until this day. However, to get to that society, it was acknowledged that the family would actually have to be abolished. I quote from chapter 2 of the Communist Manifesto. Wrote Marx:

“Abolition of the family! Even the most radical flare up at this infamous proposal of the Communists.”

It was a true proposal and was necessary for the abolition of the society they hated. For the government to create its intended end, it would have to destroy, or severely weaken, the fundamental unit and replace it with itself as that fundamental unit: controlling education, labor, wages, property and the law. The end was desirable. The means were not. They found out only too late that there was no way to separate the means from the ends. The means are the end. The weakening of the family means a weakening of the Nation. A compromise of values as a means creates a society of compromised values.” Conversely, as Ghandi stated, “There is no way to love. Love is the way.” If a strong nation of love and caring is the end, love and caring at home must be the way. Government is not capable of exerting these powerful influences.

Strengthening the family

The family is like a muscle, it must be exercised in order to become and remain strong. The exercise for the family comes in many different ways but generally is exercised through the fulfillment of duty and responsibility in the form of love, service, sacrifice and care.

As with all exercise, it requires hard work and can be very painful. When we know we must depend on each other to satisfy certain needs, we are more likely to honor our vows, be tolerant, forgive when needed, sacrifice for each other and live by the Golden Rule. If we don’t need to rely on each other we are less likely to develop or demonstrate these important attributes. Families must be left to rely upon themselves to discover their power. When “rescued” by the government they will never find out what they are made of nor will they reach their potential. The government short changes its actual desired end.

Government Welfare Weakens the Family

Responsibility to care for one’s needs first falls on himself, then his family, then his extended family, then his church or other community resources. In my experience, the order that people are most likely to go to today is themselves first, the government second. If the government doesn’t help enough then they go to their families. From my experience however, very few people actually go to their families for help. Why? First, it is embarrassing to have people you know, know that you are not able to meet your obligations. It is a humiliating thing to go to your parents, siblings or grandparents and ask for help. The second reason is because a) it is very easy to go to the government to ask for help, b) you don’t know the person you are meeting with, c) they expect you to need help, d) you don’t have to become a burden to your family and e) you don’t need to pay them back. From an individual’s standpoint, it simply seems like a better alternative than to going to the family.

However, when the government steps in to help by providing for the needs of individuals such as health care, food, shelter, counseling, certain kinds of education, utilities and income, it usurps the role of family and takes the opportunity for “exercise” out of the hands of the person and their family. Since the beginning, and by divine design, it is the family’s responsibility to do this. This usurpation of position by the Government eventually weakens the person and the family. The individual and the family may even be thankful for the assistance at the time – grateful that they didn’t have to sacrifice. After all, who wouldn’t be? It is only logical. Sacrifice is hard and not something for which we readily volunteer. However, its benefits are irrefutable and irreplaceable. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings and outcome desired.

Because there should be no substitute for the family in caring for and supporting one another, efforts must be made to strengthen them.

It is the family’s responsibility and duty to care for its own. A parent who brings a child into this world is responsible to them for as long as they live. A grandparent has a duty to a grandchild. An aunt and uncle even have a duty to the family as a whole to come together with prayers, counsel and means to support each other when needed. When the immediate family needs support, extended families are called upon to aid them.

Conclusion

State welfare usurps the role of families and by so doing it weakens them. It is not the Government’s place to do this and is detrimental to do so. National Health Care may not be welfare for all, but it will be welfare to many. It creates more dependency on Washington and less interdependence on those Nature intended us to be reliant upon.

I conclude by stating that the family must be restored to its rightful place as the fundamental unit of society. The government is not the fundamental unit of society. It is there to preserve it. By usurping the family’s role it will actually eventually destroy itself and the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations terrible calamities.

The family that views itself as responsible for each other through thick and thin, through better and worse, though richer or poorer, will grow in unity and strength.

Again, the family that works together through these challenges is the family that grows together. They become more united in their love and trust. They become more devoted and loyal. They become stronger – and the Nation as a whole is blessed.

Some would say that the ideal society cannot be created so the expanding welfare state is better than what we would otherwise have. It is not so. That is not true. It is a lie and the opinion of the hopeless. Advancing the cause of the welfare state, even as a “temporary” measure on what we would like to believe is our way to a better society, will only weaken it. The family can be strengthened. Love can prevail. Peace can be on earth. These things cannot be created by government. They can only be protected and preserved by it and this cause must be advanced by you.