The Church of the State

My born of the heart babies are eligible for all sorts of government programs. They can receive WIC, Medicaid, Headstart, and various other things. We were turned down for Headstart because we knew we'd be absent at least 18 days and the director believed that our slot would be better utilized by someone who would be more likely to be there. I can't say I was disappointed. I have my BOTH babies in a church program, I know what they are learning, even though it costs me $600/month.

They do receive Medicaid. Which is good, I guess because of all the things I'm required to get for them medically. Things like psychological evaluations. And Princess has a heart condition, so keeping up with that in the beginning would have been quite costly without the aid. The more dangerous of her conditions righted itself, and the other condition is being monitored on a three year basis now. And there may come a time that she is inelligible for private insurance. But let me tell you it's a pain in the butt.

With WIC, I go back and forth on. The kids receive 7.5 gallons of milk, 2 dozen eggs, 2 pounds of cheese, 36 ounces of cereal, 18 ounces of peanut butter, and 4 gallons of juice each month. The problem is because they are in foster care, I have to go to the WIC office each month to receive the checks, they might move and then there would be all these checks out there.... Regular WIC clients get three months of checks at a time. Now I know I shouldn't complain, it works out to about $60/hour and it's "for the kids". My problem is taking money from the government that I don't need.

My husband have been quite blessed financially these last few years. My husband taught himself a valuable skill and is compensated quite nicely for it. Also, we tithe and God has kept his end of the bargain by flooding our storehouse. Our annual income is greater than our mortgage balance, and the mortgage will be gone shortly. So we don't "need" government assistance.

I wish all Christians would revolt against government assistance. Get rid of food stamps and WIC and Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Get rid of government housing assistance, and job training program, don't even get me started on education programs. And last but not least FOSTER CARE. Now, that you're all upset, calm down. I'm not saying that the poor need to get it together or die, I'm saying that it's not the government's job to take care of them. It is the job of the Church to take care of the poor and the widows and the orphans.

The problem with us delegating our job to the government is two fold. First, it hits us where it hurts, the pocketbook. Higher and higher taxes and the results of such programs are marginal at best. If you think that your goverment is more capable than your church of handling your money, then maybe you should find a new church. The ones who are utilizing these services have to make it a way of life, the government says $x makes you eligible, make $20 more and you no longer qualify for hundreds of dollars worth of assistance.

Secondly, when people are hurting and in need, they don't need to cry out to God, they just have to fill out a little paper work and the government will take care of it for them. They can thank their Uncle and not their Father. We become complacent and ticked off, we excuse ourselves from doing our job, because the government will and we can look down on the poor for not being able to get out of the trap.

Maybe you think the government needs to be involved so they can provide oversight of these programs. I don't believe that would be a problem if you were personally handing over your money. You'd provide the oversight. Times that by 100 million people and the government can go home.

I do take the WIC most months, I give almost all of it away to other foster parents who have older kids and don't qualify because I know how much the government is paying for their fostering services. I do think I'd feel better just buying them a few things and leaving the government out of it.

I'll let you in on another little secret, as I said before we make more than the average American, but unless it's a year that they impose the Alternative Minimum Tax on rich people, (this year it's $45,000 married filing jointly. Yeah if you make less than the average American you can still be considered one of the "rich".) we don't pay taxes. Oh, but you're rich you should pay taxes. Well, tithing and taking care of orphans, which are tax deductable if they live in your house six months and one day, gives us enough deductions that our taxable income is a couple thousand dollars, which makes us poor on paper, and therefore income tax exempt.

Ask any teacher how the government is doing with education, or any foster parent how well the government is taking care of orphans. Of course we're all too busy trying to keep our head above the regulations to be able to change any of it. Let the teachers teach and the parents parent. Let the church care for the poor and the widows and the orpans.

Instead of sending all of your money to the government give it to a charity. We choose to give it to our church, but give it to any cause you believe in. It doesn't even have to be a church thing, just a duty as an American, take care of YOUR house, help out YOUR neighbor. If you can't personally care for an orphan, help a family that's already taking care of one. If we would all take back our job from the government then the government could stick to what it does best, defending us against terrorists.