Blogging Prophets

Last Spring I wrote a blog called  "Blogging as a Spiritual discipline" I have had a lot of thoughts about it since. 

The blogs have assumed  an important role in our society.    They  give thoughts that would otherwise be unsaid a place to be heard.

But blogging forces us to ask-- should all thoughts be heard?  Is blogging good for the world, or simply a form of mental exhibitionism?

I believe blogging has been a good thing for our society—a very good things. At its worst, it's a good way to blow off steam. At its best, it is a modern expression of prophecy.  I am convinced that if Elijah were alive today, he would have a blog.

The prophets of the Old  Testament were men and women who spoke in public places what they believed to be the Word of the Lord. They were not foretellers of the future, but forth-tellers of God's Word, inspired to speak His interpretation of the times.  Though the penalty for speaking falsely was severe, they spoke boldly. The  people listened because they knew that a crazy voice in the wilderness might just be telling the truth. 

New Testament prophecy was different.  There were no penalties for being wrong, but instead people were encouraged to speak in bunches of two or three, and the rest of the  rest of the church  would judge true prophecy from false. (1 Corinthians 12:29-31) Prophets were respected in the church, being included among the elders of the  people. (Acts 13:1) 

There is a point of view which argues that prophecy no longer happens. Personally I find this view  weak, both Biblically, historically, and experientially. Prophecy is still with us, serving essentially the same function today that it always has--as a corrector to the times,  encouraging and rebuking the church towards God's plan and away from  error and division.  It does not necessarily come from people with great intellectual insights or greater education, but from those who in tune with the Spirit of God.  Our education often serves only to reinforce our prejudices instead of drawing us deeper to God.  So today, just like yesterday, we should be alert to prophecy coming from unlikely sources.

One prerequisite for being a prophet is that you cannot keep your opinions to yourself.  A person who keeps his mouth shut can never be a prophet. 

Throughout history, God has inspired individuals  who have inspired us to look at eternal truths.  They have given us new perspectives, challenged us  to think in new ways, and shown us a vision of our times through the light of the Spirit. Unlike the Old Testament prophets, every word they speak is not correct,  but even so God uses them. They are people who are not afraid to speak their mind--which in some cases and to some degree also happens to be the mind of Christ. 

The only people who can speak God's opinion are those who are unafraid to speak their own. A prophet cannot be timid or shy. They must speak up. They cannot be afraid of disagreement or controversy--rather, they should expect that most of what they say will be resented and ill-received.  If they are wrong , they can be corrected by others-but only by people who are also willing to speak.  We cannot correct by silence.  We have to speak out.

Unfortunately, instead of encouraging people to speak their thoughts, feelings, and opinions, we have discouraged people from speaking at all.  We have encouraged "civil"--that is, noncontroversial--, conversations full of platitudes and qualifiers, devoid of feeling or passion, offending no one but saying nothing.  We have squelched robust conversation for fear of offense or error, resulting in the suppression of both error and the truth.  For fear of speaking wrong, we say nothing at all.    False prophets are a problem, but the lack of any prophet is worse.  

Blogging,  tweeting, commenting,  and  talking is vitally important if we are to hear God's voice.  Without it,  things may be more peaceful.  But with it,  we might just hear the voice of God.    But if we say nothing,  the world will continue in darkness and ignorance, because we did not bother to say the truth.

I blog because I believe God wants me to speak my own opinion.  I encourage others to blog for the same reason.  We need people who are willing to stir the pot and  keep the fire on, if our  church and society is ever going to get better. 

The Fantasy Killers

Last night's chilling tragedy in Aurora, Colorado brings to mind so many other similar tragedies--Columbine,  Fort Hood,  the Texas tower,  the massacre on the island in Norway.  No words can fully express the sadness these events caused to the people who experienced them, their families and their communities. 

But whenever these things happen,  a kind of nation-wide craziness ensues, as people, justifiably upset by the news, grasp onto any reason they can--as if craziness needs a reason.  Crazy people do horrible things,  not just now, but always.  Statistics do not bear out the premise that there are more irrational killings today than ever before.  In fact, the opposite may be true.    We forget about the Indian massacres,  slave executions,  frontier gunfights,  gang violence,  and race riots which have unfortunately dotted our history.  It should not be the irrational lone individual with a gun we fear most, but the rational,  vengeful actions of mobs and governments which have caused the most violence in our history.  Columbine was nothing compared to the Civil War, and last nights tragedy was small compared to 9-11.

But if we are going to look at the causes and solutions for such occurances, let me make three observations. 

1. The right to bear arms is all well and good, but does it really include semi-automatic weapons and gas grenades?  These are not weapons of personal protection but of mass destruction.  Last night's killer did not obtain them legally,  but he did obtain them easily.  Something is wrong  with our enforcement of the laws when insane killers may obtain any weapon they want. 
   Some will argue that more weapons in more people's hands would deter violence. It may--but not crazy violence.  These people want to be killed,  expect to be killed.  They just want to take as many as they can with them.
2. Why do we need to know all about these details?  Sometimes, crazy killers  are really not that crazy.  They just have a differing set of values than other people. More than anything, they want to be known.  The media willingly obliges them,  plastering every detail of their sad, pathetic lives over the screens of this country,  making celebrities out of nobodies.  To paraphrase Any Warhol--anyone can be famous in America for fifteen minutes, if you are willing to die and to kill for it.  These people use their killings to  send messages to the world, and the press obliges them. 
   Why don't we boycott the news for a while, and stop reading or talking about them?  Better yet, just because something happens, does the news have to report it?   Let's keep them anonymous, and focus on comfort to the grieving families, instead of satisfying the morbid curiosity of all the people who have no business knowing about  it. Maybe next time,  the crazies will think twice about going to an anonymous death.

3. Do we have too much fantasy in our lives?  When the Aurora killer was surrendered to the police,  he identified himself as "The Joker."   He wore a gas mask,  which much have looked similar to the villain in the current Batman film.   At Columbine,  the perpetrators wore long trench coats, similar to the coats worn in movies such as  The Matrix.  Recently there have been a spate of crazy individuals committing acts of assault and cannibalism, copying popular vampire and zombie movies.   These people identified themselves with characters from TV and movie fantasies. Clearly, it is no surprise that he attacked a Batman movie, or that he was able to enter the theater in costume at a midnight fan showing undetected. 
   The most frightening thing about modern America is not those few explosions of violence, but the general loss of reality.  Our lives today are not so much the product of either faith or reason, but imitations of fantasies.  We think we are entitled to the lives of celebrities, who become idols, the collective focus of our dreams and desires.  The fantasy world has become so large and so influential that it threatens to rob us of reality. 

The most frightening thing about the fantasy killers is not that we do not understand them, but that we do.  When the real world becomes too complicated and difficult, we retreat into our own dreams, which are sometimes erotic, sometimes violent,  sometimes, heroic,  but never real.  Then, when fantasy becomes more real than reality, we want to act out our fantasy in reality. For some few unbalanced souls,  that means turning a crowded theatre into a video game shoot-em-up. 

But it isn't fantasy.  It's reality.  In the end,  we all must face the judgment of the world, and the judgment of God.

Andy doesn't live here anymore

Andy Griffith, the actor, died last week at the age of 86.  Griffith was wonderful at his profession, and quite possibly a wonderful human being.  He was, of course, known for playing folksy country characters like Matlock and Andy Taylor. People forget, though that he played some of the most chilling and ironic villains of all time, such as the folksy huckster who was the subject of probably the best critique of celebrity ever put on film, Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd. In that film, Andy placed a crazed version of the country bumpkin routine that later made him famous.

The point of this is simple,  Andy Griffith was an actor, and a fine one. He was not a country philosopher or a loveable sheriff, but an actor, and as such was really unknown to us. An actor is one who conceals his face behind a false one.  The better an actor is, the less we can know of him in the character he plays.

This is important to remember, especially in regard to the crowning acheivement of Griffith's career, the Andy Griffith Show. In it, Andy created a small town,  called Mayberry,  based on his own home town of Mount Airy.  It was a place where life was slow, people were loveable, and no one ever locked their doors. Strangers were treated with love and respect.  It was the place where everyone wanted for their own home town.

The problem with Mayberry, though is this, like Griffith himself, it was an act.  It never existed. Though some of small town life did resemble Mayberry, most of it was, and is very different from Griffith's fictional creation. 

Charles Murray, in his book Breaking apart, writes about the demographic group which mainly made up Mayberry--white, working class people.  It is the group which today is seeing the most change of any ethnic group. Church attendance is down among white working class.  Cohabitation is up.  Drug use is up.  Uncertainty is up, misery is up. Today, Andy would have to carry a gun, and Barney would be a fool to carry just one bullet. 

Come to think of it,  the country was never like people wanted it to be.  Moonshine liquor, the Klan, domestic violence and plethora of other sins were hidden in unpopulated places.  It is only our selective memories that turn the past into paradise.  Life was never what we wanted it to be, but our memories deceive us into thinking it was. 

But for the sake of argument, suppose it was.  What if the past were just the way Andy Griffith imagined it to be?  We have to live in the future.  We cannot go back to that world, even if it did exist.  We have to learn to be Christians today

The thing that makes any world good or bad are the people in it. It is how we act, how we inculcate the values of Christ in our own life tha t really matters, not how the rest of the world reacts.

There is no use wishing for Aunt Bee, Opie, and Barney.  We have to become them, or at least the things in them that we admire--the gentleness,  kindness and tolerance we seem to see in the made up world of sixties television.  Those values are still part of the world if they are part of us.

The Man on the Mountain

(Message from July 15,  Rogers Memorial Church, Rock Hill)

The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim.   Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."

 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.   As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.   When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset.   So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.   Ex 17:8-13

Most people think they know the story of the Exodus because they’ve seen The Ten Commandments or Prince of Egypt. 

But its only part of the story.  Some important details are usually left out.  

First, we forget the sheer size of the Israelite horde—between two and three million.

Second, we forget just how rough the desert.  The average high there is one hundred and two and no rain.

Third, we forget just how disorganized they were.  No one was quite sure whose tribe they were in.  Once they arrived at Mt Sinai, it took about fourteen months just to get organized.  Until then, they were more like a horde of army ants streaming in across the desert.

Fourth, we forget that they were not alone out there. There were marauding nomadic tribes who made their living plundering unfortunate travelers--think Hell’s Angels on camels. To these tribes--collectively called Amelkites—the sight of three million people traveling in a broad line across the desert was a tantalizing target.

These Amelkites followed them to Rephadim, a long gully in the desert with high walls on two sides, where these marauders decided to make their move.  Moseswasent his young lieutenant, Joshua to lead a band of untrained men to fight the Amelkites

Meanwhile, Moses did something strange. Moses stood on top of a mountain holding his staff over his head—the same staff that was called The Rod of God.  As long as Moses kept his hands in the air, they would win. If Moses let his hands fall, they started losing Aaron and Hur had to help old Moses’ hands up. Joshua fought the battle. Moses watched with his hands in the air. and they won. 

hy was it so important for Moses to stand on the mountain with his hands in the air?

This is not an idle question, because we do something like it—we pray. There is no logical connection between prayers and what we are praying for, yet we pray anyway.

Suppose a couple has a child who is desperately sick.  The doctor is like Joshua, a very skilled fighter for the health of the child. All the couple can do is stay in the waiting room praying.  The minister comes in and joins them.  Deep down we wonder.  Do the prayers make a difference, or are they just for show.  Are we like Moses, just standing on the mountain with his hands in the air?

People give all kinds of explanations why Moses had to stand on that mountain.   One explanation is magical.  The Rod of God (they say) was like some kinds of magical object.  He brought down God’s power with his magic staff. His rod gave him the power to command armies and to defeat the enemy.

Maybe--but I don’t think so.  God doesn’t give His power away. Moses was just a man, he was not a superman.  Neither are we X men.  If we are praying for a miracle, then that doesn’t mean was can just demand it.  God doesn’t work like that.  Sometimes we all pray for something and it doesn’t happen. Sometimes just one person prays once, and it happens. Prayer is not a superpower.

Another explanation is psychological. The soldiers could see Moses on that mountain. It must have given them the feeling that God was there.  (After all, he looked like Charlton Heston).  Moses’ presence gave them hope, which gave them strength to defeat the Amelkites.

We think the same thing when we are praying for the sick or in trouble.  We think the real job is being done by the doctors, the nurses, and the sick person. We’re making them feel better, which I helping them to heal.  Prayer is a great psychological boost to those who are in trouble.

Maybe, but I don’t think that’s all it is.  Moses, Aaron, and Hur were spiritual leaders, not cheerleaders.  God didn’t tell Moses to stand on the mountain to lead cheers for our side. 

Another explanation is personal. Maybe God had Moses stand on that mountain just to make Moses, Aaron and Hur feel better. Moses and Aaron were old men, and you know how nervous old people can get.  These Israelites were their children.  So God gave them something to do, to occupy their time.  God told them “Here, you stand on the mountain with your hands in the air, and Joshua will fight the battle. We’ll call you if we need you to anything more.”

Again, this is what some people think about prayer.  A child is sick and her mother is distraught.  In times like this, the hospital workers call for the chaplain or the family clergy, to come pray with the family.  The chaplain’s job is to make the family feel better, to calm them down so the doctors can do the real work of healing. 

Maybe, but I don’t think so. Moses didn’t stand on that mountain just to make himself feel better.    If Moses dropped his hand, they actually would lose.  It wasn’t like the Panthers fan who thinks if he wears his lucky underwear to the ball game, the Panthers will win. The battles actually depended upon this seemingly disconnected act.  Without Moses on top of that mountain, nothing was going to happen.

Why did Moses have to stand on the mountain with his hands in the air?

It's a strange place to be. There is no real connection between an old man standing on a mountain and the flow of the battle below. 

For that matter, why does He want us to pray?  

People give all kinds of explanations why Moses had to stand on that mountain.  \

One explanation is magical.  The Rod of God (they say) was like some kinds of magical object.  He brought down God’s power with his magic staff. His rod gave him the power to command armies and to defeat the enemy.

Maybe--but I don’t think so.  God doesn’t give His power away. Moses was just a man, he was not a superman.  God doesn’t work like that. 

Another explanation is psychological. The soldiers could see Moses on that mountain. It must have given them the feeling that God was there.  (After all, he looked like Charlton Heston).  Moses’ presence gave them hope, which gave them strength to defeat the Amelkites.

We think the same thing when we are praying for the sick or in trouble.  We think the real job is being done by the doctors and nurses. Nevertheless, prayer is a great psychological boost to those in trouble.

Maybe that's why Moses had to stand on the mountain--but I don’t think so. Moses todidn't stand on the mountain to lead cheers for our side. 

Another explanation is personal. Moses was an old men, and you know how nervous old people can get.  These Israelites were his children.  So God told them “Here, you stand on the mountain with your hands in the air, and Joshua will fight the battle. We’ll call you if we need you  for anything more.”

This is what some people say about prayer.  A child is sick and her mother is distraught, so the hospital workers call for the chaplain or the family clergy, to come pray with the family. The chaplain makes the familyfeel better, calming them down so the doctors get on with the real work of healing. 

Maybe it made Moses feel better, maybe it didn't--but I don’t think it was the reason Moses was standing on that mountain..If Moses dropped his hand, they actually would lose.  It wasn’t like the Panthers fan who thinks if he wears his lucky underwear to the ball game, the Panthers will win. The battles actually depended upon this seemingly disconnected act.  Without Moses on top of that mountain, nothing was going to happen.

So why did God have Moses up on that mountain?

It think it is for a much deeper reason. God had Moses on that mountain, and God has us pray because He actually have become partners with us.

The Bible word for this partnership is koinonia.  Originally, it meant a business partnership like Sears and Roebuck, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Ben and Jerry’s. Business partners are bound together. One partner has to have permission of the other to proceed.  If you can sign a contract, your partner must also sign it to.

Marriages are the same situation. Your husband may be a lousy businessman and you may be good businesswoman, but you are bound together.  You sign what he signs, assuming both the responsibilities and benefits.  Then you may regret becoming partners, but you still need to cosign.

God has entered such a partnership with us.  He made us responsible along with Him. Although He has the ability to do whatever he wants whenever He wants, brings us into the process, so holds off until we also sign off on the project.

You may think that this is a foolish thing for God do to. But results are secondary to God.  Our relationship with him is far more important.  God does it because He loves us and intends for us to share in the work of redemption.

God told Moses to participated, not in the earthly struggle, but the divine struggle on which all human activities depend.  He did this because God and Moses were partners.

You may think God doesn’t need us telling Him what to do. That is right—He doesn’t. But whether or not He needs it, God wants it.  That is why He made prayer a prerequisite for His interference in life.

The words we pray don’t matter. Our eloquence matters even less. All that matters is that we are willing to join God in partnership, stand with Him, over the battle, praying for God to win.  We are not simply encouraging when we pray. We are fighting along with God.  God has the strength He needs to prevail, but He has linked His strength to ours.  We must stay there, constantly praying, and God will do the rest.

Many things happen because we pray. Many things do not happen because, we do not. We do not keep up our part of the partnership. We reason that this is silly, and we drop our hands. But it is not silly. It is necessary.

Why does God do this? Because He wants us to be part of what He does.

When I was a child, my father would let me help him doing work around the house.  He didn’t have to. It usually took twice as long when I helped. But he wanted me there. 

Today, God chose to use the church.  We aren’t necessary, but He does it, because he loved us. He loved us so much that He sealed the partnership with the blood of His only begotten son.

Now we need to do our part. We need to stand on the mountain, lifting the battle up to Him. If we need help, we should bring in others to help. But don’t’ give up. Keep those hands up in prayer, and at the end of the day, the battle will go our way, 

So why did God want Moses to stand on the mountain with his hands in the air? For that matter, why does He want us to pray?  The answer is much more complicated than any of the simple explanations we have so far discussed. It has to do with our relationship to God and the nature of what God is doing in the world.

We are God’s children, to begin with. We become God’s children through faith in Jesus Christ.  If you are not a child of God though Christ, then there is no guarantee that prayer will work. Prayer for you may be one of those other explanations we have hitherto discussed.  You may as well be cheerleaders at the bedside. God might hear your prayer, but He doesn’t have to.

But for His children, He has done something amazing.  He has entered into a real partnership with us. He has bound His will to our will. 

The Bible word for this partnership is koinonia.  Originally, it meant a business partnership like Sears and Roebuck, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Ben and Jerry’s. Business partners are bound together. A partner has to have permission of the other to proceed.  If you can sign a contract, your partner must also sign it to.

In the classroom, a teacher will sometimes assign people to work in groups of two or three, to enter into a study partnership.  Smart students usually hate this arrangement. One usually complains that the others are not doing the work or that they do it poorly. But the professor insists that they all get credit for the assignment. It is a learning exercise in cooperation and collaboration. We are learning to work together.

Marriages are the same situation. Your husband may be a lousy businessman and you may be good businesswoman, but you are bound together.  You sign what he signs, assuming both the responsibilities and benefits.  Then you may regret becoming partners, but you still need to cosign.

Have you ever cosigned a loan?  If you have, may have come to regret it.  On the other hand, you may have helped someone you love, like a child, get a boost up in life.   

God has entered such a partnership with us.  He made us responsible along with Him. Although He has the ability to do whatever he wants whenever He wants, brings us into the process, so holds off until we also sign off on the project.

You may think that this is a foolish thing for God do to. But results are secondary to God.  Our relationship with him is far more important.  God does it because He loves us and intends for us to share in the work of redemption.

God told Moses to participated, not in the earthly struggle, but the divine struggle on which all human activities depend.  He did this because God and Moses were partners.

You may think prayer does nothing.  God doesn’t need us telling Him what to do. You are right—He doesn’t. But whether or not He needs it, God wants it.  That is why He made prayer a prerequisite for His interference in life.

The words we pray don’t matter. Our eloquence matters even less. All that matters is that we are willing to join God in partnership, stand with Him, over the battle, praying for God to win.  We are not simply encouraging when we pray. We are fighting along with God.  God has the strength He needs to prevail, but He has linked His strength to ours.  We must stay there, constantly praying, and God will do the rest.

Many things happen because we pray. Many things do not happen because, we do not. We do not keep up our part of the partnership. We reason that this is silly, and we drop our hands. But it is not silly. It is necessary.

Why does God do this? Because He wants us to be part of what He does.

When I was a child, my father would let me help him doing work around the house.  He didn’t have to. It usually took twice as long when I helped. But he wanted me there. 

Today, God chose to use the church.  We aren’t necessary, but He does it, because he loved us. He loved us so much that He sealed the partnership with the blood of His only begotten son.

Now we need to do our part. We need to stand on the mountain, lifting the battle up to Him. If we need help, we should bring in others to help. But don’t’ give up. Keep those hands up in prayer, and at the end of the day, the battle will go our way, 

What If I don't want to be managed?

I listened to the commentaries on the supreme court decision on "managed" health care.  It is being hailed a a victory of the Obama administration, and it is, though I suspect it might be a pyrrhic victory.  People who supported the mandate were mostly surprised when the Supreme court sided with those who said it was unconstitutional, though a slim majority said it was constitutional as a tax, which is of course what the Obama administration publicly said it was not a tax, while arguing before the Supremes that it was.

People may not like a tax so much as they like "managed" care.

What I find most offensive is the idea that that government exists to "manage" individual health care, or individual anything for that rate.

Recently I was talking with two friends, one a Democrat and another a Republican, about the corruptibility of politicians.  Both of them agreed with a statement by Gardner Taylor that politics is a noble profession made ignoble by the people who practice it.  People, by and large, are not smart. They are greedy, corrupt, and self-centered. It worries me that my life is to be managed by a group of people who got fifty-one percent of their vote.  

For my part, I don't want to be managed, not by them, or by anyone else. The Lord is my shepherd, not some  bureaucrat or politician, and I'd like to keep it that way.

Sometimes (they say) it is for my own good.  People who are managed for their own good are called children. I am not a child. 

Sometimes (they say) it is for the good of others. People who are managed for the other good are sheep or cattle.  I am neither sheep nor am I cattle. 

I exist for my own sake, with my own intrinsic worth in God's eyes. I do not wish to be told that my sole purpose in life is to involuntarily  feed others.

People who value individual freedom over government management for the good of all are called selfish, because they do not have the interest of the poor at heart.  That may be true of some, but is not true of me. I stand behind anyone in my desire to help the poor. I have give regularly out of my own pocket to help others.  I have spent years as an unpaid volunteer in ministries to help the poor and the hungry. I have worked among the poor  in the city, in the country, and abroad.  I have looked into the eyes of destitute men, women, and children.   I know their nobility and struggles, their faults and their shortcomings.

I also know that I don't want my money taken from me and  given to heartless, corrupt bureaucrats who sees the poor as a job, who have no intention  of seeing the poor stop being poor, but prefer to keep them in a dependent relationship where they are the benefactors and the poor are the poor are treated like helpless children. 

The poor are not children; neither are they saints.  They can be  greedier and more corrupt than the rich men about whom they so often complain. They love money just as much, they are just not as good at making it. 

I have known families, trained for three and four generations to get the most out of the system without putting anything into it.  I have seen the grandmothers train their grandchildren how to lie on forms and look pitiful, so they can get more from the government pot. I know of the people who work for social agencies who get government money who call up their friends to be first in line to get it, and politicians who hand out money like it was candy in exchange for favors.  I have seen the industrious, working poor deprived of benefits because they were not bred to be hustlers. They have no benefit left, because those who know how to work the system. I have seen citizens  in other countries who are poorer than almost anyone here, kept down by the jealousy of their peers and the corruption of government officials who distribute all wealth to their cronies.  They are the end result of the a country "managed" by their government. 

Free money is to  a country what heroin is to the body. It is addictive, degrading, and ultimately  corrosive. The only way a person can escape poverty is when they gain the self respect to throw off easy assistance and  earn their own daily bread.  The only way for a family to escape poverty is when the industrious members quit subsidizing those who are not.  When those who won't work discover they must work,  then they begin to earn back their own self respect and rise to their own.

But (I am told) I am not smart enough to see the reason I must trust my charity to bureaucrats.  I have to be managed for the benefit of a mindless,  soulless imaginary creature called "social welfare."

 I do not have to be taxed by the government to take social responsibility. I do it anyway.   Most people I think who are responsible enough to pay their own way welcome the opportunity to pay for others who cannot. They just don't like the people take their money,  skim off a percentage, and then treat public charity as their own personal slush fund, to support whatever project they suppose may help .  This is charity without effort, and largess without discernment.

If this country wants to run health care that way--fine.  But to whatever degree I can avoid being managed, I will. 

The Lord is my Shepherd, I do not need another.