Do not covet your neighbor’s wealth

● We did not have a central government for the first ten books of the Bible. Electing a king was evil in the eyes of the LORD, First Samuel 12:17.
● You were warned you, in First Samuel 8:5-17, that your elected king would take, take, take, take, take, and take until you cannot stand it.
● The collective (democracy) will want God back into their life, but God will not answer your prayers (God honored your free-will, you got what you voted for, stop complaining). First Samuel 8:18 “And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day.”
● Most people want to live more comfortably without managing their own affairs in life. Millions of Americans give no thought to asking government to steal wealth from their neighbors (using whatever force is necessary for tax seizures, wage garnishments, asset forfeitures).
● Your neighbor’s wealth is not your wealth. If you have your hands in someone else’s wallet, you are not a Christian. You are a thief.
● You have a duty to manage your own wealth so that you can take care of your family, relatives, friends and neighbors in times of natural disasters or national peril.
● You have no right to use force, threats, and violence to take from others. Or even ask government to steal for you.

● You have no right to ask government (with a vote) to take from others so that you can evade your responsibility to educate your children, or do ought for your parents. Or protect your home from fire, flood or invasion. Or barking dogs, or unlicensed barbers.
● You once had property rights, but property rights are incompatible with socialism.
● Taking care of widows and orphans is the pure religion of James 1:27. The word ‘religion’ occurs 5 times in the KJV but only this once it is spoken of in positive terms. You also have a moral duty to heal the sick, comfort the afflicted, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless. Some would add bury the dead and visit those in prison. These are not government functions except under martial law and only for those who have no relatives or friends or neighbors or church willing to provide them with a necessity of life.
● Using the force and violence of government to extract funds to perform these IS NOT love of neighbor. Socialism reduces your ability to perform your moral duties. It also raises the costs to perform your duties to your fellow man. Learn how to spot the difference between love and violence.
● You have a moral duty to voluntarily provide for the social needs of those you chose to help, in a way that strengthens the unfortunate. NOT, like the government, which weakens them.