Introductory Comments
There are a multitude of problems facing our nation, and none are more serious than the social issues that are creating such controversy and apparent division within our society. Passions run high on both sides of the issues. Advocates for each position approach the controversy with vastly different intentions and a world view as divergent as their motives.
Family is the cornerstone of any civilized society or nation. It is the oldest and most natural institution in human existence. Centuries have proven that healthy, functioning families are critical to cultural survival. Despite the proven importance of stable families in society, the traditional family is under attack in America and is facing challenges like never before.
The outcome of the 2008 elections will have far-reaching influence on the lives of all Americans. Our existence is endangered. Our way of life is threatened. Traditional family values are under attack. The consequences are potentially devastating, even deadly to our country.
Abortion
Life is precious. It is a gift from Almighty God. The founding documents state "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these (rights) are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness…" (Declaration of Independence). Currently the government that has been instituted to secure these rights is denying Life to a sizable portion of the population. Instead the government should be protecting these little people.
A woman has the right to choose what to do with her body. When she exercises that choice in the practice of procreation, whether for recreation or otherwise, there are consequences to that choice she has made. One of the consequences of that choice is the creation of a new life. When that new life is created, it is entitled to the same protections as any other human life. The mother of that infant does not have the right, prerogative, or privilege of killing her own baby.
It is barbaric and shameful that we have allowed this inhumane, uncivilized practice to continue as long as we have.
If the life of the mother is at stake, a licensed physician, in consultation with both parents, may be forced to make a decision about which life to preserve. These situations are rare, less than one in ten million. When such a decision is made, the physician should not be allowed to assess a fee for the procedure. Such an abortion should be strictly pro bono. Modern medical technology makes the likelihood of this situation so rare as to be statistically insignificant. No person, organization, profession, or industry should be allowed to profit from the willful destruction of innocent human life.
Abortion as it is practiced today is nothing more than a birth control device. Those in the abortion industry are generating hundreds of millions of dollars to end precious lives. This is a condition much worse, and equally as reprehensible, as slavery practiced 200 years ago. Courageous people took a stand and ended that abominable practice nearly 150 years ago. It is time for that kind of courage to rise again to end the practice of profiting from the slaughter of millions of innocent babies.
Marriage
In a dramatic illustration of mass abandonment of common sense, an incredibly small minority are advocating redefinition of millennia of experience with marriage between one man and one woman. It's embarrassing that such a small, radical group is able to obtain a dominant mind-share of the public debate on what should be a "no-brainer."
It is ridiculous that reasonably intelligent people have to devote time to explaining the purpose of marriage and its traditional role in society. It's even more ludicrous that, after over two centuries of enjoying the Constitution and the American experience, we are seriously considering a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Yet, because of a few vocal extremists we find a glaring need to clarify what the overwhelming majority of Americans already know.
I strongly oppose any special legal recognition of the deviant lifestyle. It is a perversion of nature and of natural functions. For the most part, practitioners merely want approval of their behavior and are asking society to embrace their dangerous and unhealthy practice.
Instead, I support providing help for any who are entrapped by the choices they have made in life and who want to emerge from their lifestyle. If they do not want to emerge, that is their choice. People making this choice may pursue happiness as they see fit and are entitled to equal protection (not special protection) under the law.
Health Care
Health Care in America is a growing concern, especially with the population aging. This is a complicated and multi-faceted issue, too complex to address fully in a few paragraphs.
The political rhetoric surrounding this issue boils down to: Universal Health Care, Single Payer Health Care, Private Health Care, or Hybrid Health Care.
Universal Health Care is essentially Health Care provided to every person in a society, regardless of status or need. Administration of such a system is either by government, private, or some combination.
Single Payer Health Care - This system requires wealth redistribution through taxes (Government taxes the wealthy and spends the funds on everyone). It relies on Government control and rationing for success.
Private Health Care - The current system in the U.S. is largely private, except for Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veterans Administration. Health care providers rely on Insurance companies, usually funded by employers, for payment of most services, often with the patient paying a minimal "co-pay" amount.
Hybrid Health Care - This is some combination of any or all of the above systems.
It is obvious that Americans need improvement in the way Health Care is provided. Problems are abundant. Good solutions are scarce. Currently there is a bill before Congress, HR 676, providing for "comprehensive health insurance coverage for all United States residents…." This would enact a Single-Payer Health Care System, funded by taxpayers, regulated by Federal Government, and administered by another Federal bureaucracy. Common sense, and experience with government-run agencies tells us that we want to carefully consider whether this is the right thing to do.
Some things that do need to take place to improve health care in America:
- Overhaul malpractice litigation to protect medical practitioners from unreasonable liability
- Reward preventive and curative treatment options as opposed to masking symptoms
- Investigate and offer promising alternative treatment
- Expedite the introduction of curative treatments currently being stifled by regulatory bureaucracy
- Reward successful treatments that cure and improve quality of life for the patient
- Establish analysis and accountability for treatment that fails
- Protect patient privacy
- Provide patients with choices that benefit them
- Offer guidance and solutions (not mandates) for the paperwork morass the industry currently endures
- Minimize regulatory guidance
- Recruit and reward compassionate health care providers committed to the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm to the patient
This is an important social issue, requiring wisdom and diligence, not politics, to correct a dangerous course. We have been adrift debating this issue. It is time for action.
Life Issues
Life is a precious gift from God, as stated above during the Abortion discussion. The path that the Abortion debate has opened in America was unthinkable thirty years ago. Now there are euthanasia advocates suggesting that we end "unproductive" or "poor quality" lives. At the other end of the debate, advocates desire to abolish the death penalty in all cases, no matter how brutal the crime. The Terry Schiavo case (2005) provided a vivid illustration of a society incapable of protecting the most vulnerable in our midst. It also revealed an imperial Judiciary that placed itself above the other branches of government. (See Judicial Tyranny for additional concerns about that branch).
We need public policy that protects all life at all stages of life. I Corinthians 15: 26 says, "The last enemy that will be abolished is death." (NASB) We do not need government policies that hasten death. Instead, we need to pursue policies that preserve, protect, and defend life until that last enemy is abolished.
Social Security
One of the consequences of Roe v. Wade has been the destruction of between 50 million and 65 million babies during the past 39 years. Half of those babies, had they been allowed to live, would be wage-earners now, and we would not be debating Social Security. But that is history. And we have a crisis in Social Security.
The crux of the crisis is the lack of leadership and political will to do what is necessary, not only to fix it now (a temporary solution), but to establish policies that protect the system indefinitely into the future. Instead, Congress wrangles over this strictly for political gain. They need to put the people first and fix this problem.
First step should be to put Congress and all federal employees on the system. That will go a long way toward taking a hard, realistic look at what is really necessary. It is one way of pushing the politics of Social Security aside and getting to the solutions.
As an aside, this issue should give thinking Americans cause to pause before allowing our government to get into Nationalized (read: Socialized) Health Care, but that's another issue.
Key points in finding a solution:
- Guarantee payments to those already in the system or entering it in the near future.
- Strictly prohibit Congress, or anybody else, from using any surplus Social Security funds for anything else. Money can be "loaned", but must be repaid with interest at the existing Fed rates at a minimum.
- Look for prudent investment opportunities for surplus funds. Purchasing Treasury Bills in our own Government might be one prudent investment.
- End the Income Tax on Social Security benefits. Taxes have already been paid on those "contributions" once. It's taxing taxes. That's just dumb.
- Immediately and permanently end any form of Social Security funding for persons who are not citizens of the United States or at least limit the pay out amounts to only what they "contribute" to the system.
It will take leadership to implement a solution. The current leadership has been unable to manage a viable solution in the interest and welfare of the American People. We need to search out new leadership who will do the job.
Education
Interestingly, the Constitution is silent on Federal involvement in education. Applying the Tenth Amendment, this should mean that Education is reserved for the States or the People. Instead we've created a huge bureaucracy, a monster that is out of control. Our children know fewer facts and are less educated than students have been for centuries. The educational system we've allowed to develop is more concerned with telling students WHAT to think than teaching them HOW to think.
Education has traditionally and historically been the purview of the parent. In conjunction with their local schools, parents have guided their children's education, acting in the child's best interest. Now, however, court rulings are holding that parents (and local taxpayers) have no rights regarding the education of their children once the child crosses the portals of the public school. This is just plain wrong. It makes no sense at all.
One current solution being discussed is the use of Vouchers to fund education. This might be appropriate IF, and only if the vouchers are provided to parents and local taxpayers for use in whatever educational system they see fit.
We need to pursue national policies regarding education that:
- Get the courts out of the classroom
- Allow God back in the classroom (under the First Amendment) if the students (or parents) so desire
- Provides funding with no strings that allows (mandates) local taxpayer (and parental) control
- Supports higher education that educates
- Withholds support from higher educational institutions that indoctrinate
Taxpayers are not getting an acceptable return on our education investment. We need to pursue public policies that return control to the local citizens and policies that ensure the product (the graduate) is given every opportunity to excel in life because of their foundational education.
Climate for Morality
America is a great nation. Our citizens are good people with big hearts and a capacity for love and generosity unmatched in history. We are a tolerant people. We would prefer to pursue a policy of "live and left live" if we are allowed to do so. Our heritage is a Christian legacy. The Founders of this nation were followers of Jesus Christ, or were greatly influenced by His teachings. Those are the principles upon which our Nation has been built.
We have always tried to do the right thing. We recognize evil and work to overcome it. Sometimes we do so dramatically and suddenly, other times it takes patience.
We need to preserve that heritage, to reclaim the climate for morality, to reassert our capacity for virtue and decency.
It will take leadership. It will take courage. It will take people with compassion reaching out to each other and assisting others along the path of life. We can have wise leaders. We can have a justice system that is fair. We can pursue our dreams without excessive interference.
We need to make the right choices now.
Concluding remarks
Social policies established by our government affect all of our lives. Many times our opportunities are improved. Sometimes our freedoms are negatively impacted.
Wisdom is what it will take to govern this great, diverse nation.
Let's make history together, now, and rediscover our destiny.
-- Richard Michael Smith
March, 2007
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