Posted by
John Crutchfield on Thursday, August 14, 2008 8:09:31 AM
As a kid growing up in the 1950s and 60s, one of my favorite TV shows was Robin Hood. It was very entertaining watching the Sheriff of Nottingham being out witted by the clever Robin Hood and his band of merry men. It wasn't until years later that I understood the message that was beamed into our living rooms every week.
We thought of Mr. Hood as a champion of the people, always coming out in defense of the downtrodden and never recognized the sinister methods he employed. His legacy is that he "stole from the rich and gave to the poor". How did we miss the operative word, "stole"? This legendary folk hero was a thief - a well intentioned thief, but a thief none the less.
Mr. Hood is far from the virtuous hero presented by Hollywood. He and his cadre of armed henchmen held up wealthy travelers unlucky enough to pass through their part of Sherwood Forest. They were committing armed robbery. Glorifying criminal behavior like this is certainly not a message we should be sending to our children unless you want weekly visitation with them at the local jailhouse.
It's also interesting how the responsibility of the poor is excused in the matter of the Kingdom vs. Mr. Hood. They were guilty of receiving stolen property and conspiring to conceal evidence.
The legendary tale of Mr. Hood sets up the metaphorical struggle between good and evil in the purest sense relative to moral character. That's where so many of us fall off the wagon. The fact that we're broken and corrupt to begin with is more than sufficient evidence of our need to turn to the instruction manual when things go wrong.
The Bible says: "You shall not steal". (Socialist disclaimer: except in cases where the party of the first part is perceived to have been injured by the party of the second part or some social injustice, real or imagined, may have occurred, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah.)
The Left embraces an entitlement mentality which overrides common sense and Biblical teachings by promoting actions that will cause us to forfeit our salvation for a handout. Here's a news flash. We all believe in entitlements. Capitalists believe they're entitled to what they earn. Socialists believe they're entitled to what someone else earns. The socialist ideal is built on class envy and resentment for those who have been blessed economically. Envy is bad enough, but things get particularly ugly when it builds a case for demonizing the producers to justify stealing the fruits of their labor.
Such is the strategy of the presumptive democratic presidential candidate who recently announced his latest plan for modern day income redistribution. He plans to give "deserving" families a thousand dollars and he intends to fund this scheme with revenues stolen from oil companies. Robin Hood has nothing on this guy. Our presumptive democratic nominee has conspired to take, by force, that which does not belong to him and give it to those who did nothing to earn it. This is the very essence of socialism - a crime by any other name.
Attitudes of envy and resentment aren't considered virtuous according to the Bible and cannot possibly receive the blessing of the King of Kings. We're supposed to celebrate the good fortune of others and be happy for them. 1 Corinthians 13:4 says: "Love is not jealous". Well, if love is not jealous, what is? If envy is not of God, then where does it come from?
The evil one tempts us to abandon our faith in God's providence in favor of our own methods of reconciling differences with others. The one who despises all things good, also calls us to stop being thankful for God's blessings. God alone is the provider of all we have - not us, not the nanny state, not the presidential candidates, God. Lining up for your illbegotten cut of the action will buy not one second of His favor.
Although the socialist leanings of the presumptive democratic nominee are an affront to my sensibilities, I'm even more insulted that the perp thinks he can buy my vote for a thousand bucks. He'll snag a lot of suckers with that bait, but I'm not one of them. I will not sell my country out for any price. Furthermore, I choose not to become an accessory to grand theft, extortion, bribery and racketeering, thank you very much, Mr. Hood.