The
argument that unemployed, sick, disabled, or aged persons aren’t worthy of
government support, even where their taxes have filled government coffers,
isn’t a financial but a theological view. Just because people seem atheistical,
ignorant, secular, or indifferent doesn’t mean they have no theology. Indeed
they may be more influenced by it than those who take a conscious position.
In this 500th anniversary
year of the Reformation, politics provides ongoing evidence of the pervasiveness
of work over grace. Where the signs of salvation (a limited quantity) are shown
in hard work, frugality, and self-discipline, those who are born to fail
display other qualities. The theology is of a judging God, a judging State.
United States culture, due to Puritan influence, is vulnerable to this view.
Where this is secularised, you get judgements
such as: you should’ve saved against misfortune; shouldn’t have taken drugs;
shouldn’t have lost your job; shouldn’t have married a violent man. Grace,
which is the unmerited favour of God, would say: so this has happened; we will
help you.
We’re about to be living in a
post-work world, as robotics advances. What then? Will peace be then on earth,
to those of good will?
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