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Voluntary

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"Compel-to secure or bring about by force"- Random House Dictionary.

For those in favor of this ridiculous notion, who would you have do the "compelling"? Those in favor of this silliness are likely fans of big government boondoggles and would likely be in favor of the creation of the Department of Charitable Demands.

We have another word in the English language that describes perfectly the term "compelled charity" it's called taxes! It used to be that if a family member, neighbor or member of your church was having a problem then you would offer up a helping hand with food or clothing or a few dollars to help them through the rough patch

Now, if there is person with a problem, there's probably a government program or ten to allegedly help them out. I say allegedly because most of the government led solutions don't actually solve problems, they create dependency because the gut people of self-esteem, pride and the desire to succeed and work their way out of the problem.

Even in this the richest nation in the world we still have people who are shackled by poverty. In the 40 plus years since Lyndon Johnson started his Great Society programs to help banish poverty, we have spent hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars in a feeble attempt to stamp out poverty. Think of the money we could have saved if we had just cut a check for a million dollars to every poor family!

Problems that used to be solved by the community have been foisted off on the local, state and federal government. The only thing left to the community is to foot the tax bill to pay for it all, under threat of penalty. In the process that tax burden has grown so dramatically that we've carved into the ability of many to afford to be charitable.

Yet every time a dire emergency makes it's way to the top of the evening newscast, ordinary citizens dig deep and give generously to help those in need and they do it out of their own charitable spirit, not because someone held a government gun to their head.

Think of the outpouring of support that occurred in just the past few years. Following events like the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the natural devastation of the Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina and the massive charitable response by individual Americans and American corporations to help out those caught at their worst possible time.

Learn more about this author, Jeff Johns.
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