...In a handbasket!

Watching the news the other night, I was a little distressed. All evening the teaser had been: "Property taxes are going down; but there's a downside. Find out what it is at eleven." Good teaser! I couldn't think of a downside to reduced property taxes, so I resolved to stay up and find out what it was, despite my impending 3:45 AM alarm.

Lead story at eleven: Property taxes coming down! The foreshadowed downside? Reduced government services! Layoffs in government agencies! My fledgling Libertarian nerve started to twitch involuntarily...

How far we have fallen from our keep-the-government-in-check roots! Our Founding Fathers, almost every one of whom saw the wisdom of keeping the government small, would develop bleeding ulcers to see how many heads the government hydra has grown by 2006. When we hear a story about shrinking government services, we should rejoice! There should be champagne corks and high fives popping all around the room. More jobs returning to the private sector! More money in the hands of the spending and investing populace, instead of
the inefficient tax-and-burn bureaucracy. Services run by trained professionals, not paperwork-laden agencies!

The scariest part of this incident was not the "government, good/decentralization, bad" mentality of the Talking Head-THAT part I've come to expect- rather, the assumption of universal agreement by all involved in the story. No one challenged this point of view or offered any kind of opposing statements. Apparently it is unthinkable to not desire government to be as big as it can possibly get.

Men, are you firm in your convictions? Do you set an example for your children of a man who says without fear of ridicule, "THIS is right, and THIS is wrong." Even if you disagree with everyone else, even if you disagree with other men in your church, can you argue your position? Can you debate a roomful of naysayers and yet still keep an open mind, knowing that you may be the one in the wrong? Are you humble enough to admit you MAY be the one in the wrong?

Exemplify Christ for your family and stand firm for truth!