We encourage Christians throughout the nation to make a habit of writing biblical truth to their local newspapers. It is one more way to spread the truth of God’s Word. Many of these have been printed in the Delaware State News, but we would like to share them all here in one place for reading convenience. Check back for updates if you don’t receive the Delaware State News.
Social Security is a scam (Aug. 2019)
This month marks 84 years of the Social Security program. In 1935, FDR signed the Social Security Act. For the next eight decades, Social Security was sold to Americans as an “insurance policy” that ensures you will have money when you reach retirement. One main difference between a private plan and Social Security, of course, is that you can go to jail if you don’t pay the Social Security “premium.” In fact, in 1959 an Amish farmer had three of his six horses confiscated by the federal government because he didn’t pay $300 in Social Security taxes.
In 1935, there was concern by some that the Constitution does not give the federal government the authority to create insurance programs. In order to circumvent the Constitution, the Social Security Act avoided any use of insurance language.
The tax forced on citizens was completely separate from any “benefits.” No one actually has a “right” to receive any of the money they “contribute.” It is simply another tax on income that goes to pay current Social Security payments (and other government spending). To this day, however, the Social Security website still disingenuously uses the language of insurance. In the words of historian Thomas E. Woods: “The whole thing is a scam.”
The idea of Social Security is opposed to the biblical ideal of children providing for their parents. Furthermore, private organizations are capable of providing alternatives to an insolvent government scheme. As Ron Paul observed, Social Security has proven “that the government is not very good at central economic planning, even for retirement.”
Chris M. Hume, Dover
Lodging tax another governmental overreach (Aug. 2019)
State legislation recently gave Kent and Sussex counties the approval to enact a lodging tax of up to 3 percent lodging tax.
This is another example of the government interfering with the free market via taxation. The tax will hurt the business owners who run hotels and motels. Demand for their services will go down as the cost of staying in a hotel is now artificially increased due to government involvement. Basic economics teaches us that whether the consumer or the business is taxed, the price of goods and services will be raised. This makes it more expensive for people to rent hotel rooms and means less business for hotel owners.
When will our legislators stop trying to gain “revenue” for the state? We need less government, not more. If we want to produce more wealth as a state, the solution is not to tax businesses and hope the government will use the money efficiently. A better option is to stop adding new taxes and allow businesses to continue to create jobs and provide value to our state.
Chris M. Hume, Dover
A Response to Ms. Jacobs (Oct. 2014)
In response to Fay Jacobs’ words in the October 29th Public Forum (“Lopez behind the times”), I would like to share these thoughts.
No one is immune from bringing their “personal religious convictions” to the public square. Ms. Jacobs thinks she does not bring her personal religious convictions to the table—but she clearly does when she publicly endorses homosexual behavior. She is operating based on what she thinks is right and wrong—she is appealing to her ultimate standard. The problem is that Ms. Jacobs’ standard is not the Word of God.
God clearly condemns homosexual practice as evil (1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:10)—just as He condemns adultery, fornication, and lust. Ms. Jacobs obviously rejects God’s Law, as do many; but let’s not be naïve and claim that only the “conservative bigots” bring their “personal religious convictions” to the public square. Ms. Jacobs does the same thing. I want the best for all Delawareans, including Ms. Jacobs, but blessing does not come through disobeying God’s Law and calling good that which God calls an abomination.
All people bring their “personal religious convictions” to the public square—it is unavoidable. The answer is to make sure your personal convictions line up with God’s Word. “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (Proverbs 29:2). I am thankful that Sen. Lopez did not capitulate to those in his district who would exalt sinful behavior.
Chris M. Hume, Dover
Thanks to Midwives (Oct. 2014)
My wife and I have been blessed by having a midwife help deliver our last two children. Unfortunately, Delaware legislators have made it virtually impossible for citizens of the state to have a homebirth with the assistance of a midwife. The bill to facilitate homebirths with midwives almost passed this past summer, but was conveniently left on the table as the legislators closed up shop for the year. As it stands now, midwives cannot legally assist the vast majority of the population in Delaware. This is an injustice.
The government should not be involved in telling families whether or not they can choose homebirths/midwives as an option for cherishing the life of their children. Something is seriously wrong in a state when a woman can legally murder her baby at the abortion mill and yet a midwife is considered a felon when she helps to bring a baby into this world.
I want to say “Thank You” to all the midwives in America who are doing good and helping families cherish life. You are not the criminals. Those who murder babies in the womb and pedantically prevent midwives from being a blessing to others are the criminals.
My fellow Delawareans: I hope you will consider the midwife issue in the upcoming elections in our state. Our freedoms are being eroded fast—as evidenced by the state preventing mothers from utilizing the help of midwives. We need to restore true freedom to Delaware.
Chris M. Hume, Dover
Chimps’ Rights? (Oct. 2014)
I was saddened, but not surprised when I read about the state appeals court in New York that will determine whether chimpanzees are entitled to “legal personhood” (Delaware State News, October 9). Americans are murdering babies in the womb at astronomical rates via abortion, and yet our judicial leaders are wasting time discussing whether or not a chimpanzee is a human. Talk about having things backwards. Enter the absurdity that ensues when Jesus Christ is rejected as King.
The Bible says “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). The silent holocaust of unborn babies is a curse upon our land. The bloodguilt for the thousands of babies that are murdered every month in our nation will not go unpunished. Be not deceived, the Lord hates “hands that shed innocent blood” (Proverbs 6:17) and “whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). The issue of abortion is hardly discussed honestly and openly in legislative halls, communities, or even churches. We have come to accept the legal extermination of millions of children in America. We do not want to talk about it, discuss it, or speak out against it. Our legislators who are complicit with this holocaust dare not think they are any better than those who went along with Nazi Germany. Where were the people who spoke out against the slaughter of the Jews? Where are those who are speaking out against the slaughter of America’s babies? Where are the lawmakers who will truly protect the innocent? “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20).
A mother, with the aid of an abortionist, can ruthlessly murder her baby in what should be the safest place on earth—the womb—and yet we are pedantically discussing whether or not a chimpanzee is a person. America is suppressing the truth. The command to repent of this sin reaches all people: women, men, mothers, fathers, legislators, judges, abortion “doctors” and “nurses.” Americans need to rise up and “rescue those who are being taken away to death” (Proverbs 24:11). The wages of sin is death and ours is certainly a culture of death—but at least chimps might be safe.
Chris M. Hume, Dover
What Happens Without Government Schools? (Aug. 2014)
Dr. Michael Hurd’s article in the Public Forum on August 16th was refreshing (“Common Core and school thuggery”). For years I have been playing the same tune: the civil government should not be involved in the education of our children. As Dr. Hurd wrote, at a bare minimum we need to abolish the Department of Education. That would be a baby step in the right direction. Unfortunately, many people cannot fathom education as anything other than government-run. But this one-size-fits-all model was not how it used to be.
First of all, the foundation of this discussion must be God’s Word. When we are talking about the government school system, we are talking about the civil government doing something which it has no role doing. Any statistic, emotional appeal, or anecdotal account must be subjected to God’s Word. The Bible makes it clear that the role of the civil government is to punish evildoers—“for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well” (1 Peter 2:10)—not education. As Dr. Joel McDurmon says, “In no place in Scripture is it even intimated that civil government should have any hand in this [education] process.”
The fact that many people find it so difficult to envision a society in which the civil government is not in charge of education is proof positive that the government school system has failed to teach the true history of this land and the principles of freedom found in the Bible. In a free society education would be managed and directed first and foremost by the family, and then the church (and anyone whom the family freely chooses to hire). This is the model that we find in the Bible and in the Christian foundation of our nation—in fact, up until the 1830’s this was the norm. “As late as 1860, throughout all the states, there were only about 300 public schools…compared to over 6,000 private institutions—and that’s not including the vast majority, by the way, who were homeschooled” (McDurmon).
Clearly, the idea that we need the government school system is erroneous at best. Not only does God’s Word give no basis for it, but our nation was not founded upon it.
What happens without government schools? Ultimately, if we seek to honor God’s Word and limit the civil government to its proper place, the answer is blessing. We cannot continually expect God to bless a system that is doing what He never intended it to do. Are there many more questions that need to be addressed? Yes. Will it take a long time to get rid of the government school system? Most likely. But, for starters, let’s seek to understand our nation’s history and what God’s Word says about this. As for me and my family, we will homeschool, refusing to legitimize the government-run school system.
Chris M. Hume, Dover
Tobacco and Personal Responsibility (July 2014)
Should the government be assuming the role of our health advisor? There have been thousands of cases in which people have sued tobacco companies because of health problems. Overwhelmingly, these are cases in which individuals are trying to pass the responsibility for their actions on to someone else. However, God calls us to take responsibility for our actions (cf. Ezekiel 18:19-20). Unhealthy habits, such as smoking, are destructive to your body. The responsibility rests with the individual to make wise choices. Americans need to once again take a little responsibility and do their own research, instead of relying on the FDA to “approve” everything for them. We need to stop whining to our government “mama” and grow up.
Americans, it is your responsibility to make healthy choices. We need to refuse to blame others for our poor decisions—in this way we will stop legitimizing a “cradle to grave” dependence on the civil government. By continuing to whine and pout about our poor decisions, we are simply giving our welfare state more ammunition to “warn us” of the danger of unregulated industries. Warnings that inevitably turn into government takeover.
Parents: It is your responsibility to teach your children how to be God-fearing, self-controlled citizens. Stop blaming tobacco companies. Just as the Scripture demonstrates how a father is to warn his son about the dangers of abusing alcohol (Proverbs 23:29-35), we are also called to teach and train our children about all of life.
I don’t want the FDA making decisions for me. Let’s stop worshipping the state as if it were a god, able to care for us and provide for us and grant us wisdom. There is one God, and he doesn’t dwell in an FDA building made with human hands.
Chris M. Hume, Dover
Democracy is “Mob Rule” (July 2014)
Mr. David Pleasanton wrote in the Public Forum on July 10 that our nation was not founded as a democracy. I agree—democracy is “mob rule.” Pleasanton went on to assert that all laws enacted must not violate that “Supreme Law of the Land.” I would like to push this further. Every society is based upon some standard—an ultimate rule. This could be called the governing presupposition of the nation. It is immaterial. It is not based on scientific observation. It is thus metaphysical. It is, dare I say, religious. If, as the secular humanists assert, man is the ultimate authority, then man can simply decide (via personal preference or majority consensus or legal positivism or whatever) what is right and what is wrong. (And, after all, all laws are inherently moral, decreeing things to be right or wrong.) If this is the case, there is no “Supreme Law of the Land,” no ultimate standard which man must appeal to—all becomes arbitrary. However, there is an ultimate Lawgiver, and thus there is an ultimate Law. As the1689 Confession puts it, God is “the supreme Lord and King of all the world” and he “hath ordained civil magistrates to be under him, over the people, for his own glory and the public good.” The Word of God makes it clear: the civil magistrate is “the minister of God” (Romans 13:4). Therefore, the magistrate is responsible to govern according to God’s revealed law in his Word, not man’s arbitrary opinion. It is only when this occurs that the magistrate is in fact an “encouragement of them that do good” and a means of “punishment of evil doers” (1689 Confession). When God’s ultimate standard is rejected, man will arbitrarily decide what is good and what is evil.
Chris M. Hume, Dover
Minimum Wage (Dec. 2013)
In the Wednesday, December 11 issue, State Representative Andria Bennett wrote about the benefits of raising the minimum wage. While I appreciate her concern to see families “make ends meet,” raising the minimum wage is a false panacea. Minimum wage earners who receive an extra buck per hour may think it is a good thing (for a time). However, artificially raising the minimum wage (instead of allowing the market to dictate wage prices), will simply cause employers to artificially raise their prices as well. This price increase will end up hurting the lower income person the most. After all, as the Representative wisely pointed out, most minimum wage earners work in retail or food service. What prices will be the first to increase with a minimum wage spike? Retail and food—necessities for all people, but the bulk of expenses for lower income families. If an employer will not raise prices to offset the increase in wage expenses, only two options remain: (1) Hire illegal labor at cheaper prices; (2) Refuse any new hires. Additionally, small to medium sized businesses are a main source of jobs and by increasing regulations on these business owners the government will only be making matters worse. Business owners take great risk in starting a business. To dictate what they have to pay their employees may in fact put them out of a job—or at least stymie the prospect of new hires.
Of course, the President is in favor of a minimum wage increase as well. The same logic seems to be operating in his mind: if we raise minimum wage, then all those who are making minimum wage will get a boost to their income. In fact, by raising the minimum wage, we will put certain people out of a job. As Doug Wilson comments, “Whenever you raise the price of something, you are pricing somebody, in this case employers, out of the market…If you raise it to ten dollars an hour, the only people you price out of a job are black teenagers.” Minimum wage laws are just one small part of the much larger problem of government interference and regulation. The Representative mentioned the “Christmas season” as an impetus for such legislation. However, having a spirit of generosity and sacrifice is not the same thing as raising minimum wage. Mandatory generosity is an oxymoron—and it simply does not work. Instead of trying to cajole people into voting to raise the minimum wage by appealing to some twisted sense of morality, the government should apply a far simpler standard to itself: you shall not steal. By forcing people to dish out money (money that belongs to the business owners, not the government), the government has not only nullified generosity, but has taken what does not belong to it.
Chris M. Hume, Dover DE
Reformed Hope 