Fred on Religion

Speaking of Fred..., it's my hope that his perspective on this resonated with at least some handful of my fellow evangelicals before he got out of the race:

Back in the middle of January, Fred was asked "[if he would] as a Christian, as a conservative [continue President Bush’s programs to combat global AIDS]?"

His response:

Christ didn’t tell us to go to the government and pass a bill to get some of these social problems dealt with. He told us to do it ... The government has its role, but we need to keep firmly in mind the role of the government, and the role of us as individuals and as Christians on the other.

Having the government tax people to raise money for aid for AIDs is not fundamentally different than if I were told rob people to raise aid for the same purpose. True charity comes when the individual is free to choose to give, not coerced by a thief or the state. It's the limited government philosophy of Federalism that lets us Christians be free to give to charity, and otherwise exercise our faith without state intrusion.