A flood of e-mail landed in my inbox this past week as a result of my column titled "Intolerance is a Beautiful Thing." Amazingly, almost all of it was positive. The only disparaging words I received were from readers who stated that I should have listed more things of which we Americans should be intolerant. I sympathized with those readers' frustration, even as I pointed out to them that while cyberspace is unlimited, column inches in newspapers are not. However, there was enough clamor for at least a couple more examples of beautiful intolerance that a follow-up column seemed warranted.
We hear a lot of drivel these days about taking care of the poor. This comes primarily from those preaching the social gospel, which teaches that the government should perform this function. Barack Obama ran commercials during his presidential campaign saying that the greatness of America was due to the fact that we have always been our brother's keeper, as if it is the federal government taking care of the American people that has made our nation great.
Jesus Christ told his followers to give to the poor. He decidedly did not tell them to steal from their neighbors and give their neighbors' money to the poor. Thomas Jefferson said, "To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." Confiscatory taxes are theft of honestly earned funds, and therefore sinful. Consequently, they should be intolerable to all of us. They not only penalize the productive, but also enslave the slothful, who easily become dependent on the largesse of government.
The increasing collectivism that is being forced upon the American people is something of which we should all be intolerant
The increasing collectivism that is being forced upon the American people is something of which we should all be intolerant. This amounts to more than just the federal theft mentioned above. It includes a Marxist mentality that is anathema to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So no matter how hard Secular Progressives try to justify their godless ideology, bold and right-thinking Americans should remain intolerant of such failed theories.
The disregard for human life is one of the most corrosive trends of today's America. In addition to abortion, which I have already discussed, a recently development I find disturbing — and of which I believe we, as a society, should be intolerant — is the traveling freak show known simply as "Bodies." Touted as a way for the average person to see what previously had only been available to medical students, this show is a macabre display of dissected human bodies injected with silicone and arranged in different, everyday poses.
The disregard for human life, China, Organ harvesting
There are two very troubling aspects to this display. The first, for me, is that the Bible, which has served very well for more than 2,000 years as a guidebook for life on this planet, says that God created human beings in His image (Genesis 1:27) and the human body to be a temple for His Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). That alone sends up red flags for me.
However, another problem — one that should disturb believers and unbelievers alike — is that these bodies came from China. The official line is that they are unclaimed human remains, poor souls who just had no one to take them and bury them. Uh-huh. If you believe that, I would like to interest you in buying a portion of the Great Wall of you-know-where.
Communist China — and despite their experimentation with limited capitalism, that is what they are, Communist — has one of the most atrocious human rights records of any nation on the planet. This is a vile government that decades ago instituted a one-child policy, thereby condemning a generation of girls to be murdered at birth, since baby boys are highly prized throughout Chinese society. For those who violate this policy, there are forced abortions. Do we really think a society that sanctions the removal of organs from political prisoners — while they are still alive — would think twice about selling human bodies for a purpose like this?
If we cannot be intolerant of this, what will we condemn?
Doug Patton——
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(Editor’s note: Doug Patton passed away on February 27, 2014. He will be greatly missed.)
RIP Doug Patton – beloved husband, father and columnist
Doug Patton was s a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and policy advisor to conservative candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations.
