The most dangerous word in politics

There's a word I would like to strike from political language today and for the rest of this year. Unfortunately, with Obama's presidency, I suspect this word will only gain strength and importance far beyond it's merit. This single word is what's wrong with our political system, our economic system, and our societal morality. The word is entitlement.

We are, in fact, entitled to nothing. We are born naked, and survive though the love and instinct of fellow men and women. We take nothing when we die. Pure nature scoffs at entitlement. Not even predators have a right to long life, much less the prey. If we live from the prey and avoid or kill the predators, still nothing we can gather is utterly safe from disastrous storms. A volcanic eruption or an earthquake can level the proudest building in seconds, leaving us, yet again, with nothing. Natural law promises... nothing.

All that we have is what we are allowed to have, what we are given, by God. The main overreaching reason why God gives us things is because of His overwhelming love for us. We are not entitled to it. God owes us nothing. We do not deserve anything God gives us. We can't even keep up our end of the easiest bargain, the lightest burden. Despite this, God has chosen to bind Himself with promises toward our greater good.

The increasing shift to government programs replacing charitable interests have helped to foster a spirit of entitlement among the citizens of this country. Poorer members of society who used to accept what people were willing to give them with a grateful heart now demand what they feel they deserve for no reason at all beyond having been born.

Don't get too confused here in attempts to ream me out for insensitivity. I would prefer that every single person in this world, in the spirit of human dignity and humble appreciation for God's gifts to us, found what aid was necessary in keeping themselves clothed, fed, and sheltered. We are called to generosity and charity, remembering where we would be if not for God's grace. But neither they nor we are entitled to a single thing.

Hard work is honorable and required of Christians, but even it is no absolute guarantee of success, nor a reason to demand that the world responds favorably to you. You can do everything right, and there is still no guarantee. A simple fire set by an irresponsible idiot can destroy an entire lifetime of fortune, and the flames do not care how or when you acquired it. Again, I am not decrying hard work or responsibility. I am just reminding all of us that we are not entitled to anything.

For this reason, I object to government social programs of every sort. I believe charity to be the best replacement, a process by which people are bound together with gratitude and humility, rather than being split apart by entitlement and resentment; of the rich for having their hard-earned goods forcibly taken, and of the poor for the rich not having given them everything they feel they deserve simply for existing.