#5 - An Economic Manifesto

(The following is from a petition prepared by Coral Ridge Ministries (www.coralridge.org), signed by thousands of Americans, and sent on to our national leaders. I present it as an excellent example of a Biblical worldview of our economy.)


“A Call to America’s leaders: Reverse our nation’s disastrous economic policies!”

“I firmly believe our federal government is the most fiscally irresponsible in the history of our nation. The volume of waste in our national budget is beyond anything ever seen in this country…or any country. For the sake of preserving the very future of the United States of America, I am honor-bound to call for his nation’s disastrous economic policies to be reversed. I respectfully ask that you read the truths below and seek to put a final end to the bankrupting of America. I will await your reply at the address below.”

"WE BELIEVE ...

“Government is not God. It cannot be America’s economic savior.”
“Neither Scripture nor the Constitution gives our federal government the authority to “bail out” the American economy. Our help comes from the Lord, not from Washington.”

“Free enterprise, not Washington, is the source of America’s wealth.”
“Free enterprise, which harnesses and rewards thrift, hard work, and initiative is the source of America’s economic well-being—not bailouts or fiscal stimulus packages.”

“’You shall not steal’” applies to government, too.”
“‘You shall not steal’ (Exodus 20:15, NKJV) applies to government, just as it does to private individuals. Tax policy to redistribute income, to take from the rich and give to the poor, and economic policy to steal from everyone to bail out the rich, amounts to
‘legalized theft’ and violates God’s law.”

“Socialism threatens freedom.”
“Man is sinful (Genesis 3, Romans 3:23), and any system that places economic and political power in the hands of a few is a threat to liberty. Socialism concentrates economic authority in government and empowers politicians to impose their will and ‘wisdom’ on the marketplace by force of law.”

“Government should not play favorites.”
“The proper role of government is to ensure a level playing field by providing equal justice to all. Federal policy should favor neither poor nor rich: ‘You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty’ (Leviticus 19:15 NKJV)”

“God requires fixed standards for economic exchange.”
“Inflating the money supply to prop up the economy reduces the value of the dollar and impoverishes those on fixed incomes. It violates the biblical standard of honest weights and measures: ‘Diverse weights and diverse measures, they are both alike, an abomination to the Lord’ (Proverbs 20:10 NKJV)”

“The national debt burdens and enslaves this generation and those to come.”
“America’s $10.6 trillion debt (more than $34,000 per person) not only burdens taxpayers and their children, it also makes America’s vulnerable to the dictates of debtholders from abroad. ‘The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender’ (Proverbs 22:7 NKJV).”