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Meanwhile Barack Obama, “Thou wicked, lazy servant,” you still can’t even figure out whose head is on the coin

Thou wicked, lazy Servant



“To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.” - Matthew 25:15 Dedicated to the brave American GIs and Allies, of World War Two who fought the Great Crusade that began on this day 70 years ago … December 7, 1941. I have often heard the above excerpt from Jesus’ “Parable of the Talents” used as a text-proof that Christians are supposed to be Socialists. Every time I hear this, I grab the duct tape to wrap around my forehead so that my head does not explode [apologies to Glenn Beck]. This is, of course, sophistry and folly on their part. Socialism is an economic construct of Utopian Collectivists of the mid-Eighteenth Century.
I suppose one could then ask a Socialist debating partner what Jesus’ response was to some Herodians and Pharisee leaders who entered into a question about taxation. They were the leaders of two religious-political parties at that time. They had asked Jesus whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. The trap was to draw Jesus into a temporal political-economic discussion and then call into question his teachings. Jesus, in turn, asked them who’s head was on the coin. They replied, “Caesar’s.” And so it was that Jesus answered them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Jesus saw this debating trap easily. We should recognize it today. Paying taxes is separate from honoring God. Fast-forward to Karl Marx. Karl Marx certainly took great license to borrow “each according to his ability” from the Bible [if that is indeed what he did] and then craftily modified this notion as a mantra for spreading the wealth around thusly [in German]:

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"Jeder nach seinen Fähigkeiten, jedem nach seinen Bedürfnissen!"
Many have translated the above simply as:
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
Truth be known, this very idea was not uniquely from Marx and carried a far more significant message regarding the individual. It had been rattling about in various forms and in slightly different slogans of earlier Socialists like Louis Blanc and Henri de Saint Simon for years. Marx was not original in this sense. Marx was clever, though, in his manipulation of economic terms like Labor and Capital. Hence many of us today are ensnared by today’s Progressives and the Media into using the Marxist construct of the definition of “Capitalism” during arguments. Marx himself wrote that highest form of communist [or collective] society involved an “enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labor.” “Fahigkeiten” implies more than just an “ability,” but also “capacity,“ a “competence,” an “industriousness.” The word Bedurfnissen translates as “the necessities of life,” but does not further imply “comforts.” These two German words have implications that are not Christian in nature when one understands the full context of what Marx and others were saying. Clearly, Jesus did not come to enslave mankind to the division of labor. He came to set mankind free; but not as some great revolutionary politician. Jesus does not settle for the necessities either. He feeds the multitudes on at least two occasions by multiplication and promises a grand Wedding Feast in Heaven. It seems clear to me, however, as to the materialist aims of Karl Marx and the Socialist communists of that day. The wanted to “fundamentally transform” society to the degree that each citizen would be totally enslaved and “set free” by their work; work becomes “not only a means of life but life's prime want…” This is the true meaning of Barack Obama’s “Fundamental Transformation” of America. I don’t know about you, but to me this sounds an awful lot like “Arbeit macht Frei” [“Work sets you Free”], the infamous, evil iron slogan topping the iron gate entrance to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.  Put another way “Arbeit Macht Frei” means, “Abandon hope all ye who enter here. Abandon hope all ye who enter here.” And so it came to pass that Barack Obama addressed a throng of supporters December 6th in … Texas … er, uh … Kansas, conjuring the ghosts of Roosevelts past. Obama tried to tell us that Theodore Roosevelt’s “Square Deal” [i.e., breaking up injurious monopolies/trusts, conserving our natural resources, and guarding against Corporate and Labor corruption] was the equivalent of his Express Train to Socialist Hell. Apples and oranges my friends … separated by a mere 110 years of failed Liberalism and 80 years of failed New Deal social engineering. The tone of his speech while supposedly appealing to us as Americans, “not Republicans or Democrats” was a rapacious FDR-style of attack on those who did not agree with him. One truth is: Neither TR nor FDR would for one moment have tolerated the anti-American spirit and attitudes that this Marxist Pretender, Obama, exudes. Where are the real Democrats [or Republicans for that matter] who will stand up against this divisive class warfare rhetoric? Another truth is this: Obama’s speech contradicted everything for which our Founders stood. Our Founders stood for: Life, Liberty … the freedom to succeed, fail, and try again, Rewards for Initiative and Hard Work … simply put, the Pursuit of Happiness. And so back to the Parable of the Talents. One can easily understand the meaning nearly 2000 years after it was first told. A Master of a large Estate was going on a long trip. He called his three best servants and placed them in charge of his sizeable fortune. To the first [and most capable] he placed Five Million Dollars at his disposal, with the second overseer he placed Two Million Dollars, and with the third he placed One Million Dollars. In the Master’s absence the first overseer put the money to work and turned the 5 Million into 10 Million, likewise, the second overseer invested his 2 million wisely and it became 4 Million. But the third overseer, fearing his Master and wanting to keep his job for fear of losing the 1 Million Dollars, placed the money in the Estate Vault where it was safe but where it earned nothing, not even interest.  Upon his return the Master of the Estate called for an accounting. When he learned that the first two overseers had doubled their money, he was overjoyed and gave them a both salary increase promotion and huge bonuses. When the third overseer saw that the Master’s expectations were great, he offered lame excuses for his lack of initiative by stating that he feared for his position and so kept his portion of the Master’s fortune in the vault when it would not even gain interest like a bank could have offered. Needless to say the third overseer was fired … gone, directly opposite to how the first two were honored. Ladies and Gentlemen, try as I might, I see no collectivism, socialism, or communism in this parable. I do however see that the Master gave each overseer Total Freedom not only to act on his behalf, but also to succeed or fail. The Master expected Results. All of the overseers supposedly had the resume for the task, but only two succeeded, the third did not even try, and existed in fear of the boss. I don’t know for certain, but would the Master have been more lenient had the servant done his best, but failed? We can only speculate; after all the Master did place the third overseer in that position of great responsibility. Perhaps a demotion instead of a dismissal? Jesus does not go there. But, in any case, this parable is certainly no Socialist panacea. Instead, it teaches and respects the individual, initiative, hard work, and offers the possibility of great reward. It seems to me to honor “the 1%,” the very people who create the jobs that make this country run.  Meanwhile Barack Obama, “Thou wicked, lazy servant,” you still can’t even figure out whose head is on the coin. [Works Consulted: Encyclopedia Britannica and the NIV Bible]


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William R. Mann -- Bio and Archives

William R. Mann, is a retired Lt. Colonel, US Army. He is a now a political observer, analyst, activist and writer for Conservative causes. He was educated at West Point [Bachelor of Science, 1971 ]and the Naval Postgraduate School [Masters, National Security Affairs, 1982].


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