Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every American citizen should read this book.

Wow. What an incredible, inspiring story.

In her closing paragraph of her acknowledgements, author Laura Hillenbrand writes,

“I come away from this book with the deepest appreciation for what these men endured, and what they sacrificed, for the good of humanity.”

Yes, as do I, Laura. And I thank you for bringing this story to life.

This book is a searing, unforgettable reminder that our freedom, comfort, security, and prosperity are a sacred trust, given to us by the incomprehensible suffering of brave men and women who have gone before us, never to be taken for granted.

View all my reviews

Your deepest wounds are the source of your greatest contributions.

I did something stupid in late December 2007. And I don’t mean trivially stupid — I mean life-threateningly stupid.

A couple friends and I had the brilliant idea to go canyoneering through Spry Canyon in Zion National Park in the middle of winter.

Canyoneering is hiking through slot canyons. It involves rappelling, and hiking through water and extremely rough country.

Did I mention that this time we went in the middle of winter? Oh yeah, there was also six inches of snow on the ground, covering a lot of ice and tons of steep slick rock.

And there was also that minor detail of the head park ranger (a very experienced woodsman who had done our particular hike multiple times) calling us — not once, but twice — to practically beg us not to go in such conditions.

Being the intrepid (i.e. naive) youngsters that we are, we headed out against his advice and, we found out later, pretty much every survival instinct known to man.

An Uneventful — Yet Ominous — Hike

For the first mile or so, we enjoyed a leisurely, level hike down a sandy, dry riverbed. The subsequent hike up about 2,000 feet of snow and ice-covered slick rock should have been our first clue (no wait, second, counting the park ranger’s advice) that it might not be a good idea to attempt the canyon in those conditions.

After much dangerous slipping and sliding, we made it to the top of a high ridge, only to face a precarious descent down the other side.

We made it to the bottom and resumed our hike for probably another half mile, and at 1:15 in the afternoon arrived to the top of the biggest rappel in the entire canyon, a drop of 165 feet.

Staring down from the top of that, with ice and snow completely covering the entire descent, should have been our third clue that we might be getting into something over our heads.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20…

The Plunge

I was the first to go down. The day was filled with dumb mistakes, and this descent was no different.

One major mistake was that we failed to throw our ropes out far enough, so that they would drop to the bottom without getting tangled. As a result, I was fighting tangles and snarls in the rope the entire way down.

The rope got so tangled that it left a fateful knot at the bottom that would play a significant part in the rest of the day.

At the bottom of the cliff lay a pool of water covered in three inches of ice. The pool was about 15 feet wide, and I had no idea how deep it was.

I stood on the ice, held my breath, and prayed that I wouldn’t break through. I took off my backpack, got down onto my hands and knees, and tried to carefully creep across the ice.

After about five feet the ice betrayed me and I heard those sickening creaking and cracking sounds. Sure enough, it was too thin to hold and I plunged into freezing water.

Thankfully, the water was only waist deep, and so I hustled to break through the remaining ice and climb out onto a ledge on the other side.

I climbed out and I couldn’t feel anything from my waist down. It was straight out of those nightmare adventures you see on the Discovery channel or read in Reader’s Digest.

I started jumping up and down to get the blood recirculating. Meanwhile, my friend started his descent. Apparently my plunge into the water hadn’t yet dampened our spirits (or knocked the stupidity out of us).

A Disastrous Knot

After about 45 minutes, all three of us were standing at the bottom of this 165-foot cliff, ready to continue onward.

That’s when I made yet another major mistake.

In all of the anxiety of getting through the water, I failed to remove the knot from my rope and forgot all about it.

I pulled the rope through from the bottom until the knot hit the ring at the top, and my heart dropped through my stomach.

We were stranded.

We couldn’t go forward because our rope was stuck, and to go back up it would require an extremely difficult ascent.

My friend Barry decided to try the ascent. An experienced rock climber, he made it safely to the top.

Next up was Kent, a strong but lightweight guy who made it up with relatively little trouble.

That left me. I’m a 200-pound guy and I’ve never lifted weights in my life. Most one-armed men would have had a better chance of getting up that formidable cliff than me.

When I latched on to the ascenders and attempted to pull myself up, I felt what it must feel like to be a slug.

I was borderline hypothermic, hanging on to a rope and dangling at the bottom of a 165-foot cliff, not having a clue how I was going to drag myself out of that canyon.

Barry and Kent undoubtedly had fleeting thoughts of leaving me, but probably calculated the unpleasant task of telling my wife what happened, and decided against it.

So there I hung. I felt so helpless, and it was painfully frustrating that I had so little to add to the task of getting me to the top.

Somehow, some way, with a combination of Barry doing some innovative pulley systems with the ropes, and both Barry and Kent pulling from the top, we heaved my virtually useless body to the top.

I was completely dependent on the strength and position of Barry and Kent, and Barry’s knowledge, skill and ingenuity with ropes.

Furthermore, Barry’s foresight and preparation in bringing the right equipment saved us all; my lack of preparation, skill and strength was completely at the mercy of my friends.

Had it not been for their help, I would have been stuck at the bottom of that near-disastrous cliff. Where I was weak, they were strong. The process of getting me to the top took about two and a half hours.

After a miserable, 3-hour hike, we finally made it back to our car.

But we made it. We made it together, the strongest and the weakest, through teamwork, patience and longsuffering.

So what does all of this have to do with charity?

We are all on a wearisome journey together, in a slot canyon that we call earth life. We’re all doing the best we can to scramble and struggle our way through the incredibly arduous journey.

All of us make unwise choices or face challenges that are not even of our own making, and find ourselves at the bottom of precipitous cliffs, standing in dangerously cold water, staring up at the top wondering how in the world we’re going to climb out of what seems to be an impossible situation.

When those times come, the only thing that can save us is friends throwing down a rope to us and helping us climb out.

There are even some who refuse to grab the rope when it’s thrown down to them. We can’t force them to hold on, but we must still throw down the rope to every stranded sibling that we find along the way.

That’s our most important and divine job — to throw down ropes to our lost Brothers and Sisters and pull them to the top, so that we can all arrive safely Home together.

The strongest and the weakest, the bravest and the most fearful, the healthy and the afflicted, together, hand in hand.

There may be times when we’re tempted to condemn those we find at the bottom of forbidden cliffs, and justify our lack of charity by saying that they did it to themselves. But we’re all beneficiaries of one rope or another at various times in our lives.

So to whom can you throw a rope today?

This is a follow-up to my last article, wherein I write that I prefer the term “submission” over the term “enlightened self-interest.”

My aversion to the term “enlightened self-interest” comes from its common usage in economic and narrowly practical terms.

In other words, it doesn’t go far and deep enough for what I wish to convey with “submission.”

And, once again, understand that this is written from my understanding of Christian epistemology and doctrine. You may take issue with my interpretation/understanding, but if you reject Christian epistemology, then we have no basis for debate.

Enlightened self-interest largely has its roots in Adam Smith’s concept of “the invisible hand,” as found in Wealth of Nations, wherein he writes:

“By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was not part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it.”

Ayn Rand’s term for this is “rational selfishness.” In The Virtue of Selfishness Rand writes:

“The Objectivist ethics proudly advocates and upholds rational selfishness — which means: the values required for man’s survival qua man — which means: the values required for human survival — not the values produced by the desires, the emotions, the ‘aspirations,’ the feelings, the whims or the needs of irrational brutes, who have never outgrown the primordial practice of human sacrifices, have never discovered an industrial society and can conceive of no self-interest but that of grabbing the loot of the moment.
 
“The Objectivist ethics holds that human good does not require human sacrifices and cannot be achieved by the sacrifice of anyone to anyone. It holds that the rational interests of men do not clash — that there is no conflict of interests among men who do not desire the unearned, who do not make sacrifices nor accept them, who deal with one another as traders, giving value for value.”

In either case, we find self-interest to be grounded in the material world, confined to a mental, or rational, sphere, and narrowly defined in terms of economic exchange.

Adding the spiritual element, according to my understanding, changes, or at least broadens, the whole picture. When animated by a spiritual connection with a Supreme Being, people do things that may appear to be irrational — at least to those who place the mental realm as the highest realm of existence.

Furthermore, they may do things that may appear to have no or limited economic value, in the strictest of terms.

For example, Christ’s willingness to take upon Himself our sins and weaknesses is ridiculous and irrational to the atheist/strict Objectivist.

(Per Rand’s statement, “In spiritual issues, a trader is a man who does not seek to be loved for his weaknesses or flaws, only for his virtues, and who does not grant his love to the weaknesses or the flaws of others, only to their virtues.”)

His sacrifice, borne of submission to His Father, was not calculated to bring him money, or to prosper in narrow economic terms.

Mother Teresa didn’t run her orphanages for the purpose of exchanging her labor for money for herself. She didn’t start out thinking of “promoting an end which was no part of [her] intention.” She actually intended to achieve altruistic ends.

The good she did in the world wasn’t a mere by-product of pursuing her own interest solely — it was the target, the conscious goal.

Washington didn’t suffer through Valley Forge because of rational, mental, self-interested, economic-based calculations. Left to himself, Washington would have been a quiet farmer his entire life.

But because he had submitted to God, not only did he sacrifice, but his sacrifices actually got him closer to his true self-interest than not making them could have.

(Of course, this is an assumption based on Christian epistemology and an eternal perspective.)

Submission: The Highest Form of Applied Self-Interest

Enlightened self-interest is not, in my estimation, the highest form of applied self-interest.

While it definitely is much more preferable to selfishness, or “irrational selfishness,” it doesn’t go far enough to describe my understanding of Christian doctrine. It’s predicated upon mental calculations intended to bring us the best returns.

And, as I wrote previously, since we can’t have full knowledge of what is in our best interest at any given time, we must rely upon an external source — God — to guide our calculations.

Submission to God seems to me a much better term for the highest form of self-interest. God doesn’t ask us to be irrational brutes; He merely asks us to have faith in Him.

We’re not to shut off our mental calculations; we’re simply to trust that His recommendations (revelation) — no matter how difficult or “irrational” they may seem at the moment — supersede our calculations and will lead to our best interest.

He may ask us to choose a lower-paying job over a higher-paying one for reasons that we don’t understand. He may ask us to do things we don’t like (e.g. Washington).

He may tear our heartstrings — as He did with Abraham — in order to expand our compassion and understanding. His revelations and guidance may lead to our suffering and death (e.g. Joan of Arc, Christ’s original apostles).

Without a belief in and relationship with God, we may never perform the sacrifices that would have led us, in actuality, to our highest self-interest.

Even with a relationship with God, our self-interest can still be limited if our actions are based upon what we see in any given moment. If we can’t see how an action will benefit us immediately, we’ll choose a different (lower) path.

To conclude, I don’t prefer the term “enlightened self-interest” because it’s become, through common usage, limited, narrow, and defined strictly in terms of economic exchange. Submission is my preferred term to describe the highest form of self-interest.

It’s expansive enough to include the concept of “losing our life to save our life.” It implicitly presupposes an omniscient Being to whom we must submit, a Being who knows far better what is in our self-interest than we ever can.

It doesn’t discourage nor negate rational thought; it expands and deepens it. It transcends the physical and mental realms and opens the door into the spiritual realm.

And by the way, I don’t even pretend to be a good example of what I’m describing. I echo Seneca who said,

“I persist in praising not the life that I lead, but that which I ought to lead. I follow it at a mighty distance, crawling.”

Relish the following advice for social leaders written on Mother Teresa’s home for impoverished children in Calcutta:

“People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

“If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

“If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

“If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

“What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

“If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

“The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

“Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

“In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”

Bill Gates gave the Harvard commencement speech in 2007. Stating that “reducing inequity is the highest human achievement,” Mr. Gates continues by sharing the challenges he and his wife have faced in using their resources to do the most good in the world.

After reading an article about the “millions of children who were dying every year in poor countries from diseases that we had long ago made harmless in this country,” they were shocked to learn that there were interventions that could save lives but weren’t being used.

Mr. Gates says:

“If you believe that every life has equal value, it’s revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: ‘This can’t be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving.’

“So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it. We asked: ‘How could the world let these children die?’

“The answer is simple, and harsh. The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize it. So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.”

He goes on to share his hope that there are solutions. What comes next is the most poignant part of his speech:

“I am optimistic that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics who claim there is no hope. They say: ‘Inequity has been with us since the beginning, and will be with us till the end –- because people just … don’t … care.’ I completely disagree.

“I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with.

“All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing –- not because we didn’t care, but because we didn’t know what to do. If we had known how to help, we would have acted.

“The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity.

“To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact. But complexity blocks all three steps.” [emphasis added]

This is precisely why social leadership is so desperately needed. It’s the answer to the complexity conundrum.

As millions of “common citizens” begin addressing simple problems they see with passion, dedication and perseverance, slowly but surely enough momentum will be built to inspire real, sustainable and positive change.

No individual can handle complexity alone, but millions can handle tiny parts of the complexity simultaneously.

So stop dreaming of grandiose accomplishments and instead get in the trenches of simple service.

What do you see today that could and should be improved, and what can you do about it?

Public virtue — voluntarily sacrificing personal benefits and desires for the good of society — can be a tough concept to grasp and believe in.

This may be so because it can seem like a daunting task; we may feel like small and daily sacrifices just don’t cut it.

We may read accounts of men like George Washington suffering through Valley Forge and think that comparatively our daily efforts are insignificant and meaningless.

This isn’t the case at all; in fact, the best way for us to show public virtue is by making a small yet significant effort every day to make the world a better place.

Without each of us living the proper role of citizens, our republic cannot last.

With this in mind, I have compiled a list of 101 ways that contemporary Americans can display public virtue in small, significant, practical, and consistent ways:

1. Vote
2. Pick up garbage in your neighborhood
3. Read to a child/teach a child how to read
4. Volunteer at a soup kitchen
5. Attend a city council meeting
6. Make a meal for a struggling family
7. Donate money to a non-profit organization
8. Get out and stay out of debt
9. Study the Constitution
10. Volunteer at your child’s school
11. Spend more time with your family
12. Forgive someone who has hurt you
13. Develop a better relationship with God and make an effort to be more religious, i.e. attend church regularly, pray, meditate, read sacred works, etc.
14. Teach a free community seminar on something that you’re passionate about
15. Feed a homeless person
16. Teach a work skill to someone struggling in their career or with finding a job
17. Learn how the electoral college works
18. Write a letter to the editor bringing something important to light
19. Join the political campaign of your choice and volunteer your time
20. Take your neighbor’s garbage can to the street on garbage day
21. Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity
22. Give anonymous Christmas presents
23. Memorize the Declaration of Independence
24. Memorize the Bill of Rights
25. Run for office
26. Counsel with someone struggling with abortion or an addiction
27. Donate blood and/or plasma
28. Start a community crime watch program
29. Start a local club on financial or constitutional literacy, or anything that contributes to society in a meaningful way
30. Start a book group that reads classics and discusses them at least monthly
31. Join an “Adopt-a-Highway” program
32. Make and keep a goal to eat more nutritious food
33. Make the leap from employee to business owner
34. Make time to call a friend just to tell them that you appreciate them
35. Make a goal to write a gratitude note to one person each day
36. Write a book and donate a percentage of the profits to a non-profit organization
37. Get a college degree, no matter what it takes, and no matter how old you are
38. Urge your family and friends to vote
39. Start a non-profit organization
40. Overcome an addiction
41. Choose a job/career/business that aligns with your passions and life purpose
42. Face and overcome a fear, such as public speaking
43. Read the Federalist Papers
44. Make new friends deliberately and consistently
45. Tell your parents that you love them
46. Tell your children that you love them
47. Give someone a ride that needs it
48. Watch less TV
49. Stand up for someone who is being harmed
50. Write a letter to your senator or congressman to express your views about something important
51. Say you’re sorry to someone you have hurt
52. Start a community organization to help with the problem of pornography
53. Visit people in a convalescent home
54. Learn a new skill
55. Commit to ongoing education, attend seminars, read at least a book a month
56. Babysit for friends so they can go on a date as a couple
57. Forgive a debt
58. Smile and laugh more
59. Do the estate planning that you’ve been putting off, make a will and trust
60. Stop to help someone who is stranded on the freeway
61. Start a garden
62. Put together a one-year supply of food and water
63. Homeschool a child who is struggling in school
64. Make a concerted effort to listen to others better
65. Help someone move
66. Commit to not watch movies, read books, or visit websites that excessively portray violence or sexuality
67. Spend more time in nature
68. Commit to spending at least a half hour every day of quiet, introspective, and reflective time
69. Develop more patience
70. The next time you’e tempted to engage in road rage, even a little bit, don’t
71. Keep the speed limit
72. Study the Federal Reserve (I highly recommend The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin)
73. Do a material resources purge: go through your house and find all of the stuff you don’t use anymore and donate it to a thrift store
74. If you’re considering a divorce, try marriage counseling instead
75. Read biographies of great men and women (Recommendations: The Real George Washington, Up From Slavery, And There Was Light)
76. Start an emergency fund by saving 10% of your income
77. If you’re in a job that you hate, quit and find something that you love to do
78. Volunteer to go shopping for someone who is aged or disabled
79. Visit a developing country
80. Plant a tree
81. Start a family blog that brings your immediate and extended families closer together
82. Start a “Citizen’s Journalist” blog: write about one positive thing you observe in your community every day
83. Write down how you would like to be remembered in detail and share it with everyone you know so they can hold you accountable to bringing it to pass
84. Commit to not duplicating or using music or movies that were not purchased legally
85. Write a letter to yourself
86. Keep your word: if you tell anyone you’ll do anything at any time, do it no matter what
87. Post what your grateful for at World Gratitude Journal
88. Remove graffiti in your community
89. Organize a community concert to benefit a cause
90. Organize a local food drive
91. Volunteer to be a Big Brother/Sister
92. Clean up a local cemetery
93. Help out with an Eagle Scout project
94. Organize a neighborhood garage sale and donate the proceeds to charity
95. Get CPR certified
96. Sponsor a scholarship for a child to attend school
97. Adopt a child
98. Do your genealogy
99. Consistently write in a journal to be used for posterity
100. Adopt a senior that has no family nearby. Take them for rides, shopping, and lunch or a special dinner.
101. Help a single mother with home repairs

A friend once asked my perspective on the question, “Was Jesus Christ a Liberal Socialist?”

The first step to answer this question is to define the terms. Much disagreement exists not because those arguing fundamentally disagree, but because they’re simply defining terms differently.

If by “liberal socialist” one refers to a person who seeks to serve his fellow man with compassion and charity, and who spends his life voluntarily clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, liberating the captive, educating the ignorant, and caring for the sick and afflicted, then yes, Jesus Christ was a liberal socialist and we should all strive to be liberal socialists.

If being a liberal socialist means striving to attain just and equitable society, a society where there are no rich or poor, where all men are treated equally, then Jesus Christ was a liberal socialist.

If liberal socialism means to give of our talents and substance to serve and uplift others, then Jesus Christ was a liberal socialist.

For those readers who are choking on my words, please read on carefully to digest the full context.

Consider the following excerpts from the Bible:

Matthew 19: 16 – 21
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him…if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness.
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love they neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All of these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me.

Luke 6:35-38
35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Matthew 25:34-46
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

In an interview with Pastor Rick Warren, Barack Obama, currently the most prominent liberal in America, said,

“America’s greatest moral failure…has been that we still don’t abide by that basic precept in Matthew, ‘Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you do for me.’ That basic principle applies to poverty, it applies to racism and sexism, it applies to not…providing ladders of opportunity for people to get into the middle class…This country, as wealthy and powerful as we are, we still don’t spend enough time thinking about the least among us.”

I agree with those words — in a certain context — and I think that Jesus Christ, as I understand His life and teachings, would agree as well.

Content Vs. Context

Let’s pause a moment. Understand that no truth exists without context. Needles are content; using them to insert drugs or life-saving medicine are examples of context. Water is content; watering crops and drowning a person are examples of context. Needles aren’t good or bad — it’s how they are used that determines their virtue, or destructive power.

The words “liberal” and “socialist” are nothing but content; without understanding the context in which they are used it’s impossible to determine whether or not Jesus Christ was a liberal socialist.

To counteract my claims above that Jesus Christ was a liberal socialist, now consider a different context:

If by “liberal socialist” one refers to a person who justifies using force to steal from one person or group of people to give to another, then Jesus Christ was the furthest thing from a liberal socialist.

Force Vs. Voluntarism

The crux of the argument lies in understanding the purpose and function of the government. As I have written elsewhere, government is force. No policy can ever be enacted through government without it being backed by a gun to the head of every citizen who chooses to disobey the law.

Those who claim that Jesus Christ was a liberal socialist, and who believe that liberal socialism is enacted by government force, misunderstand the voluntary nature of charity.

As I wrote in an essay entitled On Bridge-Building:

“Unprincipled social workers seem relatively harmless on the surface, yet when an entire culture embraces a false sense of government-sponsored philanthropy, the long-term consequences are an irresponsible society operating under a crippling sense of entitlement. The desire to lift and serve others is good, but the danger from the group I speak of comes from using government force to impose their sense of morality upon the populace. This degenerates into a moral cannibalism that ultimately destroys the society.

“When the true sense of public virtue is distorted and counterfeited to become forced wealth distribution, the virtue is lost and replaced with resentment and anger by those forced to give, and the loss of dignity and self-reliance on those who depend on the givers. False charity destroys those who know how to fish at the expense of those waiting for fish to be given to them. The cruel irony is that the people who are hurt the most by forced welfare schemes are the same people that misplaced charity is precisely designed to help. People who set out to ‘serve society’ and who do not operate under moral principles inevitably seek to ‘lift’ the bottom by forcefully taking from the top. The result is a miserable mediocrity for all.”

The gospel of Jesus Christ is, at its core, one of voluntary virtue. Being forced at gunpoint to support others is not virtue at all — it is unabashed theft.

While Jesus Christ demonstrated the path we should follow by washing Peter’s feet, He also taught, “Thou shalt not steal.”

Interestingly, contemporary liberals and socialists break one of His laws in order to fulfill another. They justify theft in the name of charity — ironically rendering charity obsolete in the process.

I wholeheartedly agree with Barack Obama — and Jesus Christ — that the ideal society is one in which all citizens seek the interest of their neighbors and do everything in their power to serve and uplift the downtrodden, the oppressed, and the underprivileged.

And I also believe and strive to adhere to the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.”

Using the government to take from one person or group to give to another is an act of force. Strip away all of the nice-sounding language about “social justice” and the concept of the “village” and all it is is one person putting a gun to another person’s head and saying, “You will give this money or you will be shot dead, or at the very least imprisoned.”

“…a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.” -Thomas Jefferson

If charity is not implemented on a voluntary basis it is thievery, it is moral cannibalism, and it fails every time, as proven throughout history.

So, was Jesus Christ a liberal socialist? It depends on the definitions and the context. Our challenge is to follow Him without resorting to force.

I’m not a capitalist for two reasons:

1. It results in those with capital leveraging the law to favor themselves to the detriment of other businesses and institutions.
2. It does not adequately care for the weakest and poorest in society, and therefore falls far short of the ideal.

Regarding the first statement, we must differentiate between free enterprise and capitalism (I’m a proponent of free enterprise, not capitalism). Read this and this by Oliver DeMille for further explanation; I want to focus on the second statement.

As a purely economic system, capitalism has no stated, imperative, and consistent mechanisms for caring for and uplifting the weakest in society.

It may create more jobs for them than other economic systems, yet over time it concentrates wealth, power, and opportunity, thereby making it increasingly difficult for the poor, weak, and disadvantaged to climb the ladder of opportunity.

Achieving an ideal, just, compassionate, and sustainable society requires more than an economic system — it requires a moral ethic as an underpinning and animator of all economic activity. This is based on the assumption that this moral ethic be voluntary.

While I believe in freedom of choice and equality before the law, ultimately I believe in Christianity, not capitalism or even free enterprise as the path to ideal society.

This is not to say that Christianity and free enterprise are incompatible or mutually exclusive. It is simply to say that a purely economic system isn’t holistic and patently moral enough to truly take care of all needs in society.

The freedom to choose, create, produce and benefit from the fruits of our labors is vital. But it is just one piece of the ideal puzzle.

My word for this combination of a Christian moral ethic and free enterprise is “Stewardship” — the understanding that everything we have is a gift from God to be used in His service and to benefit ourselves and our fellow man.

Stewardship reconciles liberalism and conservativism.

Conservatives want economic freedom, liberals want to take care of the weak and poor. In the absence of an animating, underlying moral ethic of service, economic freedom alone leads to inequities, pride, and ultimately the downfall of society.

In the absence of freedom, charity is rendered obsolete, bureaucratic, and ineffective; it’s not true charity at all when it’s forced.

So let us build a society where voluntary charity is stressed above the economic freedom to choose, yet freedom is protected. In fact, this is precisely how to protect our freedoms; by taking care of the weak and poor among us through voluntary service, forced government redistribution is a moot point.

“If you score 100 points on these guys, I’ll take you out for pizza.”

November 1992. I’m a freshman in a small-town high school in Washington state, a starter on the Junior Varsity basketball team.

We travel to a nearby Indian reservation to play against their high school team.

The gym is old, dark, cramped, dilapidated.

The Indian boys won’t look us in the eye.

A few minutes into the game, the scoreboard displays our double digits compared to their zero.

The first quarter buzzer sounds, we retire to the bench. My teammates are in high spirits, giggling and clowning around.

I am dumb.

Our mustached coach, thrilled, says, “If you score 100 points on these guys, I’ll take you out for pizza.”

Everyone cheers. Almost everyone.

The game continues. Swish after swish on one side of the court, steal after steal on the other.

We pass the 100-point mark minutes before the closing buzzer. More cheers.

I can’t take my eyes off the floor.

I don’t look up — even though I do not score a single point throughout the entire game.

I’m still haunted by the shame seventeen years later.

I continue pondering: Can just society be attained by animals?