Parable of the Good Samaritan
A truly touching depiction of Jesus Christ’s parable of the good Samaritan. May we all have the courage to be the one to stop and help instead of walking by the wayside.
The perspective of a Mormon libertarian: people commit similar acts of true charity every day without being compelled under threat of violence - by individuals calling themselves a government - to give of their time, talents, and property.
The moment such aggression is used to compel peaceful people to do any such thing it ceases to be charity because they are not acting out of genuine love or compassion. People who are forced to be “charitable” are really acting, first and foremost, in their own best interests. For if they don’t comply, they risk having their property seized or being caged or killed by The State.
If the Samaritan had robbed another man walking along the road in order to pay for the care of the injured traveler, it would be ridiculous to try to justify the Samaritan’s robbery as a charitable act on the part of the man he robbed because the stolen money/property was used to help someone else.
Picture a group of individuals robbing you at gunpoint and saying: “We’ll be using your money to help feed the homeless. Thank you for your charity.” Would that justify the robbery?
Yet that is exactly what a group of individuals - who happen to have the designation of “government” associated with them - are doing.
