National morality, spiritual sustenance

In a speech recently to the National Religious Broadcasters convention, Attorney General John Ashcroft put the war on terrorism in religious terms. Specifically, he said, "We are a nation called to defend freedom -- a freedom that is not the grant of any government or document, but is our endowment from God." Barry Lynn, whose organization supports a radical view of the separation of church and state, was vocally critical of the statements, saying, "It seems to increase the perception that Ashcroft cannot separate his religious agenda from his public office." Perhaps someone ought to remind Lynn that Ashcroft is merely echoing the sentiments of the men who founded this country. First President George Washington remarked that "Morality is the necessary spring of popular government. ... Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without Christianity." And I dare say no one questioned his political agenda of jurisprudence. -- Washington Updaten

Why we go to church: A churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So I think I'm wasting my time, and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the letters-to-the-editor column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: "I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today." When you are down to nothing ... God is up to something. Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible. Thank God for our physical and our spiritual nourishment. Amen. -- Author unknown

---

The wedding of Cape Girardeau native JACK OLIVER to St. Louisan RACHEL HOUGHEY was quite enjoyable and impressive for its many special guests and participants.

Jack ... who has high visibility because of his previous political involvement with JOHN ASHCROFT, KIT BOND and, most recently, PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH, has a network of friends from around the country ... many of whom attended his wedding Saturday in St. Louis.

It might be a first ever in Missouri where the wedding service included a U.S. senator as best man (KIT BOND), a U.S. commerce secretary (DON EVANS) reading the scriptures, a former U.S. senator and the current U. S. attorney general (JOHN ASHCROFT) giving the opening prayer, a former U.S. senator (JACK DANFORTH) attending the wedding breakfast and ceremony, the president pro tem of the Missouri Senate (PETER KINDER) serving as an usher, two members of Congress (JO ANN EMERSON and KEN HULSOFF) at the services along with a former congressman and current candidate for the U.S. Senate (JIM TALENT).

My congratulations to Jack, Rachel and their parents for a delightful experience, and may GOD BLESS their future.

---

The following news item was printed in the St. Louis LABOR TRIBUNE newspaper April 4 -- little late since ALBERTSONS had already announced its store closing.

"Albertsons Express removed from bad list by IBEW Local 1.

"Albertsons and Albertsons Express have been removed from the St. Louis Building and Construction Trades Council's We Do Not Patronize List.

"The business at 2126 Independence, Cape Girardeau, was taken off the list at the request of IBEW Local 1."

SKIP SMALLWOOD of AmerenUE forwarded an article from the Memphis Business Journal discussing Albertsons closing of five stores in the Mid-South division (including Cape), 10 in the Houston division and nine in the Dallas division.

About one year ago, Albertsons hired a new CEO who came from General Electric. He has been implementing the GE practices and eliminating zones that have been viewed as under-performers.

---

A global economic recovery is ready to blossom this spring, thanks to the healthier U.S. economy and improving conditions abroad. Overall, world economies will expand 2 percent this year, up from 1.5 percent in 2001.

Next year, the pace of recovery will be stronger ... 4 percent or so. ...

There's one major risk factor that could chill global growth: A big rise in oil prices stemming from disrupted supplies IF the U.S. were to get mired in Iraq. But odds of that are fairly low. -- Newsletter

---

"Because of the significant Medicaid expansion over the past few years, we need an additional $195 million in general revenue for fiscal year 2003. In FY 1993, the Medicaid budget totaled $833 million. It has grown to $4.3 BILLION, with over 808,000 Medicaid recipients. Medicaid is 21 percent of the FY 2002 state operating budget and still growing." -- Missouri State Budget Analyst Office

---

The following op-ed by EDWIN LOCKE summarizes the philosophic premise in the best-selling book, "ATLAS SHRUGGED" by Ayn Rand:

On tax day consider some basic facts. The wealthiest 1 percent of the taxpayers pay 34 percent of all federal income taxes. The top 50 percent pay 96 percent of the total bill. This means that the least wealthy 50 percent pay almost nothing.

The opponents of tax cuts want redistribution of wealth. They want to confiscate the income earned by the wealthy and give it to people who have not earned it. They want the rich -- which includes the most productive people in society -- to be the servants of the poor.

The moral principle used to justify income redistribution is altruism. Altruism does not mean generosity or benevolent concern for the less fortunate. Altruism means: other-ism. It is the doctrine that it is your moral duty to live for others and to sacrifice your life, property and well-being for theirs. It is the code of self-sacrifice. Under altruism the productive are the ones who must give and the non-productive are those who receive. The inability or unwillingness of the non-productive to create wealth gives them a moral claim upon those who do.

The tax code enforces altruism through coercion. Earning money through voluntary trade is replaced by getting money by force in order to achieve the altruistic goal the government desires.

The doctrine of altruism induces (and is meant to induce) guilt. It makes the successful feel that they have no right to their achievements. The goal of altruism is to disarm the producers morally so that they will not defend their right to their lives and property. Thus the rich often support higher taxes for themselves. Remember in recent years, just as one example, billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett attacking a repeal of the estate tax.

Most Americans would be shocked to learn that altruism is the moral code that underlies Marxism (and thus communism). Marx's credo was: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Man has no right to exist for himself in this view, he is a servant of the state or society, to be disposed of as they see fit.

Altruism is the opposite of Americanism. Americanism means you have the inalienable right "to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," which includes property rights. It means that your life and property belong to you, not to the state or to society. It means that the government's proper job is to protect, not to violate, rights. Acting in one's own self-interest (while respecting the rights of others) is fully moral -- it is the fundamental requirement of a successful and happy life. It means that you are not an object of sacrifice but a sovereign being. It means that your property belongs to you. It means that every individual, whether rich or poor, has the same rights. Self-reliance, not self-sacrifice, is the American ideal. -- Edwin A. Locke, professor emeritus of leadership and motivation at the University of Maryland at College Park.

Gary Rust is chairman of Rust Communications.