C.S. Lewis once wrote, “You cannot make men good by law, and without good men, you cannot have a good society.”

If you vote for higher taxes, and vote for a social safety net, you don’t have to do anything to help anyone, right? You can just look out for yourself. Unfortunately this only leads to a less-caring society and a monstrously corrupt government that ultimately will seek to abort and euthanize the less fortunate rather than actually spend money to help them.

Pope Benedict reminds everyone that it’s our responsibility as individuals to transform society, and not rely on the government to do it on our behalf:

Care for the poor and vulnerable is the concern of individuals, motivated by genuine charity, rather than the exclusive concern of the state, Pope Benedict XVI has said in a pair of addresses this weekend. In an address to a group of bishops from Uganda, the pope praised their efforts to defend the sacredness of human life and of the family, and urged them to help their flocks resist the “seductions” of materialism.
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“There is no just order in the state,” he said, “that eliminates the service of charity.”

He continued, “Whoever wants to eliminate charity is preparing to eliminate man.”

“Love of our neighbour cannot be delegated,” the pope said. “The State and politics, though with the necessary attention for welfare, cannot replace it.”

He reiterated a point made in his encyclical, “Deus caritas est,” saying, “Love will always be necessary, even in the most just society.” This, he said, “requires and will always require personal and volunteer commitment.”

Read it here: Care for the Poor is the Work of Individuals, not the State: Pope Benedict.