A recent letter to the Tribune’s Public Forum ("LDS liberals," Sept. 8) makes an argument I have heard often from my fellow LDS Church members who oppose government programs designed to help the poor. The argument goes something like this: Although God, through His prophets, has commanded us to perform charitable works and care for the poor, this commandment is for individual, voluntary charity. Government programs rely on taxation, which is force, and therefore evil and part of Satan’s plan.
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