It takes more faith to depend on the government than it does to trust in God’s provision, but you’d never know it watching Progressives worship at their government golden calf that owns nothing at all unless it takes it from you.

Thanks to capitalism, Bernie Sanders went from being an unemployed middle aged socialist hippie living in a shack with dirt floors to living the D.C. dream while giving Hillary a run for her money in the race to the White House.

Both Democrat Party presidential candidates overlook the fact that thanks to God’s grace and good old American capitalism, the sky is the limit in the United States. No matter your skin color or which side of the railroad tracks you were born, every person has an equal chance to define his own definition of the American Dream. Bernie should know better. Sure, at times the system seems rigged to advantage the rich, but if we let that become an excuse rather than a source of motivation to achieve our dreams, we’ll spend our lives running in place blaming our failures on someone else.

Though he was fairly uneducated by today’s terms, my father was the wisest man I know. Not accepting government assistance, although at times he could, he worked long days and weekends to put food on the table and make ends meet. His actions taught me to say “I am thankful that I came from here, but I’m headed someplace else.” The “came from here” perspective helped me to understand that humble means is not a free pass to receive government assistance nor is it an excuse for me to pass on to the government my personal obligation to assist others. Trips with my dad to the local rescue mission showed me that there’s always someone out there less fortunate and the little we have can be stretched a long way if we’re creative and care enough to try.

The public displays of self-centeredness amongst the hopelessly uninformed at Bernie’s campaign rallies make me nauseous. Obviously it matters not that Bernie’s promises would be fulfilled by way of ill-gotten gain.

The constitution charges the government with the duty to provide protection to the citizens and the Bible charges citizens to provide for the helpless and poor, no matter what Pope Frances says. The Pontiff pontificates about the “evils” of capitalism, but if he were honest he’d admit the real problem is spiritual. Any time a nation makes government its god, socialism and communism likely follow.

America doesn’t have a capitalism problem; America has a first commandment problem: “You shall have no other gods before me.” In the name of social justice, religious leftists try to guilt people into accepting socialism by suggesting that is what Jesus would do. When asked which of God’s laws was greatest, Jesus didn’t hesitate; it is the first commandment. And he said the second greatest is to love and care for others like you do for yourself. He didn’t instruct us to pass that responsibility off to the government.

How true are William Penn’s words: “Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.” We’re not there yet, but we’re pretty close, given the popularity numbers of some of the more unsavory characters running for president. The day Moses descended from Mount Sinai, God made it unmistakably clear how he feels about breaking his first commandment. We are reminded that exchanging God for government never ends well in the rise and fall of nations. The choice in this election is evident. To whom shall we bow, to God or the government?