The following is a quote from J.D. Tant (1861-1941) containing some of his observations about how government aid to the Indian tribes not only provided a disincentive for them to work, but also made it much more difficult to reach them with the gospel.
“At the agency I found a small school house, about twelve by fourteen feet, being made of boards, which cost about $15.00, where white children go to school and pay for their schooling, while their fathers were working hard nearby to get a few clothes for them to wear and something for them to eat. Half a mile farther, I found the government school building for the Indians, which cost $13,000.00, with all modern improvements for a first-class college, where two hundred children can find ample room with plenty of books and plenty of clothes (all given by the government) with five or six teachers and directors to control the same. All are paid by the government. There are thirty-one Indian children in school, and I learned from the matron they did remarkably well to get that many to attend. She told me that she had been teaching among the Indians for eight years, and nine-tenths of all who are educated returned to their wild life, wearing blankets, living in tepees, and avoiding civilization after they were out of school. It seems that the teachers of the Indians realize that the only good coming from the government schools for the Indians is to give employment to teachers who direct the schools. No nation can be civilized who will not work. These Indians will not work as long as the government feeds and clothes them; therefore we look for no civilization among them as long as this keeps up. If the Indians were not allowed more than two or three farms together, and let the whites settle among them and work, then let the Indians work or starve, they might, in the course of time, be civilized and Christianized, but they can never be under the present management. I have heard of some converted Indians, but in my travels among them for three years, I have failed to find one” (Published in Gospel Advocate, June 9, 1898; Quoted from J. D. Tant – Texas Preacher, p. 200-201, emphasis mine).
As the wise man said, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). When civil government subsidizes laziness, people will be lazy. As Tant observed, when laziness is rewarded and personal responsibility becomes a foreign concept, it becomes very difficult to reach people with the gospel (which advocates work and personal responsibility in both secular and spiritual matters – 2 Thessalonians 3:10; Philippians 2:12).
This is not about passing judgment against a particular race of people. This is about observing what happens when a particular group of people (regardless of their race) becomes enslaved by government dependency – they become content with mediocrity and, therefore, are less receptive to the gospel.
