To pundits on all sides of the political spectrum, please exclude me when you say such a foolish thing as “We all want to reduce the size and scope of government,” for I do not agree with such a sweeping and ill-informed assertion.

The vast majority of our laws were enacted by local, state and federal legislatures in response to the demands of constituencies who sought to regulate or create a government function intended to serve the best interests of society. Obviously, not everyone is happy when a law is passed, but we live in a democracy in which, for the most part, the majority rules.

For example, most of us celebrate that we have access to water that is safe to drink straight from the faucet, while the stockholders of a chemical plant down the road may object to having to stop polluting rivers, streams and oceans by dumping untreated wastewater.

By the same token, the majority is not always correct, such as when the majority of us allows the passage of laws that deny our fellow citizens the rights afforded them under our Constitution: measures such as the Jim Crow laws, or laws that favor the rich at the expense of the non-rich. (See “Poverty, by America,” by Matthew Desmond). In such cases, we can challenge laws through the courts, whose rulings we agree to respect.

But what happens when the courts themselves become polluted by political or personal bias, or corruption? I am not sure what the answer is, but the question exposes the fact that our precious democracy is a very fragile blessing, which needs to be carefully protected by those of us who cherish the freedoms we enjoy.

And it is because of the desire to protect our rights that government sometimes seems to be cumbersome in its operations: with limited staff, and outdated computer systems — deficiencies Congress often refuses to ameliorate by providing adequate funding, often because certain factions do not want government oversight, or efficiency (see “The Scheme,” by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse).

Far less sinister, however, are the pains the government takes to ensure the trustworthiness of various private sector vendors, to audit the expenditure of taxpayer funds and to protect the rights of individuals. For example, when I worked for the National Labor Relations Board, there were times when a person who was entitled to back pay would relocate while a case was pending, without giving a forwarding address. Rather than being able to obtain the individual’s current address directly from another government agency, we were required to send a letter intended for the individual to Social Security or IRS, along with a request that the other agency forward the letter to the individual, requesting they contact the NLRB.

We did that because agencies are not authorized to release the personal information of an individual. (By so doing, I found a gentleman who had retired and entered a monastery in a foreign country. It took awhile, but it was a gratifying experience.)

That is the nice part of this article. Now I turn to two related sensitive issues.

I believe that the vast majority of social problems are the product of corporate greed. In addition, while I respect the right of every person to celebrate religious freedom, I ask for reciprocity with regard to my faith. These two issues are intertwined, and I chose to treat them metaphorically, as follows.

The first recorded dispute in which labor confronted management was when Moses demanded that the Pharaoh grant the Israelites days off in order that they could have time to worship their god. Pharaoh, per Exodus, resisted. Moses used various means to persuade Pharaoh, and with God’s help was able to set his people free, at great and tragic cost to the Egyptians. God was on the side of the working class.

And in the New Testament, Jesus was also a champion of the working class, the poor, the disenfranchised. Nowhere did Jesus say, “blessed are the rich,” but Scripture tells us that he said “Blessed are the meek” and “Whatever you do for the least of my brethren, so you do unto me.” Jesus was poor, as were his apostles. Jesus gave us the Corporal Works of Mercy, calling us to care for the poor, the sick, the widows and orphans.

There was no mention in Scripture about corporate profits, but much was said about a fair wage for a day’s work. I believe that most business people are good people, but those who are excessively greedy were not celebrated in Scripture, but they are lionized in the hyper-capitalism of today.

So when House Speaker Mike Johnson said at his installation that he believes leaders are “lifted by God” to positions of authority, I pray that he did not include Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, Putin, and other horrible individuals who rose to power.

My faith tells me that Social Security, the U.S. Postal Service, public education and affordable health care are good, and that it is not scriptural to privatize government to promote profits for stockholders rather than to provide the best possible service to taxpayers.

Government did not send jobs overseas; corporations decided to do that.

For all its human flaws, our government is among the very best the world has ever known. We should work to make it even better. And I respectfully ask those officials who wear their religion on their sleeves to have the humility to say “I believe,” rather than to suggest that all people of faith share their theology.

Jim Palermo lives in Southampton.