What is the Christian ethic regarding the income tax?
How can God's command to not steal be broken and yet many Christians applaud it as a good thing if accomplished by majority vote?
If you say that it is done for a good cause, how do you escape the rationale in my title?
The scripture nowhere endorses this scheme. In both Old and New Testaments charitable giving is to be done willingly.
This kind of giving puts a sword into the hand of the state that robs Christ of His glory and the church of her witness, therefore I say that Christians are presently obligated to pay the income tax. The fact that it is unrighteous is no excuse to not pay, as Christ taught Peter regarding the temple tax. We should at the same time seek it's demise, by voting, speaking, and writing as we have opportunity.
Would we consider it evil if it were not spent improperly? Would we consider it good if we felt our governments, federal and state, were run without corruption, debt, bias, greed, or favoritism? Would we consider it good [as Christians] if society were heading in more of a direction we liked [freedom] instead of more parentally state controlled?
ReplyDeleteMaybe Peter mulled this over and it is why in his first letter he cautioned us to honor those in authority over us. Not that we should not speak out if we disagree, but we should do so with respect, keeping to the issues at hand. I think you have done this, since it is the law you have a problem with, and you have not attacked those who voted it into existence.
Since it is law, it is [sadly] now righteous to pay it.