Subnostr

Thanks for sharing that. I accept that that "States" and "governments" have no legitimate authority to "tax" anyone. The question for me, as a Christian, is whether Jesus and His Apostles have still commanded us to pay taxes to them nonetheless? If so, it would be wrong to try to evade taxes, right?

hodlbod 1y ago

This is indeed the question. If Nebuchadnezzar qualified as a legitimate authority, so does the US government. God delegates his authority to those who bear the sword. This means he authorizes violence, and an unjust authority is accountable only to him. Yet we are given license to rebel, if it means to "obey God rather than men". Does tax revolt qualify? No, if it's only based on the principle of not owing taxes. But it may be if the taxes are being used to fund war against the Lordship of Christ.

I would say we are far past this point in the US, and tax revolt is justified. However, there is then the question of consequences and tactics. Is it strategic to revolt? Is the risk acceptable now? Those are the really hard questions because tax revolts only work en masse, but the masses only begin to revolt as a result of the courage of individuals.

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Discussion

Marakesh 𓅦 1y ago

I did a quick search on the word "taxes" in the New Testament and it's interesting to see that tax collectors are always grouped with sinners, adulterers, the greedy, the unrighteous, Gentiles...😄

I did see that in Luke 3:11-12 it appears that the tax collectors were authorized, i.e., had the authority, to collect taxes from the people, according to John the Baptist:

"Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.”"

I do agree that when governments exceed what they have been authorized by God to do, that is, punish evildoers and praise those who do good (1 Peter 2:14), then they are acting illegitimately and can be morally resisted.

Marakesh 𓅦 1y ago

John could have told the tax collectors to stop collecting taxes, but he didn't. It implies that the only wrong they were doing was collecting more than they were authorized to, not the collection of taxes itself.

Jesus also didn't tell tax collectors to stop what they were doing. He did call one of them to be His disciple, Matthew, and perhaps he left his job. Another tax collector, Zacchaeus, repented of taking more than he should have, but it doesn't say that he left his line of work.

Marakesh 𓅦 1y ago

I still believe taxation is immoral and unjust, as it involves taking property by coercion and force, rather than voluntary means. Just because Caesar/the government says something is theirs doesn't necessarily make it so, right?

Taxation is probably one of those evils, like slavery, that Christianity did not immediately abolish, but that has to gradually be purged out of human behavior, as the Gospel permeates the world. "Thou shalt not steal," it's pretty basic, one of the Big Ten Commandments, yet people still don't get it, after nearly three and a half millennia! "Do not murder" is another one, and yet people who see themselves as "enlightened" and "progressive" still argue for their "right" to do so today...😩

sms 1y ago

No human is authorised by God to coerce anything from others.

If they were, there would be 11 or 12 Commandments:

“Thou shalt do whatever the biggest, local armed gang of men commands you to do.”

“Thou shall give the biggest, local armed gang of men as much of your property as they wish.”

If anything like that were authorised by God, then any genuine charity group is authorised by God to coerce as much as they wish, from all they encounter.

Within the context of Jesus’ teaching, any such charity certainly does at least as much and likely much more good than any armed gang.

#taxes #gangsterment #AnimalFarm