Taxes are Sin

Dave Daubenmire seeing sin

Does anyone know what Jesus said about paying taxes? In Mark 12:13-17, Jesus is asked if it is right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar. He answers to give to Caesar what is his and to God what is God's. The story is also in Matthew 22:17-21. In Romans 13, the Bible specifies that "The authorities that exist have been established by God" and if you rebel against them, you rebel "against what God has instituted." It goes on to specify that you pay taxes "for the authorities are God's servants."

I want to underscore here that nowhere does it say that if you disagree with the law or what some of the taxes are used for that you are justified in not paying taxes.

The Bible specifically says to pay taxes.

But now, Dave Daubenmire says it's a sin to pay taxes. I guess he knows better than the Bible. He focuses on the idea on several Christian bugaboos: schools "advance homosexuality and perversion" and by paying local property taxes you are "funding that filth"; there's also the mention of Planned Parenthood.

Let's be clear, the vast majority of our taxes do not go to funding anything of the sort. There are plenty of charts to look up what portion of federal taxes go to military, veterans benefits, infrastructure. It's ridiculous to think what little money actually goes to funding healthcare at Planned Parenthood. It would not actually register on the pie charts.

As for the property tax question, not all of what you pay goes to schools, and what does go to schools funds a lot of items which have nothing to do with teaching tolerance of different groups.

No one likes paying taxes - some more than others - and probably everyone finds a point of disagreement on what that money is used for. However, it is a law that we pay taxes. If we are to have a society, some contribution to run that society is necessary. This is just a reality.

But getting back to Daubenmire and the notion of tax as a sin, I'm curious where he gets this notion. His view is totally unbiblical, and it's yet another example of a Christian using religion to push some agenda. How can he say that our government is wicked when his Bible says his god established all of this. Isn't this all part of God's Divine Plan?

One thing I find curious: Christian conservatives are always more concerned with the behavior of others. Where is the introspection, prayer, and personal focus on Christ? In essence, Daubenmire is saying he won't play according to society's rules unless everyone follows his view of what is right. This is not the way his Messiah lived his life. What does Daubenmire think of that?

(Via: RightWingWatch)