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07/23/2003 Entry: "Tax and the Christian"
The Gutless Pacifist is on a roll, first linking to this article by Jim Wallis and today offering extended quotes from a piece calling for tax reform to consider the needs of the poor.
The tax situation in the UK is very different from the US, so there's little point in my commenting on the specifics of any of this. But I agree absolutely that tax is a moral issue, and it is the needs of the poor that should drive any taxation policy that deserves the adjective "Christian". There are plenty of people around who consistently describe taxation as thievery, but they are wrong. It is taxes which allow us to care for one another, surely a fundamental principle for Christian people. Through our taxes, we are enabled to exercise our collective responsibility. Certainly, this is counter-cultural. The dominant political and economic philosophy claims that responsibility lies principally with the individual; society has little or no role to play. But the fact that this philosophy has "the upper hand" and that it is held by many Christians does not make it "Christian" or "of God". History shows that quite the reverse may well be the case.
