American Christians and Taxation:

by Archpriest Symeon, Monday, December 7th, 2009

An Orthodox Priest from New Zealand, who holds the fantasy that his county’s government is a sort of utopia of kindness to the poor, has been condemning Orthodox Christians who happen to be U.S. Citizens because they have been speaking against a new big federal program for health care. He has labeled their resistance to such a program “non-christian.”

He said, "If people as Christians do not find it in their hearts to support State-sponsored welfare and health programmes, still, as Christians they are compelled by the teaching of the Saviour to pay taxes to the State, since He commanded us to pay our taxes to Caesar. In demanding this of those who would follow Him (Matthew 21), Jesus was actually making an unpopular political statement since, as today in America, there was huge resistance in Judea to paying taxes."

I Answered him saying:

Firstly: The implication that "Americans" are resistant to pay taxes is blatantly false. At the present time the average American Citizen works a great portion of the calendar year for the sole purpose of paying all the taxes that are levied upon him. This year tax freedom day, the day a citizen got to earn his first dollar to support hearth and home was May 3rd. Besides the payroll taxes we pay, federal, state and local income tax, city and county property tax, inheritance tax, taxes for social programs, social security, medicade and medicare, city & state sales taxes, capitol gains taxes – which are all apparent taxes, we pay a host of hidden taxes. Governments discovered that the most viable tax, are the taxes U.S. citizens pay and do not realize they pay.

We pay "sin taxes" on alcohol and tobacco and some other items, that ad costs to the purchase of the item several time over the cost of the actual product.

We pay import fees on a host of products, big ticket and small.

We pay user fees and excise taxes on everything from gas-guzzlers to firearms to communications services to travel via air and train. Not to mention federal and state gasoline tax, and tax on other energy products.

We pay unemployment insurance fees, through the cost of everything, since the amount is included in the prices of all goods and services.

We pay indirectly though the cost being passed on, countless licenses fees and permit fees. 

We pay tax on our life insurance policies and in some states tax on health insurance policies as well. We pay federal tax on all life insurance policies.

We pay tax indirectly in health insurance payments, which are inflated to cover the uninsured; a cost by hospitals, doctors and clinics, passed to the insured.

As you can see, Fr. mistakes the American Citizen's debate about "new taxes" with a reluctance to pay tax – a false premise.

The American Citizen has the responsibility to know that his taxes are for good purpose and will have a good result. Fr A. mistaken assumption is that taxes for welfare is inherently Christian and good. This is a most naïve assumption. I'm reminded of the word of the prophet talking about the loving-kindness of the wicked being cruelty. We saw this played out for thirty years in our history when a wicked man (by all public and private report) Lyndon Johnson pushed through his massive welfare state programs called "The Great Society." He promised – I heard with my own ears – that we were going to eliminate poverty in a decade. Ten years later poverty had increase exponentially.

Sociologist are now admitting what any thinking person realized at the time, that those social programs did far more harm than making people poorer. It created an attack on the family structure of the poor and the black populace suffered the worse. Every measure of social well being was harmed during that period, increase in unwed mothers, increase in divorce, increase juvenile crime, drug addiction and alcoholism. Neighborhoods were decimated by so-called urban renewal and "the village" that Madame Clinton likes to tout was destroyed in countless communities. Great high rises of public houses were constructed to compensate for the destruction of neighborhoods, which quickly turned into hell holes, very dangerous places to live. Law enforcement was left with a hugely increased idle population in the inner cities, which helped stoke the fires of the highest increase in crimes against property and persons this country has ever endured. By ANY measure taken, Lyndon Johnson's kindness was cruelty.

This situation did not turn around until the welfare reforms in 1996 and since that time poverty has DECREASED, all major areas of violent crime nationally have decreased and in the inner cities the rate of decrease has been shocking. Many neighborhoods that were statistically unsafe to walk through in the 1980 are today good places to live. Nearly every major city in the U.S., with some few glaring exceptions has seen the quality of living drastically increase.

Fr A. likes to dismiss what I say that is based in fact, commonly known and historically accurate and provable as "demagoguery", he will no doubt restate this.

With the history we in the U.S. have of massive Federal programs causing massive human tragedy, we as American Citizen know it is reasonable to be suspicious of the same, and to do all in our power to see that what programs initiated are initiated truly "for the good."

Don't any of you let the good intentions of the ignorant discourage you from your right to learn and do what is ultimately most kind and good.

Fr Symeon