Now sin makes it so that I would rather not pay my fair share.  ”So what” if everyone else in my income bracket pays the same percentage – I don’t want to pay it!  But that’s really sin talking.  When I think more rationally I realize that all the roads, all military, government agencies, courts, the urban infrastructure, the schools – all of these things cost money to run.

“But wait, I don’t even have kids in school.  Why should my hard earned money – money that I could use for other things – go to the school system?”

The idea is, even though I don’t have kids in school right now, (or may never have kids in school) – nevertheless I benefit from living in a society where there is public education.  And I would benefit more, even without kids of my own, if the school system were to improve…  Think what a better country this would be if everyone was just a little bit smarter – a little bit better at reasoning and communicating, and making good things happen?

But even if I didn’t benefit from public education – even if I were paying into something that would never benefit my life personally – because I know Jesus, I’d still want to support it with my tax money.  Because I think it’s a good thing, even though if it didn’t do anything good for me.  Even though the school system is flawed and troubled – all the more reason to support it, so that it could improve.  I’m using public schools as an example, but this applies to almost everything…

God has given me enough…so that I can take care of myself and help take care of other people too.  And one way is through taxes.

The majority of my tax money goes to support things that benefit me, services that I use and rely upon.  The rest of it goes to support things that some other people benefit from and rely upon…  So why wouldn’t I want to pay taxes?  It’s part of loving one’s neighbor.

PS – “Ah -but I’m for smaller government” someone says.  Okay, that’s nice.  Personally, I’m for good government…  The right size government.

When the problems are big, government has to be big enough to handle it…  When problems are small, and things are good, a more streamlined government will help keep it going.  But to always say “bigger” or always say “smaller” seems a little silly. We don’t need bigger or smaller…we things to be the right size for the job… But even if the government were too big – and charging too much in taxes – it still doesn’t change the fact that you’re paying the same percentage as everyone else who makes what you do…  And people who make more than you (except for hedge fund managers and the top 1%) pay a larger percentage of their income.  Loving one’s neighbor means, at the very least, being willing to pay one’s fair share…

Am I missing something?  If you disagree – post a comment.  Cheers!

Related posts:

1. Why I’m glad we don’t have Sunday school teachers…
2. "The Problem with Earth Day"

On the other hand, I think that Darwin’s evolutionary theory is probably true…

The miracle of God’s creation is that we all start off as little fishies fertilizing an egg, combining genetic matter and growing into a tiny creature living under water (so to speak) before being “born.”  Starting from that kind of understanding of life, the idea of natural selection, an unguided mechanism subject to the same providential work of God as any historic event – seems right in line with how God works in the Bible.  I’ve read Darwin’s Origin of Species, I’ve heard the arguments both for and against, and so based on the same line of reasoning that allows me to accept that the earth is round not flat, and revolves around the sun… I believe that evolutionary theory is true – but if I was wrong it wouldn’t shake my faith in anything.  I don’t think a person get’s “saved” by believing the right thing about evolution (or believing the earth is not flat) – so it’s not a huge deal for me…

I also believe that in a country like ours, people should be able to decide who is and is not family.  It’s not the government’s place to prohibit gay marriage any more than the government should stop me from treating you as my brother or sister…  We should be free to determine who is and is not a member of our families – and I see no reason why the government should be able to veto our personal choices.  And I don’t see how one could evoke Jesus’ teachings to support extending the government’s power in this way…

Then why do so many Christians think differently about these issues? We’re all influenced by our cultures…  There were English Christians who defended slavery, and other European Christians who insisted that the world was flat – and both believed that disagreeing on these matters meant disagreeing with Scripture and Christianity.

Well it’s been a few centuries since those controversial issues have been settled, and scholars are agreed that it turns out there was never anything in Scripture to argue for a flat earth or the right-ness of the slave system…  But at the time, the thinking of the world crept into the thinking of those Christians.  It’s a constant battle to think for oneself, question assumptions, and really seek after the truth.  That’s a struggle that I believe believers and non-believers have in common… Only Christians historically tend to err on the side of holding on too long to failed cultural beliefs – and secularists tend to err on the side of embracing new beliefs before they are fully proven.

Anyway, that’s what it means to be conservative (holding on to traditional beliefs) or liberal (free from traditional beliefs).  So what do you call someone who wants to hold on to the old beliefs that are true – and be free to leave those that are not?  You tell me.

Related posts:

1. How can Christians believe in evolution?
2. Creation and Evolution
3. On Marriage…

It’s hard to pray for him.  It would be easier to just write him off.  And it’s hard to pray believing that it will make any difference.  When I do muster the will to trust God and pray, I check back with my friend and see that nothing has changed yet.  But Jesus tells us to pray and not give up.  God brings change.  And things have changed in response to prayer…just enough so that we can know it’s possible.

Some people think prayer is a waste of time, but I’ve seen what it can do, and you can see it on the faces of people and their attitudes when they’re involved in prayer.  Hannah (the mother of Samuel in the Bible) prayed and left her burden with God.  She believed that she was heard by a wise and loving God so she could go on to live her life…God couldn’t leave her trust hanging unanswered.  Her prayers were actually answered twice: First as she was able to let go and trust God with what she wanted, and then eventually with the thing itself.

The thing is, God will answer prayer, and will set everything right.  One day everyone will see truth plain as day, and all the obfuscation, pride and deceitful games will melt away (including our own) in the light of day.  Jesus says the real question is will you hold out and keep praying till then?

Related posts:

1. Does Prayer Work?
2. Frequently (un)Asked Questions
3. I’ll take care of it…

1. Enlightened Partisanship

You can belong to a party and support candidates, but you may not marry it. Jesus is not a Republican or a Democrat. People have said that before, and they’re right. The usual reason they give is Jesus can’t be a Republican because he cares too much about the poor, and he can’t be a Democrat because he cares too much about family values…whatever that means. In fact, I think politicians in communist countries that fear and prohibit Christianity have a more accurate view of Jesus’ politics: He claims to be a king. The King. And therefore his authority and ways supersede and challenge to whatever local government his people live in. So you can be a Democrat or a Republican the way a child can be Superman on Halloween, but you must drop the claim before you jump out any windows… No political party fully reflects God’s will for government, but we want to be active in our present political system, working for the good…

2. Adversarial-Lite

Our form of democracy is based on an “adversarial system.” Two sides go to war (of words) and let the best side win. So in court it is the job of a prosecutor to absolutely slam the defendant, and it’s the job of the defendant to absolutely deny any wrongdoing (in all of life) whatsoever, and we place faith in the hope that the right side will usually win. A casualty of this process is oftentimes…truth. Neither side is encouraged to actually tell the truth. They each must play up their strengths and hide their weaknesses.

Just the way Jesus saw right through the claimed “righteousness” of the Pharisees, we need to see through the claimed righteousness of our parties. So you may pick a side, just don’t drink the Koolaid.

3. Truth Seeking

There’s a political game played by both sides that goes like this: You reduce your opponents views to something ridiculous (e.g., “Democrats just want to raise your taxes”, “Republicans just want to bomb Middle Eastern countries”) and present your own the way you see it. In debate that’s called a false dichotomy. If you did that at home you might be accused of lying. As far as I know in the Democratic tax plan, people making less than $250k a year would pay less taxes, and those making above $250k would pay 4% more (that’s not an unreasonable tax plan). And as far as I know the Republican plan in foreign policy is to not meet with leaders of countries like Iran until they make concessions in their nuclear program, because tactics like this have worked in the past, and countries like Iran have much to gain from negotiating with the U.S. It’s not really true that Democrats don’t care about family values, everyone cares about family values (and both conservative and liberal politicians have been caught in illicit affairs). It’s not really true that Republicans don’t care about the poor (they just don’t believe social services are always the best way address poverty, but favor a healthy capitalism).

3.5 Anti-Mockery, Slander, and Spin

Along with truth seeking, we ought to avoid and even be annoyed at political mockery by candidates. Making fun of someone’s words out of context is not a credible argument. Mockery is what you do when you don’t have a strong argument and choose instead to incite a kind of bigotry. It doesn’t matter how many houses John McCain has. Barack Obama was not insulting people’s religions when he talked about people losing hope in government (and “clinging to guns religion and xenophobia” the mockers usually don’t try to defend xenophobia). By the same token being a POW does not qualify a person for office, and it does not mean he’s already passed some kind of presidential test. But neither does eloquence and optimism qualify someone to preside over a country.

What is being lost is that the two candidates and parties are operating out of very different (and valid) governing philosophies and viewpoints. One is better than the other. No one knows for sure which until many years after it happens. Our job is to take up a side with humility while cutting through all the smoke and mirrors that is American politics.

But shouldn’t Christians vote for the most “Christian” candidate?

To put it simply: No. For a number of reasons:

1. Practical reason: You are not in a position to really know. It will only encourage politicians to fake Christianity better and better… This is what happened eventually in Rome and Medieval governments.

2. Moral reason: Your job is to pick the best president. You would be a corrupt teacher if you passed a student in your class simply because he had a strong faith. You’d be a foolish patient if you chose someone to be your doctor simply on the basis of their faith. And the person who asks for a job promotion because of his faith probably does not have a very Jesus-like faith, but he’s actually being self-seeking and manipulative.  Paul warns Timothy of those who think of faith as a means to worldly gain.

3. All rulers, even bad ones, can be used by God. St. Paul told early Christians they must submit to Caesar even as he was terrorizing people of faith. If God can use ruthless dictators, he can use misguided politicians, so we really don’t know the outcomes… One of the best people to become president (Jimmy Carter) was one of the worst acting presidents (or admitted himself that he wasn’t very effective). Some of the worst presidents (in terms of foreign policy and personal scandals) presided over periods of great peace and prosperity. So we really don’t know. But since we have the privilege of being part of the government, we must do our best in humility, trusting God over all.

[About the photo: I think part of Jon Stewart's popularity can be attributed to the fair and light hearted way he makes fun of politics - this is different from the kind of mockery you hear from most politicians.]

* By the way, if you feel this way at all, pass along this link and help other people to start thinking along these lines…

Related posts:

1. Christian Politics 2
2. Ahk! I’m (a Non-Christian) Dating a Christian! Now what?
3. Ack I’m dating a non-Christian