As the arguments on taxes and spending rage on in Washington D.C., and we launch into a debate about who has enough, who has a little and who should pay their fair share of taxes, the subject took on a new meaning for me at Wednesday night church listening to the pastor's sermon.
I saw it in a different context that might surprise you.
The sermon was as non-political as one can get, and was not terribly out of the ordinary. It was about how God provides a lot of the things we have, whether it be cell phones or the basics like a roof over our head.
The essential message was related via a story to the congregation about how the pastor knew a man who came up to him one day and said "All I have comes from God."
There are, of course, complications to understanding this message. Why do some people live in million dollar homes and some sleep outside every night in a cardboard box?
Rich or poor. It all comes from God. The pastor said he reacted with skepticism to the man. He, and others like him, and all of us in America, feel we work damn hard for our money and all the things we have acquired.
The American ideal and dream, most of us would say, does not come from God, but it comes from the sweat on our brow, the stress on our face.
That of course, in a nutshell, is the argument playing out in Washington these days. Tax the rich, some say, so they pay their fair share. Others say the rich have earned everything they got, and if we tax them, they will no longer create jobs.
I don't have to repeat the narrative which I'm sure readers have heard play out a thousand times on every cable news show possible.
I have just one thought on this: If we all believed "everything we had came from God" would we even be having the who-pays-their-fair-share debate?
The pastor didn't really have an answer for all this, nor did he need to. One can't explain, really, why some have lots and some have none.
Either way, he said, for those of us who've been given lots of things, "it's what we do with it" that matters.
That might be a good place to start the debate in Washington.
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Coming at this from a Conservative perspective I will say this. I believe as a citizen of this country the only social contract I have with my fellow citizen is I am to do them no harm. That means I do not take his property, or hurt him. And I expect the same from him. But it is my own personal religious belief that dictate that I should help out those in need. But that is my own personal belief and I don’t think it is right for me to force that belief onto others. I also feel that instead of being forced to help other (via high taxes and the threat of imprisonment) it shows a much more humble spirit if you give of your own free will.
ReplyDeleteReally? The less fortunate are in their position because they didn't work hard enough? What about their lack of access to decent health care, an affordable education, a job with a company who value their employees and affordable housing. Do you think the less fortunate actually like how their life is? Not all low-income people are where they are because they didn’t try their hardest. They are in their position because of health, economic, and many other reasons.
ReplyDeleteThe rich should not be taxed more, but should pay the same rate of tax as everyone else. It is obvious most people in office have only their friends and financial supporters in mind when passing bills, etc. Imagine the money saved if all of the frivolous government programs that are intended to help the less fortunate, but really just fatten the pockets of the business owners who benefit from them were closed. Did you know there is a USDA program that qualifies a person to live in low-income housing only once, and never again? So, a tenant with little income will qualify for rental assistance when signing the initial lease. After that, their income is never check again. After moving in, the tenant can land a job making three times as much as they used to, and the government is still subsidizing their rent while there are countless others who are struggling to find low-income housing. Why does this continue? Because the private party apartment owners are making a nice fat profit, and probably sharing the money joy in campaign contributions.
If there is a god and he did provide everything for everybody, then why would he treat people differently? Why would he let so many good people suffer and so many bad people coast through life. Do people really believe their god wanted them to have that new fancy cell phone or to make that winning game point? Or that he would allow children to starve to death while others are drinking expensive alcohol with their government representative on their yacht? Thank you for adding to my list of reasons why I find religion to be nothing more than a big fake story to help people feel they are special and ease their fears of the unknown…what life means, what happens after we die, etc, etc, etc.
Every citizen of this country should be represented fairly and equally. Until that actually happens, we should not be proud.