August 1, 2003

A Taxing Theology

The Tennessean has coverage of the presentation of University of Alabama law professor Susan Pace Hamill [Background here] before the Tennessee Tax Structure Study Commission. Read the paper's story and you'll notice a few things.

The first is the moral certainty of Ms. Hamill, the "expert" who testified before the Tennessee Tax Structure Study Commission. She's absolutely certain the Bible tells us what a just and moral tax structure is, though all I find in my Bible about taxes is a command to pay them: Render unto Caesar....

Second, note that although she is certain Tennessee's tax structure is unjust, she does not say what would be a "just" tax structure. Third, the expert believes that a specific religious viewpoint should guide public policy - yet the paper doesn't decry her attempt to mix church and state. And fourth. the paper - which has long argued on its editorial pages that Tennessee's tax structure is unfair to the poor - provides no balance to the story, no opposing point of view to the "expert's" view, a view the paper happens to agree with.

Now, I happen to agree with the "expert" that seeking a just tax structure is a moral issue. The problem is, we don't all agree on what a just and fair tax structure is. Some think a sales tax that everyone pays, regardless of income, is fair - because everyone benefits from government, and because if you make less than I do, you'll pay less than I do, but we'll both pay the same percentage tax on our purchases. Some - I'm among them - think a flat-rate income tax would be fair - the guy making $100,000 a year would pay 10 times more taxes than the guy making $10,000 a year but each would pay the same percentage of each dollar. Others think a progressive income tax, which taxes higher incomes at higher rates than lower incomes, is fair.

But Ms. Hamill can't cite Bible chapter and verse for any of those tax structures. There is no "Thou shalt have a progressive income tax," no "Thou shalt not tax groceries," and no "Flat taxes are fairest, thus sayeth the Lord," in the Bible. There are commands to not oppress the poor, but to say that a certain tax structure amounts to "oppression," as Ms. Hamill does, is a stretch. Meanwhile, there are also Biblical warnings against sloth, yet tax-funded government welfare checks encourage it. And there are Biblical admonitions to work hard - yet a progressive income tax punishes hard work if it results in material success.

It is a stretch, also, to say that Christians must fulfill their Christian duty to help the poor by supporting higher taxes to fund more government programs, but that's another argument Ms. Hamill is making these days. It is true that Christians have an obligation to be charitable and help the poor. Doing so through one's church or personally allows the Christian to keep this command while giving glory to God. Being forced to be "charitable" via paying higher taxes to fund the latest government program allows government politicians and bureaucrats to get the glory. Government will never print a brochure to give to welfare recipients saying "this welfare check made possible by Christian charity."

Ms. Hamill may be an "expert" in tax law, but when it comes to tax morality she's just another amateur theologian bending the Bible to say what she wants it to say, twisting its words to fit her political agenda.

The Tennessean, which rails against mixing church and state when a conservative Christian tries to use the Bible to defend a certain political stance, is more than happy to let her get away with it unchallenged. If you happen to believe The Tennessean allows its bias and political agendas to infect and distort its news coverage, this story could be your Exhibit A.