Tax Cuts: Not a Christian Value

My friend Ollie makes an interesting comment to my last post. I agree strongly with his words but not the point he is trying to make.

Christian values? "Heal the sick, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit those in prision"?

I read nothing about "tax cuts" in the NT. :-)

There is nothing about tax cuts, but there is a lot about tax collectors in the NT. In general, tax collector = sinner.

Matthew 21:32 -- Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Matthew 18:17 -- If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Mark 2:15 -- While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

And there are many more. But I think the point is pretty clear. Jesus preaching tax cuts would be like the ten commandments including, "Thou shalt not steal too much", "Thou shall not kill too many", and "Thou shall not commit adultery unless the chick is hot and your wife fat."

Many democrats confuse taxes and charity. I believe in charity. I pay taxes because I will be locked up if I don't. I give to those in need although I admit I act carefully and suspiciously. I pay taxes grudgingly.

My money has been taken by force to invade Iraq, to pay for abortions, to subsidize large corporations, to station troop around the world, to kill inmates on death row, to spy illegally on American citizens, and to do many things I disagree with. It has also been used to do some good at times; although, I find these to be extremely rare.

In Ollie's defense, I'm sure he is thinking of some very different programs. I still find most of these offensive or simply areas where our government should have no role.

Red and Blue Foolishness

So there is one good bit of news out of Washington this week; it appears that many of the provisions of the Patriot Act will expire. I wish they could have just defeated the thing outright, but I guess I'll accept the good even if they had to filibuster into it.

On the other hand, the rest of the news really sucks. I'm not surprised but still very disappointed that our president authorized NSA to spy domestically. And where is the outrage? Maybe people are too desensitized by the “Bush Lied” and “Bush Mislead” crowd to realize when our president has thumbed his nose at our constitution and our freedoms. If republicans want to be the majority party again in the next 30 years, they should lead the impeachment effort. I spent the last three years of my Navy enlistment at NSA, and I truly lack the verbal ability to express my disgust at this tyranny.

Of course, I expect no moral guidance from the democrats. While the republican dictator shows his disregard toward our freedoms, they are up to old tricks. Their chairman, Howard Dean, claims to have fundamental Christian values and has even brought in a senior adviser for religious outreach for the party, the actions remain quite different. Just this week, the democratic party of Washington was selling a very interesting magnet. It is basically the Christian fish symbol with flames and the word “Hypocrite” on it. It has now been removed. While I don't believe the whole democratic party is anti-Christian, it does include many such groups within it. And when Dean calls the republicans a “white, Christian party”, it is impossible to believe that Christians represent anything more than a targeted demographic.

Many of my Christian friends will finally realize that republican values and Christian values are quite different, but they won't find a home with the democrats either. I wish I could persuade them to vote Libertarian, but I suspect most will probably withdraw from the political process and not vote.

Training Again

Well, it is back to training. I had a good week last week even though I'm feeling a bit sluggish. It will take a while before I feel good running again. I hit the trail Saturday for some rocky miles. Knees are feeling much better, but various other parts are hurting from the increase in miles.

The plan is for three tough week and then a two-week taper before Bandera. I would really like another tough week or two, but I'll take good knees over more training. At this point, the goal is to finish. I had hoped to push the 14-hour mark, but I don't think that is realistic after my recent rest weeks.