A number of viewers questioned my position in my commentary on the Manhattan Declaration in which I suggested that the Bible directs government to help the poor.
They reasonably asked me to point out where this is found in the Bible.  I told them to take a look at Proverbs 29:14: “If a king judges poor people fairly, his government will continue forever.”  A former congressman I greatly respect responded that this verse doesn’t direct government to take from one citizen and give to another; it merely instructs leaders to be “fair” to the poor.

These are all good points but I think we have to acknowledge every time government receives taxes, it is redistributing the resources of its citizens in one way or another.  We may think all taxes are bad but even the most strident would agree that some money has to be raised to equip an army and a police force, if nothing else.  Jesus acknowledged this in his comment to “give what is Caeser’s to Caeser and to God what is God’s.”

The question then is whether the way in which our country is taxing and spending its resources is fair to the poor.  I would argue that a system of taxation which takes 25% or more from those who work at McDonalds or in janitorial jobs – when you include income tax, social security and medicare withholding, etc. – is not fair to the poor, or at least, the working poor.