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Church and State

RECENTLY, I received an invitation to [pay to] become a Citizen Leader in the fight against power, as represented by the Internal Revenue Service. The writer warned us that Christian (perhaps he meant Protestant) churches were being threatened by the I.R.S. with the loss of their tax exemption, and perhaps even their buildings, if sermons were preached on subjects important enough to be of interest to the Congress.

My immediate reaction was, so what? The church should have no property! Did not St. Francis point out, “If we have property, then we should need arms to defend it?” And is not the church already denouncing the I.R.S. in the most severe terms the dictionary can offer, considering that it was created solely to violate the mandate of the States that “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States . . . according to their respective Numbers” (equal votes, equal taxes!)?

In Old Testament times, the prophet Samuel knew full well that kings live only by pillaging their subjects. Did not the 18^th-century church take the lead in advocating rebellion against taxation-without-representation under George III? And is not today’s king-for-a-term-of-years even worse – not only is it killing and robbing individuals, it is also interfering in the relationships between husband and wife, parent and child, capital and labor, creditor and debtor, teacher and pupil?

Today, however, it has come to be supposed that Christianity is concerned solely with the relationship between God and those created in His image: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God . . . .” However, this is not the whole truth; there is a second commandment, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” The Scriptures are packed with teachings dealing with social relations; as early as Genesis, we see Abraham contending with JHVH that it would be unjust to destroy the city of Sodom if there were even a tiny minority of innocent men therein (as we all know, the Lot and his virgin daughters.)

The Gospels are one long record of the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees, the faction in Judea who sought to impose their laws upon men. The Pharisees held (as many Jews still hold today) that certain foods were unclean: Jesus taught, “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” [Matthew 15:11.] Thus Christians are free to eat or drink (or inhale, or inject) whatsoever they think fit. Jesus upheld justice: “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” [Matthew 20:15.]

However, Judea and Galilee were occupied by the Roman army at the time of Jesus; thus certain of his teachings were so expressed that the Jews could understand them, but the Gentiles could not. An important example is the question whether to pay taxes to Caesar; the reply, “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s,” seems to leave the hearer to decide for himself whether the taxes are, or are not, Caesar’s. But there was a significant exchange before this answer was given: Jesus demanded, “Show me the tribute money.” [Matthew 22:19, Mark 12:14, Luke 20:22.] The Romans insisted on being paid in their own coins (which, because the tax was shipped back to Rome, were 25% more valuable than other gold coins) and the Roman coins bore the image of Caesar. Because the coins bore the image of a person, the Jews regarded the coins as unclean; the Pharisees could not touch the coins, they sent a Gentile servant to “show” the coin. Every Jew knew that one who put his image on a coin was worthy only of contempt or hatred.

The same message was preached at the Last Supper: “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.” [Luke 22:25-26.]

There is one way in particular that the chief must serve. Jesus taught, “He that is not with me is against me.” [Matthew 12:30.] This means that if I am wronged my fellows must join in my defense, even as I spring to arms if one of them is wronged. The gendarmes are not the equals of the others, but merely agents or servants who agree to keep watch while we are working. The chief has agreed to risk his life in defense of the remainder – for a consideration.

So it goes without saying that Caesar is the dedicated, determined enemy of the Christian church; were it not so, one would conclude that the church was failing to proclaim the truth that makes men free.

We all know that the Congress is devoted to dividing the citizens into factions, by race or nationality or age or wealth. How can Congress ever be corrected? Congress was not created in the image of God, nor even in the image of man: it was created by the States, possibly in their own image. And it is the States that can be required to right the wrong-doing of the Congress. We should join together – Christians and Jews and Muslims and agnostics, natives and immigrants – and demand that our attorneys general defend any one of us who is accused by the U.S. of any crime – other than one that affects the citizens of every State, such as counterfeiting the current coin. No mere individual can afford to fight the bloated, irresponsible Department of Justice.

Is there nothing more the church can do to defend itself? There is indeed! The churches should agree to preach and practice a strategy of with-holding. In the 2005 tax return, each tax-payer would send one dollar less than the sum the I.R.S. wants: in 2006, two dollars less: in 2007, three dollars less . . . in 2014, ten dollars less, and so on. Sooner or later, the I.R.S. will have to prosecute someone – but there will be hundreds or thousands of other citizens to share in the cost of the defense, and the jury will, almost certainly, include Christian [wo]men who know right from wrong without being advised by an unelected, hired judge.

And then this genuine with-holding strategy would demonstrate democracy: the priests would be preaching righteousness to the people, and the [many] people would discipline their [few] servants.

April 16^th, 2005.