WHO WOULD JESUS TAX?

A lot of liberals believe that Jesus would support socialism.  At a minimum, they assume Jesus would support raising taxes on the rich and giving more money to the poor.  They like to use words like “social justice.”  But, social justice is found in the dictionary, not the Bible.  If one actually reads the scriptures, one can make a strong case that while Jesus did command us to help those in need, He most definitely  did not believe in redistribution of wealth. 

It is important to read passages of scripture in context.  Obviously, Matthew 25:14-30 comes before Matthew 25:31-46.  One would have to assume, being the Bible and all, that this was deliberate.  For that reason, we will go to Matthew 25:14-30 first:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A14-30&version=NIV

Note that the master gives money to people based on their ability.  He didn’t give the same amount to everyone.  The person who was considered to be more capable was given the most money.  The person who was considered least capable was given the least money.  Not much social justice there!  Then the big shocker:  when the master returned, the rich had gotten richer and the poor had gotten poorer.  This is quite similar to what happens under capitalism.  According to liberals, Jesus should have recommended taking the extra money away from the rich guy and giving it to the poor guy.  But Jesus did the exact opposite.  He took the money away from the poor guy and gave it to the rich guy.  Wow!

But the story did not end there.  Later, in the same chapter, Jesus reminded us that those people who are able to earn more have an obligation to help those in need.  Now read the rest of the chapter, verses 31-46:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A31-46&version=NIV

When you think about it, Jesus understood the difference between liberals and conservatives a long time ago.  Liberals want to raise taxes on those who earn money to give to those who are unable, or unwilling, to earn it themselves.  So a lot of people assume that liberals are more generous and caring than conservatives.  However, this is not necessarily true.  ABC did some research and ran the following story in 2008:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2682730&page=1

It turns out that while liberals are generous with other people’s money, they aren’t necessarily generous with their own.  And while conservatives are definitely out to earn more money, they are much more likely to be generous. 

After reading these two passages, it is pretty hard to argue that Jesus was a liberal.  Actually, he would probably fit in really well with the Tea Party. He would give more money to those who are ready, willing and able to make a profit.  He would give less money to those who are less capable.  And he would take it all away from those who just want to sit on their buns and wait for a hand out.  He would also expect those who do well to help out those in need.  This looks remarkably similar to the Tea Party Platform.

TDM