God, Government and Taxes

This past week my wife and I voted for our local school district budget and trustees. We voted to raise our local school taxes. Across the nation you hear of people who are against taxes and what some call “Big Government” and here my wife and I are placing our local support for government, taxes and public services. Obviously I do not resonate with this movement that is trying to suggest that Government is inherently bad and that the solution for many of our social ills can be found in cutting taxes and eliminating government. Quite the opposite, my family and I are engaged in utilizing and supporting public services. For us this is not so much a personal choice as it is an act of faith.

In 2001 The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops made the following statement:

Changes in lifestyle based on traditional moral virtues can ease the way to a sustainable and equitable world economy in which sacrifice will no longer be an unpopular concept. For many of us, a life less focused on material gain may remind us that we are more than what we have.

Our family is slowly trying to make our adjustments in adopting a simple Christian lifestyle. While we who are not vowed religious do not make vows of poverty we, as Christian, are still called to emulate the poverty of Christ and the early Christian community. Poverty is not a value in and of itself. Poverty is an expression of our willingness to share what we have with others. The Passionist Constitutions describe it in this way:

Like the first Christian community, one in heart and one in spirit, and holding all their goods in common, we do not look upon our possessions as our own. Having chosen to live together, we wish to share what we have in a simple and modest lifestyle.

 In a workshop that I present to lay people I have suggested that we too are called to live out the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. However I adapted these counsels to fit a married or single lay lifestyle. With regards to poverty I have presented this virtue as a promise towards mutual sustainability, that act of living one’s own lifestyle in a simple Christian manner. To this end my family has integrated the use of public services. Instead of buying a second car I use public transportation to get to work. Instead of going to books and video stores my wife and kids take an exciting trip to the library on the weekend where they attend programs and the borrow books and videos. Instead of going to amusement parks and other expensive outings we opt to take our kids to museums, aquariums and local parks. One of my favorite outings with my daughter is the Museum of Natural History followed by Central Park in New York. Finally we also have opted to support Public schools believing that all children should have access to a good quality education while we also have our children attend their religious education.  

So from our perspective taxes and public services are a great and positive feature for our sustainable lifestyle. Of course I recognize that public sectors like private ones are prone to corruption and inefficiency. One has to hold these sectors accountable, thus we do our part to keep ourselves actively involved and knowledgeable of local budget expenditure and vote for qualified trustees.

Our Catholic faith teaches us that we are to value programs that support the poor and marginalized members of society. We are to promote programs that demonstrate a care for natural resources and that support the overall common good. To this end the Catholic social tradition has suggested that taxes for public services are a responsible and necessary function of government.

It is the responsibility of all citizens, acting through their government, to assist and empower the poor, the disadvantaged, the handicapped, and the unemployed…Government may levy the taxes necessary to meet these responsibilities, and citizens have a moral obligation to pay those taxes. – USCCB, Economic Justice For All #123

United for a Fair Economy is an organization that analysis and advocates for an equitable economic system in our nation. One of their goals is to close the growing wealth divide and to change the rules that tilt tax benefits increasingly toward the wealthy. They have a Tax Fairness Organizing project which includes a nationwide collaborative to promote a progressive and fair tax system and a program to support the Estates Tax. Won’t you consider visiting this site and being part of the fair tax movement?