Feb. 4 issue
Am I innocent?
By Daniel Riehl Lititz, Pa.According to the American Friends Service Committee, the U.S. will spend 60 percent of its budget in 2013 on the military, including defense, war, Veterans Affairs and nuclear weapons. That means 60 percent of my federal income tax goes to warmaking. I believe it would be wrong for me to kill even if I were a soldier and killed on orders of the commander-in-chief. I would be breaking the law of God. So is it not also wrong for me to pay the government to enable it to kill? Am I sinning if I pay my federal taxes? Should I ask God to forgive me for the taxes I paid that were used to destroy and murder?
Comments
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"...the United States spends 60% of the discretionary federal budget on military related expenses."
"By providing accurate information and mobilizing the public to speak out, we can influence the government."
Both quotes are directly from AFSC.org but seem in tension with each other. The first figure is misleading and intentionally so. Note that the author (Mr. Riehl) says 60% of the budget is for military but that the figure is actually 60% of the 'discretionary budget' i.e non social program budgetary items, which is but a portion of the overall budget. This obfuscation has confused Mr. Riehl and many others, and is done intentionally.
I too support military cuts, along with cuts across the board in many other programs to achieve a balanced and sustainable budget path - this is good stewardship. But lets be honest about the facts as we debate.
For a more accurate picture visit http://www.cbo.gov/publication/42636 for the govt. statistics. You will notice that defense is more like 20 -25% of the overall budget.
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The article is misleading? Of course. Perhaps a more useful figure is the percent of GDP that a nation devotes to defense. The US comes in pretty high at 4.7%. Only six nations spend proportionally more. Other “fours” include Jordan, Algeria, and Lebanon. Nations like Ecuador, Chile, Pakistan and so on are in the threes. France, England, Turkey, Portugal and so on are in the twos. One can argue that the US is devoting much more to arms because the GDP is higher. That’s true, and in fact US defense spending is more than total of several other nations combined. But on the other hand, a US soldier sailor or airman is very expensive. About ten times the cost of a Chinese soldier.
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Gentlemen, why so eager to call the AFSC data misleading? "Discretionary spending" is a commonplace term of art on Capitol Hill; surely you know that. And 60 percent of that spending goes to "national defense".
I prefer to look at all federal spending that Congress controls through its usual processes, including both "mandatory spending" and "discretionary spending". (This also is the spending that is supported by our undesignated tax payments, such as the FIT.) Using this as our base, the share spent on "national defense" is around 40 percent.
And BJW prefers to look at all federal spending, including the portion that occurs outside the federal operating budget and uses trust funds such as Social Security. Using that as the base, the share spent on "national defense" is much smaller (20-25 percent).
So we need to be careful to identify which base we are using when engaging in this conversation. But we are "misleading" only when we mix things up.
So is Mr. Riehl correct? Yes, insofar as he is speaking of the discretionary budget, that portion of federal spending that is available to Congress for decision every year. Our representatives choose to spend 60 percent of it on "national defense".
As for our income taxes, we can be sure that 40 percent of those dollars are being used for that purpose.
How we feel about that, and what we choose to do about that, are important questions.
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Berry - You are correct in your numbers, and yes I do view the approach of AFSC as misleading.
I heard this mantra over and over at college, because it fits the narrative, that 'we spend 60% of our budget on war". We do nothing of the sort, and to insinuate we do is false and problematic if we really care about our historic peace position. We will not win a debate with public opinion with false arguments and false charges.
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The fraction of the federal budget devoted to defense is meaningless. That is because in a nation with centrally administered programs the defense contribution appears artificially small compared to the total. In a nation where most government programs are administered by the provinces or cantons, the defense spending looks outsized because there isn’t much else in the federal budget. That’s why it is fundamentally meaningless and why other measures are more useful.
Let’s look at defense and education. Here in the US we spend about $680B, give or take, for defense, and about $980B give or take, for education. Maybe that helps.
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R.E., the total you cite ($680 billion) is not accurate. It includes only the Pentagon share of "defense" spending, and ignores related spending in the Department of Energy (for nuclear weapons), NASA (for weaponizing space), the CIA (for covert operations), the Veteran's Administration (for care of those disabled in war), Treasury (interest on the debt incurred to finance "defense") and JSOC (the President's personal little army).
Add all of that in and the total is around $1.2 trillion or about 40 percent of the operating budget of the federal government.
It's important to me to know that ratio because it tells me how my tax dollars are being used.
Within the U.S. system over the past 45 years (post-Great Society), ratios also tell us how national priorities have shifted over time in relation to exernal threats.
And that gets us to the important question rarely discussed: during a time when no nation or combination of nations threatens U.S. security, why is it spending such a huge share on "defense"? Is spending so high because it has become U.S. policy to dominate the world and ensure it can roam the earth without effective challenge from anyone?
And if so, is this of any concern to the U.S. church?
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Indeed it is correct, as Mr. Friesen points out, that overall military costs are higher than they appear. Wikipedia has a good breakdown of the DOD and non-DOD expenditures for military. DOE is fairly small, NASA is microscopic, but VA affairs and pensions are large. However, before uncritically adding costs boosted by pensions, VA, and so on, it is necessary for a proper comparison to also add these expenditures to non-military too. That is, if pensions, medical care, and support are added to military, then the equivalent additions must also be included for the rest. So, the cost of building highways, hospitals, or schools, or providing the EPA, FAA, and so on, also see a big boost as a result of costs incurred during the lifetime and retirement of those workers. People are talking about the pension and medical crisis of federal, state, and local workers in the multi trillions of dollars. Interest on debt is real, but slippery to define. That is, debt is accumulated when expenditures exceed tax receipts. But which department do you lay the blame on? Military, education, infrastructure, …? Maybe you just make it proportional. In any case, as a % of GDP, or in absolute numbers, the US military spending is way at the top of the world.
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Looking on the AFSC's website, they say 60% of the DISCRETIONARY federal budget. But that's a lesser point. We spend almost as much on our military as the rest of the world combined. As Eisenhower said 60 years ago,
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children....This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."
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Yes, you are innocent. Mark 12:17 King James Version (KJV) 17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.
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All the above comments but one miss the question of the author and only jangle over the percentage of military spending. The percentage is meaningless when trying to answer the original question of whether or not one should pay taxes. Whether the figure is 60%, 40% or 4.7%, a portion of everyone's taxes goes toward the military. Does it decrease one's guilt if the percentage is less? Is Tim correct in applying the "render unto Caesar" scripture?
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Perhaps when discussing percentages it would be wise to consider the role of the Federal Government within the role of all levels of government in the United States. The role of the federal government IS our national defense. It is NOT to feed the hungry or clothe those who are cold. That is precisely the function of the governing bodies of the Christian Church.
The confusion of roles of our various governing institutions may be the result of poor education in critical thinking but I suspect it is a diversion in the agenda of certain political groups, including groups within the Christian Church, to denigrate our national government. As to the spending on the various elements of defense keep in mind that most of our engineering and medical advances have come either directly or indirectly from defense spending. Do you naysayers have a percentage for that?
A good portion of the VA’s budget is for administering and funding the GI bill, a portion of which funds our colleges and universities. Should the federal government spend money on educating our veterans who are poor? The role of the federal government does not include secondary education but it is a compact made with each veteran when entering the service and we need to keep our promises.
The sequestration of federal funds we are now experiencing may teach our country some valuable lessons. It certainly highlights our national leader’s moral flaws. And maybe that is a good thing.
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"So is it not also wrong for me to pay the government to enable it to kill? Am I sinning if I pay my federal taxes? Should I ask God to forgive me for the taxes I paid that were used to destroy and murder?"
No, no, and no.
When I look into the Bible for what Jesus, the sinless Son of God, says about this topic, I am drawn to Matt 22, Mark 12, and Luke 20 where He clearly and unambiguously says to pay your taxes. In His case, it was to an occupying , foreign Roman government. This teaching is reinforced by Matt 17 when Jesus himself supplies the money to pay a tax.
We are accountable to God for our own actions, not those of others. -
Neal, the question posed to Jesus by his opponents during his journey to the cross was this: "Is it lawful to pay taxes?"
It was a set-up, designed to create a basis for arresting Jesus and putting him to death. The question was devilishly clever because Jesus apparently was known to resist the Empire by urging tax resistance. We know this by the fact that his opponents used this to entrap him, and because one of the accusations lodged against Jesus in his "trial" before Pilate was that he had forbid the payment of taxes to the Emperor.
In the texts you cite, Jesus seems to say it is "lawful" to return to the Emperor a portion of the currency that has the Emperor's image on it. This is spoken, mind you, to questioners who under the law of God are commiting idolatry by having any "graven image" within their possession.
So you and I should not pretend Jesus taught us to pay taxes to the Empire. He was a known critic of such a practice who upped the ante by teaching idolatry was the nub of the problem.
Beyond what is "legal" (which is how the Herodians and Pharisees framed their question), you and I must consider our opportunity to witness to the Lordship of Messiah Jesus over all the earth. I do that by participating in 1040 for Peace's tax witness campaign. It includes communications to my church, my family, and members of Congress, as well as the nonpayment of $10.40 in taxes "legally" owed.
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Neal, thank you for your comments dated Mar 28. You are correct. I find it interesting in Berry’s Mar 29 response he says “Jesus apparently was known” and another place says “Jesus seems to say” indicating he is uncertain what Jesus is saying or at least is trying to help Jesus say something that supports Berry’s theology.
God established government to 1) Protect citizens 2) Punish evildoers and 3) Promote and provide basic services, roadways, etc. No where did Jesus ever protest in word or deed civil government on any issue.
It would be interesting to know in the years of Jesus’ ministry how many crucifixions took place which he and his disciples could have led protests if that was his concern.
In the three scriptures referred to by Neal, there was a complete understanding by the Pharisees what Jesus said. Jesus never did forbid the paying of taxes as Berry suggests. Those were fabricated accusations at his trial.
In Romans 13, the Apostle Paul writes “This is why you pay taxes for the authorities are God’s servants.
I wonder if the 10.40 peace tax people would also withhold taxes to protest national and local law enforcement operations and the funding of abortions. The whole thing smacks of selective thinking by the religious pacifist left.
If you want to pay $10.40 less in taxes, do it legally by increasing your giving to a charitable organization of your choice. We have enough pagans in this country who withhold taxes illegally without MC USA people doing the same.
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"The the whole assembly (of the elders) rose and led Jesus off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying: 'We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be the Messiah, a king.' So Pilate asked Jesus, 'Are you king of the Jews?' 'Yes, it is as you say,' Jesus replied. Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, 'I find no basis for a charge against this man.' But they insisted, 'He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.'"
So wrote Luke in chapter 23 of his book.
Dale, you say one of the accusations against Jesus in his trail before Pilate were fabricated. But Luke does not say that. Mark and Matthew report that in the Council convened by the High Priest, false testimony was introduced against Jesus. But tax payment was not the issue raised there; rather, it was Jesus' words about the temple, and his claims to be the Messiah.
Can you cite any biblical authority for your claim that false claims were made against Jesus in his trial before Pilate?
If we want a narrow, legal interpretation (which is what the Herodians and Pharisees asked for), we can safely say - based on the words of Jesus - it is permissible to pay our taxes to the Empire.
But we can not avoid the fact that Jesus reframed tax payment as a question of idolatry, which I understand to be a matter of allegiance.
For some new light on this debate, which has become rather predictable within our Mennonite circles, we may want to consider the debate over the Affordable Healthcare Act and its requirement that employers include contraception coverage in employee health plans. Christian employers of various persuasions are refusing to comply with this requirement.
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Barry, I think you miss the point of the lesson. Yes, the questioners were trying to trap Jesus. But remember that scripture also says that those how follow Gods commands are found blameless, even by the ungodly.
So, when Jesus responds to the questioners, representative of the church leaders who want to kill him, he says to give Caesar what he wants. He goes on to say give "to God the things that are God's". Money is just money. Let the world have it. God wants us. Our mind, our body, our spirit.
Don't try to infer the opinion of Jesus from the mob accusations at the trial. That is a very shaky foundation. Rather take Jesus at his word.
The way of God is simple, though exceedingly difficult to follow. That is why only one human in history succeeded, Jesus.
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Neal, the point to which I responded in your comment was your assertion that Jesus "clearly and unambiguously says to pay your taxes."
I don't find his teaching on this subject to be "clear and unambiguous" because he raises the issue of images, which touched a nerve related to the Torah's teaching about idolatry, and because Jesus' hearers obviously had a different interpretation of what he meant than you do.
Nor do I think we are being biblical if we put "ourselves" and "our money" into separate categories.
All of which leaves me feeling pretty uncomfortable as I prepare to finish our annual 1040 filing. At minimum, I am convinced we need to bring our faith into this secular ritual and find a way to bear witness to the way of Jesus. Nonpayment of $10.40 and the writing of letters of explanation is a way to do that. You may find other ways, but let's not let this opportunity for witness to pass unheeded.
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Berry, a person is innocent until found guilty. After Pilate listened to the accusation from the religious leaders he declared Jesus innocent when he said “I find no fault in him.”
I and others understand what Jesus said concerning the paying of taxes due to government therefore, no explanation is needed to we who understand. To those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
Neal is correct when he says “I think you miss the point of the lesson.” It is my thinking that you intentionally miss the point to somehow justify your flawed pacifist theology.
Withholding taxes illegally is open rebellion against the teaching of Jesus and the Bible. Romans 13:2 reminds us, "Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves."
I would love to see your letter to the IRS explaining to them your reason for withholding $10.40 of your legally owned taxes.
It would be very wrong to blame Jesus for your illegally withholding taxes from your annual tax return for reasons I have stated earlier. Therefore your next steps should be as follows: 1) With your 2012 return, you should send a check to cover all the years you illegally withheld taxes on each return. 2) You should confess your sin of illegally withholding taxes from your returns in the past to members of your church and that, with the 2012 return, you have corrected everything. 3) Send a statement to be published in MWR to reflect your confession to MWR readers.
I doubt very much a professional CPA tax preparer would sign your return of illegally withholding taxes.
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Dale, as you requested, here is the text of the letter we sent to IRS Commissioner Shulman last April:
"We file our Form 1040 under protest because we oppose the use of our dollars for war-making and militarism.
"We support 1040 for Peace and those who withhold payment of part of their tax as a witness against the militarism that is causing such harm to our nation and so much suffering to others.
"We mean no disrespect to your agency and the many fine people who work for the IRS. Our actions are not meant to disrupt or impede their efforts.
"Nevertheless, we dare not ignore the fact that at least $950 billion is being spent by the U.S. government this year on war, armaments, overseas bases, covert operations, standing armies, space weaponry, nuclear weapons, and so-called anti-terror activities.
"The U.S. government spends as much on military purposes as the rest of the world combined. This torrent of spending has created a vast network of government employees, contractors and related interests that find fear-mongering and endless war immensely profitable. It has fostered an aggressive and belligerent spirit by our leaders toward any nation (such as Iran) that dares to walk its own path. It has made the U.S.A. the primary threat to world peace and security.
"Military spending has hollowed out our economy and corrupted our democracy, calling to mind the words written by James Madison at the beginning of our national history: 'No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.'
"Worst of all, many innocent people in south and central Asia are dead as the result of U.S. aggression.
"As followers of Jesus the Messiah and members of his assembly, we pray and work for the day when our political leaders will end this addiction to war that has gripped our beloved country."
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Berry, thank you for your comments. If Commissioner Shulman would ask you to provide any scripture indicating What Would Jesus Do, what would you tell him? Further, just because Commissioner Shulman did not respond does not make what you do legal, nor does it mean Jesus approves your disobedience.
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If you start with an assumption that Jesus, like those Constantinian, church and state, Bible and flag people who claim his name today, saw God and Caesar as about equal, each with their fair claim to their fair share, you can make Jesus out as giving blanket approval to paying taxes.
I don't believe that Jesus saw the God who loved him and the empire that killed him as equal partners. If Jesus had intended an unequivocal, straightforward answer to the question "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?" Mark 12 he could have given such an answer with a "yes" or "no." He did not do that. He said, "Render to Caesar's what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. We should give Jesus credit for what he said. He left it to his hearers to discern what would be Caesar's and what would be God's.
In that discernment, we would help ourselves if we translated it into today's langauge, with words like "Render to Hitler what is Hitler's."
And we could recognize that history moves on, new times raise and focus new questions of discipleship and morality. Let the Spirit of Jesus move in us.
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