About this episode
Have you ever wanted to take a Biblical journey through taxes? We are delighted to have Patrick Carroll back on the show today to talk us through an article he shared entitled: Taxation is Slavery: A Biblical Case. Patrick Carroll is a scholar, writer, and teacher of Biblical economic philosophy. He comments on current events from an anarchist perspective in his articles for Fee.org, where he's also involved with the Hazlitt Apprenticeship. Patrick has previously been on our show for episode 16, If You Vote, You Can't Complain, and has contributed multiple articles for syndication on our blog.
In this episode, we go through the Bible together and take a close look at where and when God took clear stands on taxation. What does our Bible study reveal? Taxation makes people into slaves. God never intended for us to have the government man has created. The kingdom of Heaven is upside down, and it is our job to spread His way of peace and love in the world to flip it back.
You learn more about Patrick and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and on his blog: The Prudent Navigator.
Episode Timestamps:
2:59 Is taxation slavery?
Libertarians often say it’s theft, but is it worse than that?
We need people to think and understand
Canada is worse/more draconian than the US… at this point
Most people scoff
Slavery is when a person is owned by another human
Ownership is control of something
If we own an object, we can take it anywhere and do whatever we want with it
The state gets to decide what drugs we take, how we live our lives…
We don’t have the brutal 1800’s style of slavery
But perhaps a more insidious current form
Savings are taxed away
Inflation
Regulations
Military Industrial Complex
Prison Complex
War on drugs
Not as visible, but still there
The state is good at hiding it
But they claim to give us our rights
Our rights come from God
We’re created with them
6:00 Human government
The Israelites demand a king
To be like other nations
Israelites were supposed to be holy or different from other nations
God was supposed to be their King
God has Samuel warn them
The king will tax you
He'll take your children when he wants them
You will be his slaves
“Christians who advocate for human rulers today tend to assume that God is only opposed to unjust rulers.” - Patrick
They’ll point to China and say it’s wrong because it’s authoritarian
God never says, “Kingship is a good idea, as long as it’s limited.” - Patrick
“He says, ‘He’s going to tax you,’ as if that’s inherently wrong.”
There has never been a human-made government who had everyone’s best interests at heart
So many in the US believe our government was made by God and is just
How can it be from God when it kills so many people and other parts of His creation overseas?
So many atrocities
From foreign policy to war on drugs
People argue that we’re being taxed to help the poor
Whereas kings only taxed to get rich
The government is not helping the poor
Jesus didn't give his money to Caesar and ask him to help the poor
He told his disciples to do it
He modeled how to help
Real charity isn't forced
There is no instance in Scripture of the government being used to promote general welfare
The rich’s taxes
Many people advocate for raising wealthy people’s taxes
Goes against 2/10 Commandments
Don’t envy
Don’t steal
Do the rich have a duty to give to the poor out of their wealth, since they have been given much?
Yes, but that doesn't give us the right to force them
People get mad because the rich find loopholes through paying taxes
If you can find a way around it, do it!
Use the money you save to help the poor
Outsourcing sin
Give people power and let them kill the people we don’t like
And claim innocence
15:15 Examples from the Old Testament
Conquered nations paid tribute to the conquering king
No longer working for themselves
Whoever slays Goliath (1 Samuel 17:25)
Will be made rich
Marry the princess
And have his father’s house set free
AKA exempt from taxes
The Hebrew word used here for “free” is used throughout the Old Testament as the opposite of enslaved
“If being set free from slavery is equivalent to not having to pay taxes, then the implication is that having to pay taxes is being a slave.” - Patrick
The death of King Solomon (1 Kings 12)
The people asked his son for their yoke to be lightened
Yoke is often used to talk about slavery
Led to tax revolt and division of the kingdom
Solomon’s son asked 2 groups of people for advice
The elders said to listen to the people, lighten their taxes, and they’ll love you forever and gladly serve you
His younger friends advised him to tax even more heavily
He listened to them
Isaiah asked that every yoke be broken
Taxation is talked about as a yoke
So, shouldn’t we want it to be broken and the oppressed set free?
21:21 We are not just oppressed; we are slaves
Not because the government is unjust
Even if they were just, they don’t have the right to tell us how to live
I should be able to choose whether or not I live under the government
Everyone knows the black community was enslaved
Also, the Irish
But they say we are free
If you have to ask permission to be free, you are a slave
Christians should walk away
We have one King
He did not establish these earthly governments
Follow Jesus Christ
Our current system will never change
We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results
Even if one guy lowers our taxes, the next might not
It’s not working
We have to walk away
“Understand that, to the extent that we participate in government, we are complicit in enslaving our neighbors.” - Patrick
Being police officers or in the military subjugates other citizens
Those officers take an oath to defend citizens from enemies foreign or domestic
If they really did that, they'd be protecting us from politicians
Not from the agents they sent in to pretend to attack the capitol
Definition of terrrorism: “The [unlawful] violence and intimidation that is used normally against civilians for political ends”
Had to add “unlawful” so police could intimidate
Voluntary society security
Not violent and intimidating
Run by the market, not politicians
Without police and military, politicians are nothing but people with bad ideas
Private security guards already outnumber our police force
28:30 New Testament Examples
We are Jesus-centric here
Rulers do not tax their sons; only citizens
The sons are free
Israelites are sons of God
Therefore should not have to pay the temple tax
The most literal translation of the word for free is “not slaves”
Implying that those who pay taxes are slaves
Jesus got this across by asking Peter questions
He always made people think
32:00 Nehemiah (chapters 5 and 9)
Israel living under foreign rule
They took out loans on their fields to pay their taxes
Now, they owed interest
Their children were enslaved
They were powerless because they owned nothing
Nehemiah became a governor
Did not lay a heavy burden
Because he feared God
He saw taxing people too heavily as problematic
33:18 What constitutes too heavy of a tax?
Our taxes are much higher than most ancient times
The American Revolution was fought over what we would now call a very low tax rate
The point is, any level of tax means subjugation and theft
34:03 Israelites’ plea to God
They are slaves in the land He gave them to enjoy
All the fruits go to the king God put over them as punishment
The kings ruled their bodies and livestock
Some say they would not have been slaves if they were ruled by an Israelite
The line between foreigners and neighbors is not always clear
Christians are foreigners in all nations
35:37 1 Peter 2
In Greek, “human institution/authority” is really “human creation”
Governments are manmade
God set up priests
Government was not something He wanted to be a part of His creation
Submit to your punishment of kings ruling
Doesn’t mean the empire is just
In Isaiah, God uses Assyria to punish Israel
But also punishes Assyria for their arrogance
38:55 Obedience vs submission
Rosa Parks submitted, but didn’t obey
You don’t have to obey if the law is unjust
But you have to submit to the consequences
Submission is a general attitude; obedience is on a law-by-law basis
Plenty of Biblical examples of people disobeying the law and being deemed righteous
If man’s law breaks God’s, we follow God’s
Many realized Caesar’s rule was illegitimate and wanted to overthrow it
Paul wrote Romans 13 in response
Violence is not the way of the Kingdom
Live as people who are free
But don’t use your freedom to sin
41:44 Can a real anarchist pay taxes?
“I’m not paying taxes; I’m avoiding jail.” - Larkin Rose
They steal them without my consent from my paycheck
I want to stay out of jail and spread the Kingdom
“Be at peace with everyone.”
Paul’s number one priority was to get the Gospel out there
If paying taxes is going to make some people view you more positively, do it
If we’re going around causing trouble, even if it’s justified, it’s not going to make people view us in a positive light
Peter told actual slaves to stay with their masters and serve them well
In order to possibly win their souls
44:18 Civil disobedience
Not revolution
Even if you win, there’s still somebody in charge who uses violence to get what they want
MLK and his people did it right
No fighting back
Christians should be disobeying and taking the punishment when laws are garbage
46:37 Why we’re anarchists
We see governments behaving just as God warned us they would
They want us to respond with violence
That’s not how you teach about Jesus
We make change by promoting the Kingdom of Christ peacefully
Obey God rather than man
The 2 greatest commandments (Matthew 22:36-40)
Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength
Love your neighbor as yourself
“If a law is passed that gets in the way of me loving my neighbor, I will disobey that law.” - Patrick
49:30 How to make change
Talk about it
Preach about it
Help people understand we are being enslaved
We live in an upside-down Kingdom
We should be turning people’s worldviews upside down
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