ONE COURAGEOUS TAXATION CONVERSATION A Preparation Guide Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Benjamin Franklin “The difference between death and taxes is death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets.” Will Rogers The clever 17-year-old blew up a birthday brunch by protesting the crushing blow of tax that he now had to pay on the wages of his very first part-time job (moving furniture at a consignment store). He had gleefully torn the envelope from his first paycheck to glimpse the fruit of his labor on paper; but his countenance dimmed when he noticed that the bottom line didn’t match his calculation of hours worked multiplied by wage per hour. He was good at math. What had happened? The offending items were government withholdings. Over eggs and toast, he shouted to anyone who would listen, “I can’t even vote. This is taxation without representation!” There followed a spirited family debate about the burdens and blessings of our American revenue-raising system. In this, our young revolutionary joined a trend that spans human history: governments tax their people, and their people complain about being taxed. In a U.S. election season, the issue of taxes, along with the competing philosophies about their purpose, usually plays an important role in the electorate’s decision-making. These debates reveal our values. The authors of a recent social history of ancient Greece make precisely that claim about an ancient civilization: ancient Athenian taxation systems are “revealing not only of their economic mentality but of the whole system of values on which the Greek city was built.” (Austin and Vidal-Naquet, Economic and Social History of Ancient Greece 1977) In a faithful Christian’s life, taxes and the issues surrounding them can help us clarify our own values. When Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” he suggested that how we relate to money can expose what is most important to us. Taxation 1 Courageous Conversation 14 OCT 18 © Allen Hilton Our Courageous Conversation on taxation will naturally reflect our values, and our values differ. We launch our discussion confident that those differences can help us. To achieve the benefit of our variety, we’ll need to navigate the proper but sometimes divisive tensions between the value on the individual and the community, public and private resources, rights and responsibilities. In a nation whose formation partly grew out of a Boston tax revolution, these issues are especially fraught with passion. In this guide, we set the table for a robust, honest, civil discussion of a central disagreement in our democracy. PURPOSE – Why We Talk In an American and Christian season when talking to people with opposite convictions can be painful and even demeaning, we venture this conversation to accomplish important goals. 1. To Get Better at Disagreeing Lovingly In a time of incivility and disrespect between people who disagree on important matters, Courageous Conversations are designed to help rebuild atrophied muscles for disagreeing civilly and respectfully. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ… (Ephesians 4.15) 2. To Develop Our Convictions from Our Relationship with God In an age when American Christians often primarily draw their political opinions from their party or tribe, instead of the voice of God through Jesus and scripture and their faith community, we commit ourselves to reversing that order. We will pray for God to move us from Christ to the world and its matters. Seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6.33) 3. To Celebrate Our Differences as Assets, Rather Than Threats In an era of echo chambers, when Americans flock to birds of their own theological and political feather, courageous Christians capitalize on the God-given value of our differences. (1 Corinthians 12.4-26) This also means listening for God’s voice in the things others say. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12.5-7) Taxation 2 Courageous Conversation 14 OCT 18 © Allen Hilton 4. To Normalize Conflict In the New Testament and church history, Christians address disagreements directly in order to move forward. Contemporary Christians tend to avoid these direct conflicts, opting rather for “echo chamber” chats with people who agree with them. Courageous Conversations help us get over our fear of moving toward one another in our disagreements. Certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. (Acts 15.1-2) 5. To Save Our World If churches can learn to disagree and solve our problems in constructive, collaborative ways, we can become a resource to our cities, states, regions, nations, and all nations. In other words, by learning talk well with one another, we’re ultimately saving the world. Jesus prayed, “Father…I in them, and you in me, that they become completely one, so that the world may know that you sent me, and that you love them as you love me. (17.23) PROCESS – How We Talk In order to build new muscles for civility and mutual understanding, we build some basic practices into our Courageous Conversations. 1. We actively love one another. Jesus’ Golden Rule is the most direct guide to our conduct: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Matthew 7.12) In our Courageous Conversations, this usually show up as active, patient listening and constructive, respectful comments. (John 13.34-35) 2. We “Listen for what the Spirit is saying to the church.” Christians believe that we all have the Spirit of God. This makes us listen for God’s voice, even if it comes from a very unexpected voice. To remind ourselves of this, after any person speaks into our conversation, we repeat this chorus: “Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.” (1 Corinthians 14) 3. We Take Community Responsibility If tensions rise and begin to get out of hand, that is not just an issue for the two or three people in the fray. It is a community issue, so, as Paul called the Philippian church to “help” Euodia and Syntyche, we are all called to help as we can to restore Christian love in the community. (Philippians 4.2-3) Taxation 3 Courageous Conversation 14 OCT 18 © Allen Hilton Taxation 4 Courageous Conversation 14 OCT 18 © Allen Hilton Defining Taxes Below are two definitions of taxation that cover several important parts of our topic. "Tax is a compulsory payment, in currency or in specie, exacted by a public authority, for the purpose of satisfying the latter's own needs or those of the public, or part of the public.” (M. Elon, “Taxation” in The Principles of Jewish Law) “A means by which governments finance their expenditure by imposing charges on citizens and corporate entities.” (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/taxation.html) The primary points of these two definitions tell us that tax is… 1. a compulsory payment, 2. paid in different units of value (currency, goods, or labor), 3. mandated by a public authority, 4. to meet the needs of the authorities and/or the public, 5. levied on individuals and corporate entities. Our Questions This topic gives birth to a plethora of questions on related topics, making it difficult to focus our conversation on matters and questions that will produce the most fruit. These issues will guide our conversation on taxation: 1. The primary purpose for taxes is to raise revenue to pay government costs. Given that government has many objectives, which objectives of a people are worth taxing people to supply? 2. Beyond collecting revenue, what other purposes do tax systems serve? (E.g., incentivizing and disincentivizing certain behaviors) 3. Should everyone pay the same percentage (flat tax) or should the tax load increase in percentage for higher-income citizens (progressive/graduated tax)? 4. How should we decide what counts for public and private resourcing of things we value? 5. In a context in which some people will not pay certain taxes because they disagree with the uses their government makes of the revenue, and others work to pay as little as possible so they have more to spend, what is the ethical place of tax avoidance? Our conversation will have a life of its own, but these questions will usher us into important parts of this important issue. Taxation 5 Courageous Conversation 14 OCT 18 © Allen Hilton The Present Divide The two American political tribes have very different philosophies about taxation. Any brief characterization must paint with a broad brush that risks inaccuracy. However, broadly speaking… • conservatives work to reduce government spending on programs other than defense and security, leaving social welfare assistance to be carried out through private entities, rather than public funding.