The Biblical Case for Limited Government and Low Taxes

Liberalism, generally, favors a bigger government and higher taxes to pay for it, while conservatives advocate moving in the opposite direction: limited government and low taxes.

Let's face it. The government since FDR's New Deal has gotten bigger. LBJ instituted the Great Society. (I want my Game Show Government, no matter the cost!) By now conservatives would say Uncle Sam is morbidly obese. But liberalism is still winning, and liberals claim the moral high ground.

I have to admit from the outset that I get nervous about applying the economic and political specifics of the Bible to the modern era. But maybe we can draw general principles from the ancient theocracy of the Old Testament, which eventually evolved (or devolved) into a royal theocracy.

Of course, we don't -- nor should we -- live in a theocracy. So let's proceed with caution as we look at the Bible.

The main principle here in this article is one that goes wrong: from simplicity to complexity. We need to reverse the process.

"16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself ... he must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. 18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law ... and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his brothers[.]"

The Romans kept the mobs of Rome at bay with their “bread and circuses” program. They had developed the very essense of major central government control by the time of the Caesars. Imperial Rome simply taxed the inhabitants of their farthest provinces, and took the surplus back to Rome, as “tribute”. Few of the benefits ever trickled back to the provinces from Rome, as the deal was, keep paying up, or we march a couple of Roman Legions through here and take it anyway. It was just less trouble to fork it over, in the hopes that some peace would prevail for a while.

The Romans were not concerned with taking any set percentage, just as much as they could without drawing too many squawks from the locals. The locals also had to be a little concerned how loud their own squawks got to be, as too much would draw down the wrath of the Roman Legions even more surely than pleading poverty.

The concept of a “democracy” or a “representative republic” would have been as totally foreign to the Roman Caesars as the concepts of “initiative” and “corporate profits” are to the liberal elite today. Instead of distant provinces, the corporate entities have made themselves available close at hand, where instead of legions of soldiers, the tax specialists and regulators now descend upon these corporate entities, and pluck them as furiously as they are able until the squawking grows too loud, then either the complainers are told to shut up, or be driven out of the marketplace.

But corporations, unlike the far provinces which were subject to the limitation of being confined to a physical location, have the option of escaping BEYOND the reach of the grasping central government, and more than a few have taken the step of removing to a more favorable climate.

From Pope Leo XIII, who foresaw the problems we are facing

“To have in public matters no care for religion, and in the arrangement and administration of civil affairs to have no more regard for God than if He did not exist, is a rashness unknown to the very pagans; for in their heart and soul the notion of a divinity and the need of public religion were so firmly fixed that they would have thought it easier to have a city without foundation than a city without God. Human society, indeed for which by nature we are formed, has been constituted by God the Author of nature; and from Him, as from their principle and source, flow in all their strength and permanence the countless benefits with which society abounds. As we are each of us admonished by the very voice of nature to worship God in piety and holiness, as the Giver unto us of life and of all that is good therein, so also and for the same reason, nations and States are bound to worship Him; and therefore it is clear that those who would absolve society from all religious duty act not only unjustly but also with ignorance and folly. “As men are by the will of God born for civil union and society, and as the power to rule is so necessary a bond of society that, if it be taken away, society must at once be broken up, it follows that from Him who is the Author of society has come also the authority to rule; so that whosoever rules, he is the minister of God. Wherefore, as the end and nature of human society so requires, it is right to obey the just commands of lawful authority, as it is right to obey God who ruleth all things; and it is most untrue that the people have it in their power to cast aside their obedience whensoever they please.” [Leo XIII, Encyclical: Humanum genus, April 20, 1884

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.