Obey the Law

When confronting the idea of a pro-life tax strike, the initial reaction is usually to quote the Scriptural commands to "render to Caesar..." (Mt.22:21) and to pay "taxes to whom taxes are due" (Rom.13:7). Quite obviously, Christians are not to go about recklessly disregarding human authority, nor acting as if we were above civil law. But consider whether this means that human authority is absolute and whether our obedience must be unquestioning.

The previous post and the section in our manifesto entitled Obey the Law deal with this germane question, so I will not belabor the point. Let it suffice here to say that, if it comes to a choice between obeying God or obeying man, we must obey God. Let me just add a couple thoughts to that...

First off, one does not necessarily have to disobey man in order to obey God in the matter of tax-funded abortion. The conscientious individual or family may curtail tax liability without violating tax laws. Both the "Reduced income" and "Flee" strategies as discussed in the manifesto involve no breach of human law. The difficult choice is in this way avoided, the scruples become moot.

Ask yourself first whether the scruples are genuine. Be honest. Are you just fearful and timid about getting into trouble with the tax authorities? Or are you truly convinced that obeying tax laws is a vital part of your conscientious duty? If the latter, if you have genuine religious or moral reservations, then you ought to have scruples over obeying other basic commandments, too. How can a person be scrupulous over "render to Caesar..." and not be scrupulous over "Thou shalt not kill"? The "Reduced income" and "Flee" and other strategies allow you to keep both sets of scruples, to obey God without disobeying man.

The second point involves a closer look at what it really means to "render to Caesar", especially for American citizens. I will devote the next post to this consideration.