Kathryn posts:
E-mailer makes a good point, roughly right, I imagine: “Right off the top 1/2 is going to taxes, that ought to satisfy your social obligation argument.”
I’m sorry but this is very wrong and it has nothing to do with Mel Gibson and the Passion. Taxes are not charity. They are not good works. They are not “social obligations” at all. They are a legal requirement ofthe state. Indeed, one sign that our current taxes are too high is that so many people think paying them absolves them of other social responsibilities. This is one of the reasons high taxes are immoral because they constitue the coercion of citizens to do what other people think is right, but you don’t (think of federally funded abortions, for example). If paying taxes satisfies your “social obligation” does that mean folks — like me — who are always trying to minimize their taxes are less socially responsible, less moral?