Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
The Perils of Presidential Prooftexting
The Perils of Presidential Prooftexting
Mar 18, 2025 10:22 AM

Much has been made already about President ments yesterday at the National Prayer Breakfast concerning the Christian faith’s teachings about social responsibility. During his time at the breakfast, the president opined that getting rid of tax breaks for wealthy Americans amounted to a Christian obligation:

In a time when many folks are struggling and at a time when we have enormous deficits, it’s hard for me to ask seniors on a fixed e or young people with student loans or middle-class families who can barely pay the bills to shoulder the burden alone. And I think to myself, if I’m willing to give something up as somebody who’s been extraordinarily blessed and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually thinks that’s going to make economic sense. But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’ teaching that, from to whom much is given, much shall be required.

The president is referring to the passage that concludes Jesus’ explanation of the parable of the watchful servants in Luke 12. It’s a good thing that the president isn’t the theologian-in-chief!

As Breanne Howe has pointed out (HT: The Transom), the text itself has to do with the basic idea of stewardship (the best resource for exploring the truly biblical conception of stewardship in its fullness is the NIV Stewardship Study Bible). I do think Howe draws a bit too sharply the lines between obligations and giving, as she writes, “Giving out of obligation is not truly giving, it’s merely following the rules.” There’s plex relationship between legal requirements, moral obligations, and Christian gratitude that can’t be summed up by simply juxtaposing Christian charitable giving and government taxation.

But at the same time, paying your taxes can’t be simply conflated with meeting Christian social obligations, either. Christians are to pay taxes, certainly, but that doesn’t mean that Christian social responsibility is reducible to paying taxes.

More problematic, perhaps, is this latter identification, with our responsibilities before God being transferred to our responsibilities to government. If the president can use a text like Luke 12:48 to argue for progressive taxation, then what kind of tax policy should we implement on the basis of Luke 19:24-26?

Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

“‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’

“He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

It’s too easy and sometimes irresistibly tempting to move directly from the text of Scripture to the text of legislation.

Prooftexting for the purpose of political posturing does violence to the Scriptures and damages our public discourse. That might be the most important political lesson arising from yesterday’s breakfast.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Religious Organizations: Take the Hillsdale Option
I am tired of hearing Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission hailed as a “victory” for religious liberty; it was no such thing—unless we’re also going to start counting forfeits and rain delays as wins. Masterpiece was a bunt, and not a very promising one at that. Although the e of the decision was in favor of Jack Phillips, the Christian baker in Colorado who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, the reasoning of the decision...
Africa needs trade, not more weapons
The EU is considering a $12-billion peace plan that would supply weapons to war-torn western and central Africa, known as the Sahel region. But Ibrahim Anoba – who hails from Lagos, Nigeria – says trade and economic development, including lower EU tariffs, would go a long way toward bringing peace to the area. At Acton’s Religion & Liberty Transatlantic website, Anoba writes: [T]he recruitment strategy of [al-Qaeda’s regional affiliate] – like most terror organizations – focuses on exploiting munities already...
Enjoying your weekend? Thank God and free markets
No two words in the English language create the feeling of relaxation as perfectly as “summertime weekend.” But the two days of physical and spiritual rest we enjoy each week are not the inevitable products of the cosmic order: They have been made possible by the unique marriage of the free market and faith. In the state of nature, rest follows work – or precedes death. Abraham Maslow codified in a precise way the fact that, only after we have...
C.S. Lewis on what lies behind the moral law
Although popular in his own day, C.S. Lewis has e even more influential since his death in 1963. One of the most enduring of Lewis’s works is his book Mere Christianity, which started out as a series of radio lectures that aired on the BBC during World War II. A YouTube channel called CSLewisDoodle contains a number of videos that illustrate some of Lewis’s selected essays to make them easier to understand. The video below is from the third radio...
A bishop opposes mandatory union membership (video)
Some Catholic leaders have called the Supreme Court’s Janus decision “disappointing.” But a bishop says the Court ruled correctly, both because the union funds immoral activity and pulsory union dues violate Catholic teachings on the freedom of association. Illinois government worker Mark Janus sued for the right to sever financial ties with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). When the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)filed an amicus curiae briefon behalf of ASCME, the bishop of...
What he saw at the ‘Church of Warren Buffet’
Every year tens of thousands of shareholders in Berkshire Hathaway descend on Omaha, Nebraska for the “Woodstock for capitalists.” The rock stars e to see are two elderly giants of value investing, Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger. What exactly is the appeal? To find out, Paul D. Glader, an associate professor of Journalism, Media and Entrepreneurship at The King’s College in New York, joined the crowds at the “church of Warren Buffet.” Glader writes about his experience for the inaugural...
30 key quotes from ‘Humanae vitae’ (Of human life)
Fifty years ago this week, Pope Paul VI released Humanae Vitae, an encyclical on marital love, responsible parenthood, and artificial contraception. Because contraception profoundly influences so many areas of life—from the family to national policies—this statement on human anthropology and sexuality has e a one of the most significant documents of Catholic social thought. In honor of the anniversary, here are 30 key quotes from the papal encyclical: The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which...
How a pizzeria in Rome is highlighting the gifts of those with Down syndrome
In 2000, two parents founded a pizzeria in Rome with the goal of employing people with Down syndrome. Inspired by their son, who had the condition, they named itLa Locanda dei Girasoli (translated as “The Sunflower Inn”). Today, the restaurant employs eight differently-abled people (five with Down syndrome) and boasts a 4.5-star review on TripAdvisor, making it a destination of sorts. According to their website, the restaurant’s goal is to “promote the employment of people with Down syndrome, ennobling and...
Why religion is a central pillar to the civil society
In an article for the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Kay Coles James, president of the Heritage Foundation, argues that “the health of a civil society is dependent on religious expression and liberty.” James is also the author of Transforming America from the Inside Out and has been featured by the Acton Institute before. Religion has always been a central aspect of civil society because it makes up a very significant portion of those cultural institutions that unite, inspire, and guide...
The welfare state threatens vulnerable life
Poland has an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic population, a putatively pro-life government, and a popular initiative to protect the lives of children suffering from genetic conditions like Down syndrome – so, why has it gone nowhere? Politicians candidly admit allowing sick children to survive would cost the state-run health care system too much money. At Acton’s Religion & Liberty Transatlantic website, Polish author Marcin Rzegocki writes: A report from an official parliamentary body, the Bureau of Parliamentary Analysis, stated that “adoption...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved