I still cannot help but fight this in my gut. It may be because I was raised believing otherwise. What of Christ saying give unto Caesar? Surely the Roman government was not "good" in the sense that the taxes they collected would certainly be spent for services and goods contrary to God's law?
Ok a secondary note, why use the KJV? Ever?
Yeah, but look at the tax rate compared to now. Historians think it was %4, annually.
Nobody really knows what the current US tax rate is now. 1) It's graduated depending on your income. 2) There are hidden taxes called fees that are often not included in the calculation. 3) There's inflation (which the Fed admitted under oath as being a tax). 4) When businesses are taxed, they just embed it into their prices and pass it on to the consumer.
So really, who could say how much we're being taxed? The original audience of scripture could determine what Caesar owned by looking at the surface of the object and finding his picture on it. We can't do that. Besides, the government presumes to own everything anyway.
As for KJV, I just like to take it off the table for people who bring it up. People who are bugged by KJV don't typically point to its use as a flaw to the discussion.
So if the tax rate were low enough we should just pay it even if it is not used appropriately?
We pat little kids on the head when they do things they shouldn't. I don't think the Gospel was compromised by roman taxation. I think it is seriously compromised now.
This seems inconsistent. If something is wrong it does not scale into right. Still, I have always said there has to be some practical limitations i.e. pragmatism...it is just that we are usually on opposite sides of that discussion.
Christ did not give to Caesar. When confronted by the religious leaders of the day in an attempt to trip him up, Jesus said "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's but to God the things that are God's." This begs the question, "What belongs to Caesar?" Does Caesar own whatever he happens to claim, or is he a thief and a robber?
BTW, Jesus said this after someone produced a coin with Caesar's face on it... the key question here is "What belongs to God?" Whose image and inscription is on every human being? In Whose image is man made? To Whom does every man belong? If I belong to God, what does that leave for Caesar to claim?