Monetary Obligations

This week, unTapped returns right in time for tax season. This is the time of year Americans are finalizing their tax forms and finding out how much they owe the government or how much the government owes them.

Taxation is a topic that has ethical and spiritual implications. For instance, the Christian Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives a remarkably ambivalent response to a question on taxes. In part, this was the response that Jesus recommended to his fellow Jews for unfair taxation that stained their entire history.

Taxation is an enforced collection of money by a government. However, some faiths refuse to pay taxes to any government.

Even people that are not necessarily joined to a faith refuse to pay taxes on grounds of morality, conviction, and ethics. A classic example of this is the American Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, who refused to be any part of government. he thought paying taxes made him a moral accomplice with a nation state that he never chose to be apart of.

Another form of enforced collection is found within faith. In Christianity and Judaism it is called tithing. Other faiths have versions of this. For instance, one of the Pillars of Islam is the Zakat.

From a spiritual perspective, are you obligated to pay taxes? What about tithing? What are your monetary obligations to your secular and faith communities?

Join us Thursday, 7pm, at Short's Brewing in Bellaire for a discussion about monetary obligations.