Explaining personal freedoms, spiritual beliefs in a free society
by James Simpson

Potomac News
Friday, July 4, 2003

A lot of my friends ask why I am no longer a Republican. The primary reason is my refusal to suffer the consequences of the cognitive dissonance I would have to maintain.

I should tell you at the outset that my Christianity supersedes my nationalism. And that this dovetails with my political philosophy as a Libertarian far greater then when I was a Republican.

This week the Supreme Court declared that the government has no right to invade a persons' private residence and charge them for performing acts considered "unnatural."

As a Christian I am opposed to homosexuality, but I don't believe that it should be banned by the government. It is incumbent upon me as a Christian to try and persuade people to change their ways - but not through laws that threaten coercion and force.

Some of our Virginia representatives, who are Republican Christians, seem to think that this behavior should be outlawed because it is morally wrong. Those in government who try and force people to live according to their morals promote an Inquisition style society. Individuals do not, and should not, have to answer to man for their "consensual" transgressions. They will be judged like the rest of us, in due time.

Once you try and legislate morality you have gone beyond the scope of limited government. One may then ask, "Doesn't that preclude laws opposing murder?" The answer is no. Those types of laws, while arguably based on morals espoused by various religions, are designed to protect individuals from harm by others - regardless of the religion (or lack thereof) of those doing the protecting or being protected. Murder is not a
consensual act.

What is mind-boggling is that these same legislators don't seem to have a problem with individual income taxes. If they did then we would hear more outcry condemning them, not continual increases year after year.

According to my Bible one of the Ten Commandments is; "Thou shalt not steal." And the commonly held definition of stealing is the taking of one's property without their consent.

Money is simply a medium of exchange traded for time and labor. In other words it is a representation of property. Income taxes, which have only been around since the 16th Amendment was enacted in 1913, are taken from me without my consent. Income taxes, which are condoned and enforced by these same representatives through the threat of force, may be legal but they are not moral - for my approval was not, and is not, provided.

Most people don't know about the modest beginnings of this evil, or that its roots are firmly planted in Communism. The transfer of wealth from those according to their means to those according to their need, through a "progressive or graduated income tax," is one of the fundamental concepts in establishing the type of society that Karl Marx and Frederick Engels envisioned.

But the problem with the income tax goes further than simply being progressive. At the core of the issue is how it is collected. This is not like a use tax, which offsets the cost of certain products or services provided by the government. For instance car and gas taxes, while hated by many people, are only paid for by those who use the roads. And if the revenue from those taxes went back into transportation then it would be a self sustaining and fair system.

No one has a right to the fruits of my labor without my consent, even if it a "gang" of people as is the case with government. For example, let's say that I had a couple acres of land on which I grew crops for my family to eat. And a neighbor, who chose not to grow any food, decided to come and take what he wanted from my garden. Would this be right or him to do? Perhaps as a Christian I would be compelled to help him out, but can anyone say that it is right for him to take the results of my time and labor? However, people who support the income tax support the exact same actions. In the case of the income tax it is all of my neighbors who have banded together as a gang (also known as government) and insist that I give up a portion of my crops. This however, does not change the fact that it is theft - plain and simple.

Today we celebrate our Independence, albeit significantly less then that which we had prior to 1913.

James Simpson lives in Lake Ridge and wishes everyone a safe and fun-filled Independence Day!