By Hunter Baker on 7.11.03 @ 12:01AM
A liberal marriage of church and state made in tax heaven.
Although the Ten Commandments have been banned from the Alabama
Supreme Court building, the Christian faith is still firmly in
control of policy in the heart of Dixie. By now, most readers know
that Alabama's conservative Governor Bob
Riley is putting his political life on the line to reform the
state's income tax system. Alabama currently taxes all income north
of $4,200. Most states provide a more generous exemption, which
keeps more poor taxpayers off the rolls. Thus, Alabama has been
labeled a regressive tax regime.
Governor Riley, urged on by a University of Alabama law
professor, has explicitly said he aims to reform the regressive
system because his understanding of Christian theology demands it.
Under his plan, the poor would see more of their income shielded
from taxation, while more well-heeled Alabamans would experience a
tax increase. The Cotton State is buzzing like a field full of June
bugs as the debate rages on whether Riley is correctly reading the
will of Christ. Most folks in Alabama have listened to enough
sermons to qualify for ordination, so everybody has an opinion.
Some in the media have been amused at the difficulty groups like
the Christian Coalition have had in forming a response, as
conservatives go on about varying interpretations of Scripture and
what rendering to Caesar means in context. But less noticeably
absent, however, has been even a scintilla of complaint about the
much-despised marriage of church and state from the left's usual
suspects.
Where, one might reasonably inquire, is the ACLU? Where are
those People for the American Way? Where the heck is the Most
Annoyingly and Questionably Reverend Barry Lynn? The Governor of a
Bible Belt state is rewriting the Code Annotated in accordance with
the New Testament and we've heard nary a peep from the usual
suspects!
One possible answer is that they are tired. The ACLU, PFAW, and
the Reverend Barry toiled so tirelessly to force removal of Justice
Roy Moore's monument to the Ten Commandments from public space,
they may now be pausing for a breather. But how can they be sure
the Ten Commandments controversy wasn't merely a brilliant
diversion designed to keep them busy while some serious
church-state mixing is underway? I advise them to finish their
break and get back on the field. Dear Heaven, don't they know
religion and taxation are engaged in heavy petting down in
Dixie??!!!
Some, of course, have faith the longtime watchdogs of
church-state separation have a very good reason for their absence
from the current controversy over Jesus and the tax code. A more
cynical soul might wonder whether the AWOL groups and persons in
question are purposefully avoiding comment on Governor Riley's
Christ-inspired plans. Could it be they just can't quite bring
themselves to battle the marriage of church and state when a
liberal child results from the match? Is that a whiff of hypocrisy
rising from the campfire of the secularist left? Say it ain't so,
Reverend Barry. Say it ain't so.
One hopes astute observers will be moved to ask questions about
the sudden need of secular marchers to take a long break from their
normally ceaseless battle. But I doubt the much needed
cross-examination will occur. After all, this isn't the first time
the urgent concerns about church and state have mysteriously
vanished. Think of the lack of interest by strict separationists
when Catholic bishops speak out against the death penalty or when
liberal Protestant clergy used to flack for liberalized abortion
laws. Remember again how His Eminence Jesse Jackson regularly
entertains Democratic Presidential nominees in black churches in
urban areas around the country.
There's a lesson to be learned here and one hopes fair-minded
people will learn it. That finely tuned note of outrage trotted out
by the secularist-left is very selective and not terribly
principled. The opportunists of church-state separation have put
themselves on the bench when a big fight is raging. For the sake of
a more nuanced public discussion, let's hope they stay there a
while.
topics:
Taxes, Religion, Abortion, Law, Supreme Court, Oil
