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As a rash of new taxes are eyed by our government in light of the faltering economy, I can’t help but wonder why no one seems to understand what a budget cut is. Now Oregon wants to tax there constituents on there mileage. To make the this worse, they have no plans to get rid of the current gas tax and the new plan would take a paltry $20 million to implement.
Yup, lets spend an additional $20 million to implement a new tax as opposed to simply cutting superfluous programs. After reading about this new tax, I decided to check out the state agencies for the wonderfully innovative state of Oregon. According to there State site there are 155 different state agencies. Now I’m sure that there are vital agencies on that page that help the state to run with optimal efficiency. However, are you seriously going to tell me that there is no possible way to cut spending in any of those agencies?
Look, here is my issue with all of the new taxes that our “big brother” seems to think are a good idea.
1.) There is no end in site to the taxes they can levy. If we can tax soda because it’s unhealthy then we can tax anything else that can be shown to be unhealthy. ANYTHING.
2.) There is no limit to what the government can say about the way we live. This is no longer about the good of the population. You can say all you want that it will save money and create a healthier populace, but the bottom is line is juts that…the Bottom Line. This is about the government making money to cover their inability to control spending.
3.) These taxes are not going to change anything. They never have and they never will. The government adjusts it’s spending to match it’s income. Well, that isn’t entirely true. The government actually manages to outspend it’s revenue on a consistent basis. Then it uses that unbalanced budget to rationalize new taxes. Until the government can learn how to control it’s spending and stop creating new and useless agencies, nothing will change because of these new taxes. People will not become “green” because of the tax, the environment will not become clean and stable because of the tax. The populace will not become healthy or skinny because of the new taxes. So why are they being passed?
The only answer that makes sense is money, at least that is the one that scares me the least.
I heard a story about a girl who was a victim of child pornography. The perpetrator of the crime was a pastor at the girl church. As I heard this story I felt a righteous anger rise up within me. Various other stories of pastor and church leaders that have committed terrible atrocities against those in the flock began to come to mind and I was furious. I wasn’t angry at them however, I was angry at myself. I was angry at the church as a whole.
How far have we fallen to allow such things to happen? Where is the righteous anger that should rise up within in the christian to say, that’s not right and we need to fix it? I add the last part because it is the real issue that angers me. There are more than enough ‘christians” who will stand up and say that something or someone is wrong. Where are the christians who will actually attempt to change the root of the issue. Where are those who will confront the cause of the sin and remove it so that the flock can prosper. It seems we are simply content to call those who stumble hypocrites and then continue on with our walk.
There is a much deeper issue here than a man struggle with pornography. There are much deeper issues than people having affairs or being addicted to drugs. Don’t get me wrong, these are all serious problems but the real issue is why did they still struggle with those things. Why didn’t someone know about the issue? Why has the church, the one place we should all feel accepted and welcome, become a place where we feel the need to hide the most?
It seems strange but if you want to find the people who are the most honest about who they are don’t bother looking at a church. Instead try a bar, or a crack house. Why is it you ask? It’s simple, the church is no longer a place of refuge it is a place of judgement and condemnation. We have presented the image of perfection to the world. “Come here and join us and all you problems will go away.” What you end up with is a large group of people who feel like they are second rate because they have problems even after joining. Instead of talking about it they hide it so that they don’t get ridiculed.
What would have happened if the man who struggled with child pornography had been open about his struggle? I fear in most cases he would have been judged harshly and cast aside as one who was not walking the right way. What should have happened to him though? He should have been embraced as a brother who was struggling. There should have been those who came alongside him and helped him to bear the burden, helped him to finally be free from the sin that had ensnared him. The man wanted to be fee but he didn’t know he could be. Even if he knew he could be free, he didn’t know how to be and had no one there to help him.
I write this not to throw stones but to confront the truth that we have, as a church culture, created an atmosphere of darkness and called it light. If we don’t begin to remove the darkness and start walking in openness and transparency the sins that have invaded the church will consume the church. It is only in the light that we are able to become truly free.
