• Australis13@fedia.io
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    4 days ago

    Christian nationalist Doug Wilson wants tax rates to be determined by the Bible: “I would like Divine Law to have something to say about the marginal tax rates … because when the state claims a tithe, they’re claiming equality with God.”

    Somebody needs to read their Bible.

    Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” So they brought it. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

    Mark 12:13-16 (NKJV). There are other passages about submitting to earthly governments as well where they do not contravene the law of God.

    • phutatorius@lemmy.zip
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      11 hours ago

      And the meaning in that passage is revealed by the questions: what does Caesar own? And what does God own?

      Starting from the end: God owns everything. Now what? It was a veiled subversive message.

      Most of the other passages about submitting to earthly authorities are in St Paul. It’s one of the many ways he was more conserative than JC.

    • crunchy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      4 days ago

      Guarantee this dumbass talking about Divine Law will just as quickly foam at the mouth about Sharia Law.

      • phutatorius@lemmy.zip
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        11 hours ago

        Well, yeah, but those guys wear towels on their heads instead of red baseball hats, so it’s entirely different.

      • ouRKaoS@lemmy.today
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        3 days ago

        “I mean real Divine Law, not that terrorist crap!”

        …all while he proceeds to ignore the 1000’s of religions that were a thing before his specific denomination of Christianity came along and got it “right”.

    • Hapankaali@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Wilson might have had this verse in mind:

      Matthew 19

      23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

      …probably.

        • phutatorius@lemmy.zip
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          11 hours ago

          They have come up with some convoluted bullshit interpretations to nullify it. “Duh, the Eye of the Needle was the name of a gate in Jerusalem.” A story that traces back to some late-medieval donor-friendly commentator, who pulled it out of his monastic ass.

        • mofongo@discuss.tchncs.de
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          3 days ago

          I also like Acts 2: 44-47

          44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

    • MangoCats@feddit.it
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      4 days ago

      The Bible is a bit like the internet - it’s large and obscure enough that if you dig long enough, you can find just about anything you want to “back up” any point of view you want.

    • MedicsOfAnarchy@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Render unto George Washington all your quarters, and to Benjamin Franklin all 100 dollar bills. Screw Lincoln, we don’t make his money no mo’

    • InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Romans 13:1 is more about Christians being powerless when ICE is hunting down immigrants (who are often Christian talk about the actual persecution of Christians in America)