FDNY? You mean the guys with ridiculous pensions who steal from people’s homes? Who stole Rolexes from the World Trade Center? Who close down buildings based on ridiculous codes? Or do you mean my local suburban fire departments? Those are all volunteer and not tax payer funded. Government is a cancer. Useless. Garbage services. Privatize fire fighters.
Oh yay, someone with no theological understanding taking a passage from the Gospels to make a stupid low resolution point lacking any nuance. I’ve never see this before.
Before you go quoting that again, you might want to understand what’s actually happening there. Christ isn’t endorsing Roman taxation, and He’s definitely not giving the state some moral blank check.
He’s answering a trap. The Pharisees are trying to corner Him into either rebelling against Rome or undermining the Law. And instead of taking the bait, He turns it back on them.
They’re in the Temple, playing guardians of the Law, while holding a coin stamped with Caesar’s image. That alone is a problem under the Commandments. The hypocrisy is the point. They’re already engaged in the system they’re pretending to challenge.
And when He says “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s,” He’s drawing a boundary, not taking one away. Caesar gets what belongs to Caesar. God gets what belongs to God.
Which is everything that bears His image. You included. Stop reducing Scripture to gotcha bumper stickers. You’ll embarrass yourself again.
Taxation is theft
Oh, and “Taxation is theft” is the pinnacle of original thinking! 🙄
It is not. It is a bumper sticker. It is also not the Gospel. It’s still also true.
Leave your complaint at your local fire department.
FDNY? You mean the guys with ridiculous pensions who steal from people’s homes? Who stole Rolexes from the World Trade Center? Who close down buildings based on ridiculous codes? Or do you mean my local suburban fire departments? Those are all volunteer and not tax payer funded. Government is a cancer. Useless. Garbage services. Privatize fire fighters.
Leave your complaint about your local fire department at your local police station.
Matthew 22:21
Oh yay, someone with no theological understanding taking a passage from the Gospels to make a stupid low resolution point lacking any nuance. I’ve never see this before.
Before you go quoting that again, you might want to understand what’s actually happening there. Christ isn’t endorsing Roman taxation, and He’s definitely not giving the state some moral blank check.
He’s answering a trap. The Pharisees are trying to corner Him into either rebelling against Rome or undermining the Law. And instead of taking the bait, He turns it back on them.
They’re in the Temple, playing guardians of the Law, while holding a coin stamped with Caesar’s image. That alone is a problem under the Commandments. The hypocrisy is the point. They’re already engaged in the system they’re pretending to challenge.
And when He says “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s,” He’s drawing a boundary, not taking one away. Caesar gets what belongs to Caesar. God gets what belongs to God.
Which is everything that bears His image. You included. Stop reducing Scripture to gotcha bumper stickers. You’ll embarrass yourself again.