Islam and the Tax Factor
By Bill Price
(Do They Really Hate Us for Our Freedom)
Some of my friends assert that Christianity and Islam are natural
enemies. Many of their arguments have merit. But, I have a question to
pose. What if we "Christians" are actually aiding the success of our "enemy"?
In Joe Sobran's recent article, "Islam and the Vacuum", he cited
Mohammed's abilities as a warrior and statesman to account for Islam's
growth. "Mohammed was a better warrior and statesman than a theologian
and in making converts he used the sword and tax incentives." Not many,
once exposed to the truth of Christianity, will convert to Islam.
Theologically, Islam is just not compelling; but an incentive like
major tax relief could be. Christians in western civilization were
sometimes taxed into marginal existences. Some monarchs were more
inclined toward avarice than others, just as many democratically
elected governments are today. The tax burdens in "Christian" countries
were, and in many cases still are, significant to say the least. Islam
offered tempting opportunities to those over-taxed Christians and found
that in many cases the imposed deprivations (impoverishing taxes) were
just waiting to be exploited. The idea that a country embracing
Christianity would hoist huge tax burdens on its subjects, appeared
extremely hypocritical. Islam made sure that Christians paid particular
attention to this apparent incongruity.
I was listening to the radio a couple of years ago on the way home from
work. Bob Brinker was hosting his regular show, "Money Talk". Bob
announced excitedly that President Bush's economic commission
recommended that the president do away with the federal income tax. The
president obviously ignored his commission's advice. Muhammad would be
relieved to know that the West's infatuation with big taxes can still
be used by Islam, as evidence of blatant Christian hypocrisy. Also, if
the president would have accepted his commission's recommendation,
sense could have been made out of an otherwise senseless neo-con
slogan, "They hate us for our freedom". It's a little hard to brag
about freedom when almost half your property/wealth is being confiscated.
In his book "The Great Heresies", Hilaire Belloc said that many
over-taxed Christians saw the invading Islamic hoard as liberators and
refused to fight against them. In 1942 an individual income tax was
imposed on private U.S. citizens. Up till that time only certain
categories like corporations or foreigners paid an income tax.
Individual withholding was first authorized under the "Victory" Tax
Act, which was proposed and took effect soon after America's entrance
in W.W.II. Bringing the boys back home gave cause for the use of
extraordinary measures like withholding money (5%) from the paychecks
of private citizens. Well the boys have been home for quite awhile now,
but the "victory" tax was abated in name only. The withholding
continued under its governmental sponsors (U.S. Congress) and
eventually grew to today's gigantic proportions.
Are we making the same mistake we criticized our ancestors for? Reading
about the surfs and peasants struggling under land barons and kings
that confiscated huge amounts of what they were able to produce appears
extremely backward. The Property/wealth of hard working people being
carted off by tax collectors was thought, in "modern" society, as an
unconscionable act. At one time, we felt secure in the knowledge that
the lessons of history would certainly protect us 20th century folks
from those types of barbaric deprivations.
Why get defensive when one of our critics focuses on one of our
defects? Unless, we don't think we have any.
Well the boys have been home for quite awhile now, but the "Victory"
tax was abated in name only. The withholding continued at first as a
"voluntary" program, but soon morphed into a scheme perpetrated through
false statements in official IRS literature, and grew to today's
gigantic proportions. It's a bad sign when a country refuses to discuss
its weaknesses. Islam could never honestly win the battle for the
Christian mind, but many are not operating on that level, and never will
The Islamic world, for the most part, sees as ridiculous taxing
policies that demand practically half of what a working person earns.
Federal, state, local, property, sales and excise taxes consume half of
our earnings. Loyalty from an increasingly exploited citizenry could be
difficult to maintain, while confiscatory taxation constantly
undermines efforts to eek out a living for one's family. What a shame,
Islam is able demonstrate more charity for the property rights of its
subjects than the U.S. does toward its citizens. It may be hard to
admit, but Islam occupies the moral high ground on that one. Let's
support the president's commission on the economy and send a serious
message to Washington: "It's the tax, stupid."
Bill Price
For more information on the Federal income Tax visit:
http:www.article1taxation.com/flyer.html.
(Do They Really Hate Us for Our Freedom)
Some of my friends assert that Christianity and Islam are natural
enemies. Many of their arguments have merit. But, I have a question to
pose. What if we "Christians" are actually aiding the success of our "enemy"?
In Joe Sobran's recent article, "Islam and the Vacuum", he cited
Mohammed's abilities as a warrior and statesman to account for Islam's
growth. "Mohammed was a better warrior and statesman than a theologian
and in making converts he used the sword and tax incentives." Not many,
once exposed to the truth of Christianity, will convert to Islam.
Theologically, Islam is just not compelling; but an incentive like
major tax relief could be. Christians in western civilization were
sometimes taxed into marginal existences. Some monarchs were more
inclined toward avarice than others, just as many democratically
elected governments are today. The tax burdens in "Christian" countries
were, and in many cases still are, significant to say the least. Islam
offered tempting opportunities to those over-taxed Christians and found
that in many cases the imposed deprivations (impoverishing taxes) were
just waiting to be exploited. The idea that a country embracing
Christianity would hoist huge tax burdens on its subjects, appeared
extremely hypocritical. Islam made sure that Christians paid particular
attention to this apparent incongruity.
I was listening to the radio a couple of years ago on the way home from
work. Bob Brinker was hosting his regular show, "Money Talk". Bob
announced excitedly that President Bush's economic commission
recommended that the president do away with the federal income tax. The
president obviously ignored his commission's advice. Muhammad would be
relieved to know that the West's infatuation with big taxes can still
be used by Islam, as evidence of blatant Christian hypocrisy. Also, if
the president would have accepted his commission's recommendation,
sense could have been made out of an otherwise senseless neo-con
slogan, "They hate us for our freedom". It's a little hard to brag
about freedom when almost half your property/wealth is being confiscated.
In his book "The Great Heresies", Hilaire Belloc said that many
over-taxed Christians saw the invading Islamic hoard as liberators and
refused to fight against them. In 1942 an individual income tax was
imposed on private U.S. citizens. Up till that time only certain
categories like corporations or foreigners paid an income tax.
Individual withholding was first authorized under the "Victory" Tax
Act, which was proposed and took effect soon after America's entrance
in W.W.II. Bringing the boys back home gave cause for the use of
extraordinary measures like withholding money (5%) from the paychecks
of private citizens. Well the boys have been home for quite awhile now,
but the "victory" tax was abated in name only. The withholding
continued under its governmental sponsors (U.S. Congress) and
eventually grew to today's gigantic proportions.
Are we making the same mistake we criticized our ancestors for? Reading
about the surfs and peasants struggling under land barons and kings
that confiscated huge amounts of what they were able to produce appears
extremely backward. The Property/wealth of hard working people being
carted off by tax collectors was thought, in "modern" society, as an
unconscionable act. At one time, we felt secure in the knowledge that
the lessons of history would certainly protect us 20th century folks
from those types of barbaric deprivations.
Why get defensive when one of our critics focuses on one of our
defects? Unless, we don't think we have any.
Well the boys have been home for quite awhile now, but the "Victory"
tax was abated in name only. The withholding continued at first as a
"voluntary" program, but soon morphed into a scheme perpetrated through
false statements in official IRS literature, and grew to today's
gigantic proportions. It's a bad sign when a country refuses to discuss
its weaknesses. Islam could never honestly win the battle for the
Christian mind, but many are not operating on that level, and never will
The Islamic world, for the most part, sees as ridiculous taxing
policies that demand practically half of what a working person earns.
Federal, state, local, property, sales and excise taxes consume half of
our earnings. Loyalty from an increasingly exploited citizenry could be
difficult to maintain, while confiscatory taxation constantly
undermines efforts to eek out a living for one's family. What a shame,
Islam is able demonstrate more charity for the property rights of its
subjects than the U.S. does toward its citizens. It may be hard to
admit, but Islam occupies the moral high ground on that one. Let's
support the president's commission on the economy and send a serious
message to Washington: "It's the tax, stupid."
Bill Price
For more information on the Federal income Tax visit:
http:www.article1taxation.com/flyer.html.
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