Caesar's share
Still, one must render to Caesar what is Caesar's. Render to him not all that he wants or can seize, but only what belongs to him.
So, what does belong to Caesar? We think it can be defined as follows: What is necessary to carry out his functions.
This definition seems to be implicitly accepted by Caesar himself, by the government, since the government says to those who complain about the burden of taxes: "The more services people demand, the more means the government needs to provide these services."
This is true. But in order to carry out his proper functions, Caesar must not have recourse to means that prevent people, families, from carrying out theirs.
Besides, in order to increase his importance, Caesar is always tempted to take over functions that normally belong to the families, to lower organisms, and not to the State. Moreover, the citizens would not need so much the help of Caesar, if Caesar first removed an obstacle that only he can remove: the artificial obstacle created by a financial system that is not in keeping with the huge physical possibilities to satisfy the basic material needs of every individual, of every family of our country.
Because Caesar does not correct this situation that only he can correct, Caesar then goes beyond his proper role and accumulates new functions, using them as a pretext for levying new taxes — sometimes ruinous ones — on citizens and families. Caesar thus becomes the tool of a financial dictatorship that he should destroy, and the oppressor of citizens and families that he should protect.
The life of the individual does not belong to Caesar, but to God. This is something that belongs only to God, something that not even the individual can suppress or shorten deliberately. But when Caesar puts individuals in conditions that shorten their lives, then Caesar takes what does not belong to him; he takes what belongs to God. The human person and the family are a creation of God, that Caesar must neither destroy nor take over; that he must, on the contrary, protect against whoever wants to undermine their integrity and rights.
To deprive a family of its home because it cannot pay the property taxes, is to act against the family, against God. Caesar does not have that right.
How many other infringements on the rights and belongings of the individuals and of the families could be mentioned!
Reference:
http://www.prolognet.qc.ca/clyde/Caesar.htmlLinkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=59871.0
Topic: What did Jesus Christ say about Caesar? (Read 711 times)