COUNCIL FOCUS:
Tax revenues should be sufficient to support the needs of the state, especially in providing for our most vulnerable residents. Taxes should be progressive, that is, those with greater incomes should pay a greater proportion in taxes.
RELEVANT POLICY STATEMENTS:
Remembering the Common Good in Times of Financial Crisis
Tax Justice
On Special Provisions in the State Budget
RESOURCES:
Raleigh Report
LINKS:
WHY PEOPLE OF FAITH SHOULD CARE:
One of the clearest and most persistent themes of the Bible is God's special care for the weaker members of society, i.e., the orphans, widows and refugees. Equally clear is God's requirement that protection and provision be made for them (Deuteronomy 24:19; Exodus 22:22 ; James 1:27 ). God requires that justice and mercy be done, and these imperatives are addressed to the entire community (Micah 6:6). Justice, in the Hebrew scriptures, means defending the cause of the poor and the needy (Jeremiah 22). In the New Testament, Jesus is presented as one who was anointed to liberate the oppressed (Luke 4) and who identified with the destitute and the despised, "the least of these . . ." (Matthew 25:31).
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