Jewel

indeed.

joedad

Or cause a recall vote?

Where's Huey when you need him.

(not really)

SLD

The Tax Reform issue in Alabama took on a religious hue about a year or so ago with the publication of a paper by a Baptist scholar (not sure what her Ph.D. was in, but I would guess divinity) at Samford University in Birmingham (which is a Baptist school with a seminary, and a not too bad law school to boot). In that paper she argued that our present tax system was "unchristian". She got a lot of press and a lot of serious politicians took notice. Now normally I roll my eyes on things like this and just want to scream bloody murder. The problem is, she's got some good points. Alabama's regressive tax system is utterly flawed and the antithesis of many good christian points - it is a rich man's tax system and keeps many hard working Alabamians down. I will be voting for the proposals that will change this.

Of course, I too am leary of anyone arguing that the Bible supports their particular policy plans. That's a slipper slope and we could start talking about all sorts of biblical laws from Leviticus that we should start applying.

But sometimes, that's the only way we can get through to some people. For far too long, Politicians have used religion as a tool to get working people to vote against their own best economic interests. Corporations have hired ministers to preach against the evils of unions in the late 19th Century. Republicans shamelessly accuse Democrats of being unchristian for being (generally speaking) stricter on church-state separation. Republicans in this day and age use religion as their rallying cry - all the while handing corporate america more power and a freer hand to take money from working class Americans. For once, I actually find it nice of them to use religion to bash the wealthy corporate interests. It won't work of course. The tax proposal is already in deep trouble despite the religious appeal, but hey, hope springs eternal.

SLD