Sin Tax: Be Careful What You Ask For
California is at it again, or, perhaps, still. Fr. Sirico at the Acton Institute reports that
Even the clergy have gotten involved as "progressive" evangelical celebrity Jim Wallis, author of the best-selling book, God’s Politics called the tax “a moral and religious imperative,” and said that voting for the measure is “the right thing, the moral thing, to do.”
Fr. Sirico identifies the real issue as "sin taxes", which are designed to curb behavior the government deems undesirable. He points out that these have "little to do with our rights and responsibilities so much as it has to do with the agency of enforcement." He asks the pointed question, "Who or what will be charged with the moral instruction and enforcement needed to keep sinful behavior to a minimum, or at least restrict its social consequences?"
Once again, it's St. Thomas Aquinas to the rescue. In answering the dilemma whether all immoral activity should be made illegal, Aquinas wrote that “the purpose of human law is to lead men to virtue, not suddenly, but gradually.” This is why the law
As Fr. Sirico notes, "This principle of prudence that Aquinas advocates calls for us to look at the likely consequences of laws to see, despite their laudable intentions, whether they will cause more harm than good."
The California tax, like all such measures, poses a complex picture. Fr. Sirico's thoughts on the topic are well-worth pondering.
Now, where did I put my lighter?
A fight is brewing in California over a proposed $2.60-per-pack tax hike on cigarettes on the November ballot. In addition to various health organizations and non-profits that have come out in support of Proposition 86, a number of religious leaders have added their voices to those politicking for the highest single cigarette tax increase in history.
Even the clergy have gotten involved as "progressive" evangelical celebrity Jim Wallis, author of the best-selling book, God’s Politics called the tax “a moral and religious imperative,” and said that voting for the measure is “the right thing, the moral thing, to do.”
Fr. Sirico identifies the real issue as "sin taxes", which are designed to curb behavior the government deems undesirable. He points out that these have "little to do with our rights and responsibilities so much as it has to do with the agency of enforcement." He asks the pointed question, "Who or what will be charged with the moral instruction and enforcement needed to keep sinful behavior to a minimum, or at least restrict its social consequences?"
Once again, it's St. Thomas Aquinas to the rescue. In answering the dilemma whether all immoral activity should be made illegal, Aquinas wrote that “the purpose of human law is to lead men to virtue, not suddenly, but gradually.” This is why the law
“does not lay upon the multitude of imperfect men the burdens of those who are already virtuous that they should abstain from all evil. Otherwise these imperfect ones, being unable to bear such precepts, would break out into yet greater evils.”
As Fr. Sirico notes, "This principle of prudence that Aquinas advocates calls for us to look at the likely consequences of laws to see, despite their laudable intentions, whether they will cause more harm than good."
The California tax, like all such measures, poses a complex picture. Fr. Sirico's thoughts on the topic are well-worth pondering.
Now, where did I put my lighter?
Posted by Fr. Charles Nalls on
Friday October 13, 2006 at 7:14pm