Are Unbiblical Government Activities Theft?

In 1 Samuel 8:10-18, Samuel warns the people of Israel. He is warning them because they sinfully want to replace God with a human king: God says “they have rejected me from being king over them.” One thing to keep in mind is this is really God’s warning to the people; Samuel is just passing it along. And God is warning His people that if they replace Him with a human king here, the human king is going to do BAD things to them. The human king is going to do things that He, a just and righteous King, had not done and would not do.

Matthew Henry explains this: “Samuel does not speak of a just and honest right of a king to do these things, for his right is quite otherwise described in that part of Moses’s law which concerns the king’s duty, but such a right as the kings of the nations had then acquired.” Samuel’s, or God’s, closing admonition that “you shall be his slaves” helps put this in context. I think we can all agree that making people slaves is bad. And there is no indication that everything else in the passage shouldn’t be seen in the same light as the making of slaves.

If I were a Christian lawmaker or executive, I would look very closely at the list actions discussed in this passage before I voted for or signed any tax bills, eminent domain bills, corporate welfare bills, military and draft bills, even any regulatory bills–there are many ways for the government to take property, etc. And I would do so because I would be worried if I did anything that fit into these categories, I would be doing something wrong. And since everything listed in these passages has to do with wrongfully taking either persons or property, if I violated them I would be wrongly taking property (we’ll leave people out for the moment). And wrongly taking property is another way to describe theft. 

Equating welfare, along with many other government activities, with theft goes much deeper than this, though. It goes back to God assigning private property to individuals as stewards in order to ensure that the billions of people he would subsequently create had enough food, clothing, and shelter. And so they wouldn’t murder or enslave each other in the process of taking another’s property. Of course, as sinful humans, we didn’t get the message. Although, in recent years, starting about 1776 or so, the concept of individual rights to private property has at least gained a foothold, despite my rather despairing portrayal above. There is a lot more that could be said about this. 

Comparing certain forms of taxation and spending as theft also has its roots in the purpose of civil government. The purpose of government is to justly uphold life, liberty, and truth in order to bring increase and peace to the Kingdom of God. And if a government activity doesn’t do this, then the taxes taken for it cannot be justified. And are therefore theft.