You know, upon reflection it seems very odd to me that there’s such a strong alliance between the so-called “neo-conservatives” and the Christian Right. I mean, I’m certainly no theologian, but I perceive some definite conflicts between the neocon world-view and the Gospel According to Any of Those Four Guys.
For instance, let’s take taxation. The popular far-right viewpoint is that taxes are bad. Period. In fact, the Powers That Be on the right have managed to frame mainstream thought on taxes with this as an often unspoken understanding. Now, I’m not going to argue the validity of this at this time; for the moment, I just want to point out that the libertarians (a group distinct from the neocons) who endorse this viewpoint do so sincerely; they don’t like taxes, and they don’t like government programmes. This is perfectly consistent, and I have no problem with people choosing consistency.
However… stop me if you’ve heard this one, but “what would Jesus do?” Well, it so happens that, as the story goes (Matthew 22:16-22), some folks asked Jesus about whether the Roman government had the right to exact taxation. And Jesus said, yes. “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.”
And this is the point that a lot of people who argue against taxation based on the right to property miss. Money is not private property; it’s a public good, sponsored by the government, that only has value because the government says it does. Arguing that “it’s my money” is disingenuous at best.
Oh, and while we’re on the subject of neoconservativism vs. Christianity, you might want to scan a nearby New Testament regarding Jesus’ view of the wealthy.