If The Government Can Evict You, Do You Own Anything

What does it mean to “own” anything if a missed tax bill can cost you your home? We take a hard look at property taxes, why they function like rent to the state, and how tying schools and services to levies on a few erodes trust across an entire community. Then we sketch a clearer, fairer path: transparent consumption-based taxes that spread the cost of roads, classrooms, and public safety while protecting the sanctity of the home and giving everyone real skin in the game.

From there, we turn to the heart: 1 Peter 3 calls husbands and wives to honor, humility, and a quiet strength that sustains families through stormy seasons. Matthew 5 pushes us toward integrity and mercy—letting yes be yes, rooting out lust at the source, offering the other cheek, and loving those who stand against us. Paired with Psalm 6’s plea from the weary and Proverbs’ warning against complacency, these readings remind us that courage and clarity begin inside the home and overflow into public life.

We also honor Captain Thomas Bourne of the USS Varuna, who held his position under brutal fire and ramming—an example of steadiness that anchors our civic imagination. And we revisit Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1940 Christmas message, a call to voluntary progress and an “unquenchable spring of promise” that endures through fear and conflict. Threaded together, faith and policy point to a simple test: does our system respect neighbors equally, protect what families build, and invite willing, informed contribution?

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