Love Thy Neighbor.

Progressive: "Don't you describe yourself as Christian?"

Me: "Yes"

Progressive: "Didn't Jesus say 'Love thy neighbor'? How can you be against taxing the rich to give to the people that need it, if you are supposed to 'love thy neighbor'?

Me: "'Love thy neighbor' does not mean force one neighbor to give up their money to a government, so a government can decide where to put that money. Love thy neighbor means helping your neighbor, be it with love, support, food, money, charity, prayer, strength, a shoulder to lean on, etc. Taxing me does not equal my love."

Progressive: "Well, I'd pay more taxes for you. Wouldn't you pay more taxes for me?"

Me: "I'd help you if you needed it, but I would not give money to the government to give to you, no. If you want to pay more taxes for people you think need it, send more money to the government voluntarily every year on April 15th. No one is stopping you from sending more money."

Progressive: "How can you be so harsh? How did you get like this at such a young age?"

Me: "I'm not harsh, I'm realistic. Loving thy neighbor does not mean force me to pay more money so a third party can figure out if and how much my neighbor needs."

Progressive logic: Paying taxes is the good and humane thing to do. You do not care about others if you don't want to pay taxes. Giving help and/or money directly to your neighbor isn't as good as giving it to the government to give to your neighbor.