Will the battle over the budget in Washington be different next time? Will it not be another predictable political rerun of Republicans feigning to toe the line on a government shutdown, Democrats foreboding warnings over all the impending disasters about to befall our nation over the shutdown of our "indespensable" federal burocracy, and Republicans finally caving in over bad press and their poor favorable ratings in public opinion polls? Some think it will be different next time, since it will not just be fiscal conservatives, but also social conservatives pushing for a government shutdown. Whereas fiscal conservatives push for a shutdown over a budget bloated with overspending and over taxation, social conservatives will add white-hot flames to this fire next time over their demand that Planned Parenthood be defunded of all taxpayer money. Although fiscal conservatives fight on this hill, they're never willing to die on it. On the other hand, pro-life conservatives are not only willing to fight on this hill, but to die on it and to take the Republican Party down with them. This may prove to be the epic political battle of our time, not to mention the Republican Party's Waterloo. The Republican establishment will not be able to sidestep this with talking points and symbolic gestures. They'll either have to deliver this time or destroy their base. If you ask me, it's about time they got caught in the tangled web of their own deceit and were forced to free themselves from it or at long last die cocooned in it.

What happens, however, if Republicans, true to form, offer up some short scene of political theater rather than stand their ground on a government shutdown until Planned Parenthood is defunded of our taxpayer dollars? Well, here's a novel idea. What if every God-fearing and decent American refused to pay taxes until the government defunded Planned Parenthood, assuring us that not one cent of our taxpayer money is going to a diabolical organization perpetrating the unconscionable evil of selling body parts from aborted babies? Talk about a government shutdown! We could shut it down for sure. Congress might hold the power of the purse, but if we the people don't fill their purse, Washington might learn where the real power resides. As we all know, money talks, and when it comes to modern-day politicians, it's about the only way I know to get their ear.

I would be amiss if I did not add to this article the fact that Jesus did teach us to pay taxes. In Matthew 17:24-27, He gave us an example of paying taxes and in Matthew 22:15-22 He taught us to "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." Still, our Lord's paying of the temple tax in Matthew 17 is a far cry from us paying taxes to our federal government so that it can provide Planned Parenthood with half a billion dollars in taxpayer money. Also, that Christ would see "Caesar's" funding of Planned Parenthood as taxes to be dutifully rendered by Christians to Caesar is debatable. After all, as the apostles argued before the Supreme Court of their day, there is a higher law of God that takes precedence in the minds and hearts of Christians over the laws of men whenever man's laws are found to be in violation of God's law (Acts 4:18-20). If the government's confiscation of our taxpayer dollars to fund the aborting of unborn children and the selling of their body parts is not an occasion calling for such civil disobedience on the part of Christians, then, it's hard to imagine what would be.