Alabama Referendum on Taxes Tuesday

The tax raise inspired by a master's thesis in theology:

"It's not just historic," says James Williams Jr., executive director of the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama. "It's a miracle."

Well, not quite. Whether the miracle comes true will depend on the results of the Sept. 9 referendum. As Hamill documents, more than nine in 10 Alabamians claim to be Christian. But as it does elsewhere, culture lords over religion here. Centuries of Sunday hymns haven't softened Alabama's old-time hatred of taxes, its deep suspicion of government or its bloody history of resisting change. But in a place where plenty of people ask, "What would Jesus do?" a surprising number of religious conservatives have concluded that redistributing wealth is high on His list.

This is the other Alabama religious story that's not getting much coverage. Roy Moore rode his graven image as far as he could, and that's all well and good. But here's some good Christian folk finally getting the idea that Jesus meant what he said about helping the poor.

Here's hoping the referendum passes.

Prospect.org