Is the purpose of Government to protect us?

There is no such thing as defensive coercion. Being forced to do something is always against the interests of the person, since the interests of the person are derived from their willful actions. But coercion does not argue that the subject is in fact criminal; has done anything wrong. It then must (apparently) be in the interests of the one doing the coercing... or so they might think, if they are ignorant.

There is no reason for coercion, unless the perpetrator seeks to cause harm. Is the purpose of taxation simply to hurt people, what other reason is there? Society would be better without taxation...

We would be better off without taxes. It would be better to have no taxes because we know best how to spend our own money; we know what we want to buy and we should not be hindered in selling our labour to others. Taxation hinders the free exchange of goods and services between those who have chosen the exchange voluntarily, it is not a criminal matter. We don't require the Government to provide any services which are paid for through coercion.

The Government forces us to do work for others, that we might not want (safe to assume don't want) to do, by providing Government services. We are forced to provide a service to others. We are forced to help each other, why? We don't need to (force people to help each other) because, by a mechanism of prices and nature, they will do it (more efficiently) anyway. It is in our interests to help each other out, a wealthy person is a better neighbour because they are able to offer us services or agree to a mutually beneficial arrangement. It's good (for poor people) to be surrounded by rich people ...or at least better than to be surrounded by no one. We do not need to be forced to look after each other. We can look after ourselves. We don't need the Government to look after us...

Do taxes pay for our protection?

Being forced to pay for our protection contradicts the pretext because it is not chosen. Having been provided protection is not a reason not to allow refusal of the service. There is no reason not to allow refusal. Protection is not a reason to disallow refusal of payment because you have not been asked to take the risk... their protection has not been chosen. We don't need the Government to look after us.