Happy Secession Day! (Paper Patriots, Stay Home!)

Another July 4th holiday is coming up. No doubt there will be plenty of stirring music, flag waving, parades, fireworks and BBQ. After all, it's America's birthday!

Isn't that what we've been told all of our lives?

Heroic men stood up to the oppression of King George and threw off imperialistic tyranny to begin a new nation where people could be free. How wonderful!

But before you celebrate again this year, I'd like for you to consider a few things as a good American.

What we're really celebrating is a bloody secession from British rule, right?

Yet, the majority of Americans ready to light those sparklers think modern-day secessionists, who have far more legitimate reasons to secede from a corrupt government than their predecessors, are kooks.

Americans are quick to point to the courage of our founding fathers, without taking a closer look as to how these men stood for liberty before loading their muskets: they were smugglers, tax evaders, draft resisters (particularly during the French and Indian War), and overall rabble-rousers.

Indeed, if most of today's flag-waving patriots were transported back to colonial America, they would be hard pressed to find a comfortable, lukewarm pew. Back then, folks who spoke of discontent with government rule lived out their convictions by actively resisting it.

John Hancock, a successful businessman, preferred to smuggle goods into port rather than pay taxes to his government. What taxes he did owe, he refused to pay. His signature is the first and largest on the Declaration of Independence. When asked why, Hancock replied that he didn't want the King of England having any trouble reading his name!

Americans later became so enamored with his boldness that a uniquely American tradition bearing his name sprang up: when we ask people to sign a document, we say "Put your John Hancock here"!

However, despite our 4th of July fervor, we are prone, as all other nations, to laud past patriots and ridicule living ones.

How many of us rally to the defense of tax evaders? Do you even know the names of some outstanding Americans currently jailed by the IRS for resisting the illegal, unconstitutional income tax? If you do, have you written to encourage them and take up their cause? Or do you not want the IRS officials to see your name and address on incoming mail?

And be truthful. Most of us distance ourselves from those who do business in the underground economy. We don't see them as freedom fighters. They're radicals on the fringe who've gone too far, and association with them could raise suspicion with Big Brother.

Yes, we shun draft dodgers, tax resisters, and call citizens who speak out against the government "unpatriotic".

However, these mavericks--not today's "paper patriots"--would fit right in with the founding fathers' idea of protecting one's God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Have you ever wondered what men like Hancock, Thomas Paine, Samuel Adams and the great Jefferson would say if they visited the United States today?

The revolt that sparked their revolution was over 1-2% tariffs on goods. There was no such thing as an income tax.

Here's what we pay today:

Federal personal income tax 17%
State and local income tax 10.1% (average)
Sales tax 9.7% (average)
Social Security and Medicaid 7.6% (this is one half of total rate/employer pays other)
Federal corporate income tax share 3%
Property Tax 2.5% (average)
Fuel/gasoline tax .5% (average)
Other 5% includes estimated estate tax, fees, licenses, inflation losses, inheritance, deficit allowance, gift and others too numerous to mention

Total tax percentage paid by the above average US citizen, 2005 - 54.4%

That was five years ago! Has our situation improved? No! Would our revolutionary war heroes stand appalled at our lack of action? You know they would!

What would our founder thinks of Obamacare?

Would they stand in disbelief over our massive foreign aid, entangling alliances and perpetual wars?

Would these men express horror over the gargantuan, centralized government that early on usurped the Constitution and crippled states' rights, turning their entire vision for healthy governance upside down?

How would they address Congress concerning our welfare and entitlement glut?

And just what do you think the fathers would say to corporate bailouts, big banks, and the Federal Reserve?

More importantly, what do you think they would say to us...the people responsible for a vigilant watch over our republic? I doubt they would be impressed with our tea parties and rhetoric!

During the deliberations of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, anxious citizens gathered outside Independence Hall to learn what had been produced.

A Mrs. Powell of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin on his way out, "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"

With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, "A republic, if you can keep it."

Have we kept it? No!

The republic belongs to the people, not to the governing elite. One can quickly see that we have forfeited our will and freedoms to those who were to be our servants.

The men who pledged their lives and fortunes to carve out the concept of individual freedom would grieve over how we have confused nationalism with patriotism, turning July 4th into a day to celebrate government, rather than transcendent liberty.

I'm sure, based on how they lived and fought under lesser threats against liberty than we do today, that they would shake their heads at our gullibility and complacency.

Sam Adams spoke to the spineless citizens of his day who could make a good talk about liberty, but not walk it:

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." - Speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776

What was then the hand of the British Crown has now become the teat of the American Nanny State. A populace of children back then have regressed into coddled babes at the breast who are afraid to be weaned from State favors and take responsibility for their own lives.

Sadly, even Christians have bought into the lie of perverse, nationalistic fervor, brain-washed into a modernistic interpretation of Scriptures that only on the surface appears to support the State.

Hitler, too, used Romans 13 to sway a undiscerning population to his side. So, let me ask a question:

How can you interpret Romans 13 as an endorsement to obey the State, and then go out in good conscience and celebrate Independence Day?*

Our founding fathers tarred and feathered tax collectors, burned King George in effigy, deliberately refused to pay taxes, smuggled goods past the authorities, dodged the draft, and eventually took up arms against their own government! At the time, there was no such thing as an American citizen. These men were British subjects, formerly loyal to the Crown, who openly, brazenly rebelled!**

Are these your heroes? If they truly are, then go ahead...fire up the BBQ pit. If not, don't be a hypocrite. Don't wave your flag and play patriot-for-a-day.

_________________________

By the way, have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

1. Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

2. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

3. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

4. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

1. Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

2. Eleven were merchants,

3. Nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated.

Still they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy and eventually sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

Thomas Nelson, Jr., lost his home to the British General Cornwallis for his headquarters. Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. SOURCE

We must ask ourselves:
"Would I sign such a document today?" ***

Your answer determines whether you should bother to invest in a round of fireworks or just keep quiet this July 4th.

*I will follow up in a few weeks with an article that examines the Romans 13 text and what I believe is a proper interpretation for Christians living in a secular state.


** Am I advocating an overthrow of the government of the United States? No; hear me carefully. Secession is a real possibility in light of a government gone rogue. Until then, patriots are awakening to the Tenth Amendment, and states are standing up and taking back their original rights.

Before a radical secession, states can stand up to centralized tyranny through a constitutional process called Nullification. Tom Woods has an excellent book on the subject.

Visit his blog for more information and lots of resources!


Regardless of what your state does or does not do, you retain the power of the vote...not only in the ballot box, but with your money and your feet. Move to a more freedom-friendly state with lower taxes.

Don't overlook the concept of personal secession, where an individual takes carefully considered steps to divest from statist control. For some, it is the radical choice of not paying taxes, not voting in federal elections, and economically living "off the grid".

All of us however, can distance ourselves from the state in terms of direct compliance. Purposed, passive non-participation can be just as powerful as active resistance.

For instance, there are legal ways to avoid paying more taxes rather than just handing it over without question every April 15th, but it requires diligent research on our part, and the government knows most Americans won't take that kind of charge over their own lives.

We can employ old-fashioned bartering and time banking, gift card giving, and other creative ways and means of exchange as substitution for the illegal, worthless Federal Reserve Notes that will soon plunge our country into its darkest days yet.

And how many of us really take our time to investigate a candidate's claims? Gone are the days of party loyalty. Look at Obama and Bush: both appeared to represent opposite ends of the political spectrum, but once in office, both men arrogantly violated the Constitution and ignored the will of the people!

Many patriots, feeling the electoral process at the top is corrupted beyond a restore point, prefer only to participate in some state and local elections where their voice is still heard and their vote is measurably viable.

"You know, comrades," says Stalin, "that I think in regard to this: I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this — who will count the votes, and how."

If destiny does call for us to take up arms to defend our freedoms, those best prepared will be those who have already begun to untangle themselves from the state's tentacles.


*** Grievances against the government--1776 and today:

Then: He has refuted his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good...

Today: Wiretapping/spying on US citizens, TSA rules, internet oversight, Obamacare, Patriot Act and so much more

Then: He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands...

Today: misdirected Immigration Laws

Then: He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices...

Today: unchecked Supreme Court power to make new rules rather than interpret them constitutionally

Then: He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance...

Today: The appointment of "Czars" at taxpayers' expense, the formation of Homeland Security, and 1,500 new IRS employees to enforce Obamacare compliance, increased 'emergency' powers to FEMA

Then: He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power...

Today: Leading us into costly and deadly conflicts without a Congressional Declaration of War, deliberate cover-up of information and actions, false information, etc.

Then: He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation...

Today: Obamacare, Welfare, Social Security, and other entitlements, plus a host of daily, encroaching restrictions

Then: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world...

Today: sanctions (that inevitably lead to armed conflicts) and steep tariffs

Then: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury...

Today: Military Tribunals for American citizens in a time when Congress has not declared war on any nation

Then: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses...

Today: Guantanamo and other secret bases around the world (Bagram)

Then: For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies...

Today: forcing Americans to pay with their lives and our fortunes the nation-building and artificial democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan, secretly setting up regimes and taking them down around the world, meddling in a nation's internal affairs and the resulting blowback against the American people

Then: Taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments...

Today: Usurping the Constitution and trashing the fundamental concept found in the Declaration of Independence to one's inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and any governing power's restricted purpose to aid in the flourishing of those rights...not to hinder, cripple, or control such rights.

Then: He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation...

Today: Private contractors and black ops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and more to come..overseas and here on American soil as our government takes on the makings of an Orwellian nightmare with IRS enforcers, predator drones, satellite and internet surveillance on local and national levels, food police, public school propaganda, quality of life panels, government medicine, full body scans at airports, etc.

Then: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent...

Today: Do I have to explain this one?

For a history of taxation in America, the rise of the IRS and its abuses, visit my series on taxation linked on my main site on the side bar.

Discerning Americans are also troubled over the safeguarding of the Second Amendment, which does not just grant us the right to bear arms in personal self defense, but PRIMARILY against the government when necessary!

Therefore, the presence and use of standing armies inside America to "keep the peace" is a troubling situation (Interestingly, the Constitution forbids standing armies to exist unless a war has been declared; even then, such armies should be active for only two years!)

Read through the Declaration itself, and see if some of the coercive tactics being employed by the Executive and Legislative Branches of our government today are akin to those of King George...particularly in light of bailouts, deals behind closed doors, takeovers, and the handling of the BP spill and the control of oil funds to blighted areas.

The government now legislates and monitors every aspect of our lives from the cradle to the grave. We have to get permission to be viable (birth certificate), marry, register our children, and be buried properly.

The government educates our children, tells us what we can and cannot build, licenses our skills, taxes and oversees our businesses, our transportation, our travel, and all our consumptions--food, medicine, healthcare, and entertainment. Everything!

Is this the America upon which those 56 men pledged their
lives, fortunes and sacred honor?

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

The American Church's Golden Calf (Why We Don't See Revival in America)

The American Church has forever preached about revival within its walls and a profound, outward awakening unto Christ for the nation, yet history has recorded only punctuated, unsustainable events.

In over forty years of being a Christian with twenty-five of those in ministry, I've heard the cry so many times from my Charismatic brethren: "Why don't we see the signs and wonders in America that occur in other countries"?

Indeed, we read of tremendous miracles happening regularly overseas. We know God promised such signs would accompany the preaching of His Word (Mark 16:17,18), yet most would agree that the Church in America sees very little compared to what should be the norm for ambassadors of Christ.

Preachers and theologians have given us many reasons: the prosperity that has lulled us into a false sense of favor, the freedom of worship that we have taken for granted unto lukewarmness, and the generational complacency and compromise that can set in while doing "church as expected".

But I want to pose another reason for your consideration: Could revival be held back from the Church because of its idolatrous relationship with the State?

God commands us to have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3); yet, Christians have clamored to the State for years to:

1) get approval to marry, although matrimony is a holy covenant instituted exclusively by God

2) get approval to carry on the work of Jesus in the earth, although Jesus said that HE would build His Church

3) get federal grants to do this work, although Jesus said for us to ask HIM for daily bread and commanded us to live by "faith".

What's the appeal?

With a state-issued marriage license, couples get tax breaks and benefits.

Attending a church with a state-issued 501(c) 3 certificate and tax-exempt status means parishioners can take tithes and offerings off their income tax returns.

Applying for federal grants enables churches and faith-based ministries to be funded without having to ask God for provision or extend their faith for "daily bread".

But these come with a price--costs you may not realize until it's too late. Let's focus on the marriage license. By contract, your children belong to the State:

David Deschesne wrote an excellent article on the subject for the Fort Fairfield Journal in Maryland in 2005:

"Because the State can regulate that which it licenses, by entering into a State-sanctioned franchise (marriage) as a married couple, a couple forfeits their rights to a private, sovereign marriage and any ownership/control of their children or property; as a result of the marriage license.

"...When a State-licensed married couple has a child, the Birth Certificate is the document the State uses to claim ownership of the child under its marriage contract. State ownership remains as long as that child lives, even after the age of 21. If you have a birth certificate, the State owns you, too.

"Couples married under a state-sanctioned marriage license also give up 1/3 of their property to the state. Should one person die, the government, through the inheritance tax, will demand the surviving party to "buy them out." [through taxation]

"Marriage licenses were never required prior to the early 1900s, also known as the "De-volutionary Period". The only requirement for a legitimate marriage then was that the couple be married by an official minister of God, and place their intentions to marry in a public place, such as a church, parish, or town meeting house for all to see. That notice was then to be filed with the county clerk. No license, or certificate required.

"One of the main reasons the marriage certificate changed its character was the fact that the Panic of 1907 had just taken place and Senator Nelson Aldrich had been appointed to head the National Monetary Commission to ensure such panics never took place again. Senator Aldrich's plan was ultimately realized in the Federal Reserve System of debt-based money we all suffer under today.

"Because the money system proposed was debt-based, the state and federal governments needed to have certificated property that produced wealth that they could pledge as collateral for notes in the upcoming debt money system.

"In 1903 only a few states had adopted a marriage license scheme. By 1935, all states required licenses except Maryland, which soon followed shortly thereafter.

"The fact that a certificate for a married couple is commercial paper that can be used to pledge the future expenditure of labor of the married couple against the State's borrowed money was only half the equation.

"By entering into a State-sanctioned franchise (marriage) as a married couple, a couple forfeits their rights to a private, sovereign marriage and any ultimate control of their children or marriage-related property; as a result of the marriage license.

"Child Protective Services receives its full power and authority to seize children via the marriage license under the ancient legal doctrine of parens patriae…

"The origins of the doctrine parens patriae and the law can be traced to medieval and late medieval English chancery courts where it played an important roll in maintaining the structure of feudalism. The King had a royal prerogative to act as guardian to persons with legal disabilities such as infants, idiots, and lunatics.

"Chancery, as an agent of the monarch, had a duty to maintain the orderly transfer of feudal duties from one generation to another and to insure that there would be someone available to perform these duties and the concept of parens patriae was usually invoked in connection with problems of property or guardianship.

"In today's world, the Department of Human Services functions as the Chancery, or agent of the monarch - which is the State - in orderly transferring the feudal duties of labor to generate a tax base on to future generations. That tax base is known as the "full faith and credit" of the American people and is pledged against every bond (a state bond issue is a loan) the people vote to approve.

"Birth certificates, marriage certificates, and automobile Certificates of Title are just some of the commercial paper the State government uses to collateralize their debt to the banks for all of the bond issues the people vote for. These certificates are serial numbered so the banks can more easily track them and all conform to the rules of negotiable instruments as outlined in the Uniform Commercial Code.

" You and your family have, in effect, been pledged as chattel to the banks for the State's and Federal Government's debts.

"YOU are the one who gave Child Protective Services permission to steal your children. Since the State can regulate that which it licenses, Child Protective Services has mushroomed into a money making machine by snatching kids and receiving millions of federal dollars for them.

"In most cases, Child Protective Services has no interest in reuniting families because by keeping the family unit off balance, under constant worry and financial drain, the people of a state are more easily controlled, taxed and herded like sheep by the governmental power.

"A State which has strong, responsible families with good morals, an understanding of right and wrong, and the time to focus on solutions to state abuses would never be able to get away with the massive confiscatory taxation and licensing schemes the Maine government, as well as all other states, enjoys perpetrating against its citizenry today."

I also recommend that you visit the same site here for an additional, in depth article on the "Birth Certificate (Did the State Pledge Your Body to a Bank?)" and "Federal Children".

Matt Trewhella, Pastor of Mercy Seat Christian Church, writes in his pamphlet "5 Reasons Why Christians Should Not Obtain a State Marriage License":

Black’s Law Dictionary defines "license" as, "The permission by competent authority to do an act which without such permission, would be illegal."

"We need to ask ourselves: why should it be illegal to marry without the State’s permission?

"More importantly, why should we need the State’s permission to participate in something which God instituted (Gen. 2:18-24)? We should not need the State’s permission to marry nor should we grovel before state officials to seek it. What if you apply and the State says "no"?

"In 1993, parents were upset here in Wisconsin because a test was being administered to their children in the government schools which was very invasive of the family’s privacy. When parents complained, they were shocked by the school bureaucrats who informed them that their children were required to take the test by law and that they would have to take the test because they (the government school) had jurisdiction over their children.

When parents asked the bureaucrats what gave them jurisdiction, the bureaucrats answered, "your marriage license and their birth certificates."

"As a minister, I cannot in good conscience perform a marriage which would place people under this immoral body of laws. I also cannot marry someone with a marriage license because to do so I have to act as an agent of the State! I would have to sign the marriage license, and I would have to mail it into the State. Given the State’s demand to usurp the place of God and family regarding marriage, and given it’s unbiblical, immoral laws to govern marriage, it would be an act of treason for me to do so.

"The marriage license invades and removes God-given parental authority. When you read the Bible, you see that God intended for children to have their father’s blessing regarding whom they married. Daughters were to be given in marriage by their fathers (Dt. 22:16; Ex. 22:17; I Cor. 7:38).

"Notice you had to obtain your parents permission. Back then you saw godly government displayed in that the State recognized the parents authority by demanding that the parents permission be obtained. Today, the all-encompassing ungodly State demands that their permission be obtained to marry.

"By issuing marriage licenses, the State is saying, "You don’t need your parents permission, you need our permission." If parents are opposed to their child’s marrying a certain person and refuse to give their permission, the child can do an end run around the parents authority by obtaining the State’s permission, and marry anyway. This is an invasion and removal of God-given parental authority by the State.

"From the State’s point of view, when you marry with a marriage license, you are not just marrying your spouse, but you are also marrying the State.

"The most blatant declaration of this fact that I have ever found is a brochure entitled "With This Ring I Thee Wed." It is found in county courthouses across Ohio where people go to obtain their marriage licenses. It is published by the Ohio State Bar Association:

"The opening paragraph under the subtitle "Marriage Vows" states, "Actually, when you repeat your marriage vows you enter into a legal contract. There are three parties to that contract. 1.You; 2. Your husband or wife, as the case may be; and 3. the State of Ohio."

"You should not have to obtain a license from the State to marry someone anymore than you should have to obtain a license from the State to be a parent, which some in academic and legislative circles are currently pushing to be made law.

"When I marry a couple, I always buy them a Family Bible which contains birth and death records, and a marriage certificate. We record the marriage in the Family Bible. What’s recorded in a Family Bible will stand up as legal evidence in any court of law in America."

Similarly, churches that seek non-profit status from the State and a consequential tax-exempt status from the IRS grants its licensors legal control over operations. Let's separate fact from myth in this critical arena:

"Most churches in America have organized as "501c3 tax-exempt religious organizations." This is a fairly recent trend that has only been going on for about fifty years. Churches were only added to section 501c3 of the tax code in 1954. We can thank Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson for that. Johnson was no ally of the church.

"As part of his political agenda, Johnson had it in mind to silence the church and eliminate the significant influence the church had always had on shaping "public policy."

"Although Johnson proffered this as a "favor" to churches, the favor also came with strings attached (more like shackles). One need not look far to see the devastating effects 501c3 acceptance has had to the church, and the consequent restrictions placed upon any 501c3 church. 501c3 churches are prohibited from addressing, in any tangible way, the vital issues of the day.

"For a 501c3 church to openly speak out, or organize in opposition to, anything that the government declares "legal," even if it is immoral (e.g. abortion, homosexuality, etc.), that church will jeopardize its tax exempt status. The 501c3 has had a "chilling effect" upon the free speech rights of the church. LBJ was a shrewd and cunning politician who seemed to well-appreciate how easily many of the clergy would sell out.

"Did the church ever need to seek permission from the government to be exempt from taxes? Were churches prior to 1954 taxable? No, churches have never been taxable. To be taxable a church would first need to be under the jurisdiction, and therefore under the taxing authority, of the government.

"The First Amendment clearly places the church outside the jurisdiction of the civil government: "Congress shall make NO LAW respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

"Religion cannot be free if you have to pay the government, through taxation, to exercise it. Since churches aren't taxable in the first place, why do so many of them go to the IRS and seek permission to be tax-exempt? It occurs out of:

Ignorance ("We didn't know any better")

Bandwagon logic ("Everyone else is doing it")

Professional advice (many attorneys and CPAs recommend it)

"Does the law require, or even encourage, a church to organize as a 501c3? To answer that question let's turn to what the IRS itself has to say.

Churches Need Not Apply

"In order to be considered for tax-exempt status by the IRS an organization must fill out and submit IRS Form 1023 and 1024. However, note what the IRS says regarding churches and church ministries, in Publication 557:

Some organizations are not required to file Form 1023. These include:

Churches, interchurch organizations of local units of a church, conventions or associations of churches, or integrated auxiliaries of a church, such as a men’s or women’s organization, religious school, mission society, or youth group. These organizations are exempt automatically if they meet the requirements of section 501(c)(3).

Churches Are “Automatically Tax-Exempt”

According to IRS Code § 508(c)(1)(A):

Special rules with respect to section 501(c)(3) organizations.

(a) New organizations must notify secretary that they are applying for recognition of section 501(c)(3) status.

(c) Exceptions.

(1) Mandatory exceptions. Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to—

(A) churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches.

"This is referred to as the "mandatory exception" rule. Thus, we see from the IRS’ own publications, and the tax code, that it is completely unnecessary for any church to apply for tax-exempt status. In the IRS’ own words a church “is automatically tax-exempt.”

Churches Are “Automatically Tax-Deductible”

"And what about tax-deductibility? Doesn’t a church still need to become a 501c3 so that contributions to it can be taken as a tax deduction? The answer is no! According to IRS Publication 526:

Organizations That Qualify To Receive Deductible Contributions:

You can deduct your contributions only if you make them to a qualified organization. To become a qualified organization, most organizations other than churches and governments, as described below, must apply to the IRS.

"In the IRS’ own words a church “is automatically tax-deductible.”

Churches Have a Mandatory Exception To Filing Tax Returns

"Not only is it completely unnecessary for any church to seek 501c3 status, to do so becomes a grant of jurisdiction to the IRS by any church that obtains that State favor. In the words of Steve Nestor, IRS Sr. Revenue Officer (ret.):

"I am not the only IRS employee who’s wondered why churches go to the government and seek permission to be exempted from a tax they didn’t owe to begin with, and to seek a tax deductible status that they’ve always had anyway.

"Many of us have marveled at how church leaders want to be regulated and controlled by an agency of government that most Americans have prayed would just get out of their lives. Churches are in an amazingly unique position, but they don’t seem to know or appreciate the implications of what it would mean to be free of government control." (from the Forward of In Caesar's Grip, by Peter Kersha)

Richard Hoskins, in the Hoskins Report 6/98 outlined 29 IRS regulations pertaining to 501(c)(3) churches:

1. Church must be incorporated

2. Church must have a "recognized" creed and IRS approved form of worship (Who does the approving and accepts the "form" is not covered in the regulations)

3. The church must have a definite and distinct ecclesiastical hierarchical government (?)

4. The church must have an IRS approved formal "code" of doctrine and discipline (Type and what discipline are not identified in IRS regs)

5. It must be a denomination with a distinct religious history (?)

6. Must have "ordained" ministers (?)

7. Ministers must have been educated in state accredited colleges (More opportunity for PC indoctrination of ministers)

8. Must be neutral on political issues (Helps explain why churches never preach against the sins and blasphemies of government officials, despite blatant violations of the Law of God)

9. Must have a "tax exempt" status issued by the IRS

10. Must pay a fee to the IRS for this "tax exempt" status

11. Must be engaged in furthering exclusively public purposes (?)

12. The church cannot bar its services to the public (?)

13. The pastor must answer to the IRS as to the daily activities of the church

14. The IRS must be privy to all financial transactions, including sources, donors, expenditures, and if cash is used, a possible association with money-laundering is suspected

15. Books and records must always be available

16. The Pastor must inform the IRS of the names of all donors

17. Gifts to missionaries and evangelists exceeding $600 requires filing form 1099

18. The church may use only IRS approved methods of fund raising

19. The Pastor will be called to account by the IRS over any stand taken against the tax system 501(c)(3)

20. Must submit names of all church workers, down to and including maintenance people

21. Must give unlimited submission to civil magistrates pertaining to all laws - federal, state and local - including public policy (Judeo-Christian clergy are more obedient to man's government than to the Royal Law of God)

22. The church must advocate and promote racial integration

23. Must not publicly oppose licensing of churches

24. May not engage in political activities opposing pornography (Now you can see why there are no sermons on this)

25. May not support legislation saying that children belong to parents and not the state

26. May not form a political action committee or actively support legislation opposing lotteries and gambling

27. May not advocate support of the U.S. or State constitutions as the supreme law of the land (Helps explain why our Judeo-Christian pastors do not speak out)

28. May not participate in opposing the school system (As they may find that God has been removed)

29. May not publicly declare that the church is to obey God rather then man's government

From the same site, a town crier aptly calling himself Pastor Paul Revere writes:

"What happens when the State gets an interest in the Church through State incorporation?

"First of all, the Church gets a new head. It must surrender the Lordship of Jesus Christ because it has a new master to please. It becomes an entity that the State has created and what the State creates, the State controls.

"Since this entity is no longer God's creation, but the State's, who takes over as the head of this church?

"It is the State attorney general. He is the head of all State corporations, including State churches. The State attorney general has the authority to scrutinize the church on land use issues, permits, taxes or even what is preached from the pulpit. Right now the attorney general might keep his nose out. But if the State church starts getting into politics or using funds irregularly, the State can come in and shut it down because they own the church.

"In California, the attorney general has taken over the records of various State churches and all funds received or paid out are controlled by the attorney general. A State incorporated church has no right to privacy and all its books and papers can be examined by the State and federal governments at any time.

"A corporation, by operation of law and by definition, is a State creation. But the Church is a God-instituted creation. When the "First Baptist Church" registers as a State corporation, it is given the franchise name of "First Baptist Church, Inc." It is no longer God's Church, it is the State's corporation. It is a State church.

"Neither is the pastor the earthly head of the incorporated church. The pastor is just a hireling of the corporation. The pastor is an officer of the State, doing State business. As an example, when he conducts a marriage, he does it "under the authority of the State." He makes sure all the paperwork is prepared and the required State fees and licenses paid.

"Then the State church is required to install "unscriptural officers" that are subject to the State. They are not subject to the Scripture. They are normally referred to as "trustees." They may take on other titles, such as "elders" or "deacons," but they are basically the same type of board of trustees that any State corporation has. They sit in office at the pleasure of the State.

The corporate officers of a nonprofit corporation are agents for the State. That is why they hold regular meetings and abide by their Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws. These provisions are required for State purposes, not by the Scriptures.

Church Becomes Commercial Enterprise

"Technically, a State incorporated church is just another State business. Just like other State corporations, churches are commercial enterprises competing to attract customers (members). Such entities cease to be the church when they allow the State to register them as a State corporation. The church becomes a marketplace and big business.

"When this happened in the first century, Jesus upset the tables of the money changers, and drove the merchants out saying, "Get out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" (John 2:16).

"Let's say the Church acquires property and says, "We have God's property here and we are going to build a church for the Lord Jesus Christ." Then they go out and incorporate with the State.

"The State requires that they appoint trustees to hold this property in trust. But they will not be holding it in trust for God. They will be holding it in trust for the State. By incorporating, all property held by the Corporation is transferred from God to the State. This is done by operation of
law.

"The State incorporated church must exalt the laws of men above the laws of God. The State church has a relationship with the State by contract and is answerable to the State as its creator. It must abide by all the laws of the State, even the ones that are still in the minds of men.

"The State church is subject to all the legislative decrees of the State, which is negative law. When something new comes up, the State makes more laws because that is the nature of negative law. If the State should pass a law that is repugnant to the State church, it still must obey. Charters for State churches must include provisions to obey all the laws of the State or lose their franchise.

Alien Jurisdiction over Church

"A corporation is not a church and cannot be a church by definition. A corporation admits to State jurisdiction by the very act of requesting permission to exist. What we have in the churches today is an alien jurisdiction.

"Let's look at who is to have jurisdiction over the true Church. In Colossians, Chapter 1:18, it says Jesus Christ is the head of the body, the Church, and He is to have the preeminence. Christ is to have the exclusive preeminence. He is to have the exclusive jurisdiction over His Church.

"What about those little matters where the State wants to encroach? The State presents many compelling arguments to justify their interest in the Church. There is zoning and building permits, fire and safety, asbestos and teacher certification of schools.

"In all of these areas, we face a claim of alien jurisdiction over the Church. We face a violation of the sovereignty and preeminence and Lordship of Jesus Christ. That is why we have to draw the line and have zero tolerance. If the State wants to exercise jurisdiction over the Church, how much jurisdiction can they take without violating the exclusive authority of Christ over the Church?

"The only Biblical stance on jurisdiction is that no branch of the State - the courts, the legislature, the administration, has jurisdiction over His Church. The State cannot exercise any authority over the Church or her property because it is all God's. And God is sovereign. If God is sovereign over the Church, He has to be sovereign over it all: the people, the ministry and the property.

"What about filling out State forms for tax exemptions? To fill out a form, is to ask for permission. Because you have requested a privilege, they have a right to say "yes" or "no." Taxation is a function of a sovereign over a subject. Why would the child of one sovereign ask permission from another sovereign?

"It does not even make sense. It is like my child going to some other parent and saying, "Daddy, can I do this?" Someone else's Daddy does not have authority to grant the request. You have to have the proper relationship in order for a request or a command to be acknowledged.

"Nontaxable" is the only acceptable status for Church property because it belongs to another sovereign".

Courting the godless State for money in order to continue the ministry of Jesus on earth is the ultimate insult against Christ's ability to care for His Church. I even consider it blasphemy, for you are attributing the power that belongs to God to a vain, wicked entity.

"I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18b)

To ask money from Caesar in the form of state grants with a willingness to submit to its restraining conditions shows just how far we've fallen into idolatry! Christian organizations and consultants work full-time to teach churches and ministries how to take advantage of federal money (for a fee, of course)!

Christian author C. Peter Wagner comprehensively defines idolatry as " worshiping, serving, pledging allegiance to, doing acts of obeisance to, paying homage to, forming alliances with, making covenant with, seeking power from, or exalting any another being over other than God." (Hard-Core Idolatry: Facing the Facts)

In other words, it's attempting to get any of our legitimate needs met from an illegitimate

The man-driven, man-centered state IS illegitimate, as it began out of Cain's disobedience and swelled under Nimrod's pride at Babel. Please read my article on how the state began and God's response. (Isn't confusion and an inability to communicate ongoing problems in Washington and states around the world?)

R.J. Rushdoony, in his classic work, The Institutes of Biblical Law, Vol I, discusses the idolatry of the Jewish people unto the pagan god Molech.

Interestingly, the worship of Molech was a political religion. It entered Israel when Solomon built an altar to Molech for his Ammonite wives. Apparently, Solomon limited the sacrificial scope of that altar because many generations passed before the first human sacrifice, but Solomon's act (I Kings 11:7.8) had introduced the cult into Israel.

Hezekiah's son, Manasseh, born during the fifteen-year extension of life granted by God to Hezekiah, sacrificed his own children to Molech and encouraged his subjects to do the same. Although he later repented after being defeated in battle and taken captive to Babylon, Israel as a nation suffered greatly because of this man's leadership (2 Chronicles 33; 2 Kings 21).

Molech's 'religion' demanded total allegiance. It claimed jurisdiction over every aspect of its subjects' lives.

Molech worship is state worship!

For the state to claim total jurisdiction, the modern state must claim to be as god--to be the total governor of man and his world. Rushdoony goes on to note that indeed, the state now "...claims jurisdiction from the cradle to the grave, from womb to tomb, over welfare, education, worship, the family, business and farming, capital and labor, and everything else."

The Molech State, according to Rushdoony, is just as hungry as the ancient idol--taxing at will, exercising "eminent domain" at its pleasure, and forcing its youth into warfare and death.

The Molech State arises out of apostasy--when a covenant people, who hold the Keys of the Kingdom for God's will to be done in the earth until His return, reject their King and replace Him with a man or state instead (1 Samuel 8:7-9). They relinquish the keys (authority) to the "city" (their individual and collective realms of God-given responsibility).

The attitudes and behavior of God's own people will be reflected in the earth--not the other way around!

If you want to know why certain sins cluster and prevail in unregenerate America, look no further than the Church, for there they were first allowed, tolerated, and now some are even celebrated by those claiming the name of Christ!

In the Scriptures, several aspects of the state which rejects God are cited:

A military conscription instituted and enforced

Compulsory labor battalions for state service

Confiscation of Property

Heavy taxes

A disturbing aspect of Molech worship was its desire for children. He was carved with outstretched arms. A cauldron roared hot underneath so that when a child was placed in its waiting arms, he or she would be burned alive.

At that moment, the priests would wildly beat their drums and make music to drown out the screams of the suffering child. Unnatural, unrestrained sex-play would follow. Pleasures have always been promised in exchange for a soul...pleasures that keep a person in denial of the truth of what's really taking place.

By the time a person wakes up to reality, the bondage to the pleasure is so controlling that they cannot--dare not--face the necessary pain of withdrawals to get free.

Pleasures are not only substances; they can be people, fortunes, careers, fame, sex, power, or...a comforting nanny who bares the breast (welfare/entitlements/licenses with state benefits/grants/affirmative action, etc.)

Look at the powerful priests "playing the drums" to drown out the truth--from Washington to Hollywood to the schoolroom--as our children are being indoctrinated and sacrificed!

C. Peter Wagner makes a bold statement: "The finest of our leaders may competently apply all the excellent insights that God has given us for city transformation over the last few years...but if we do not deal a significant and simultaneous blow to idolatry, we will not see our dream for city transformation come true." ((Hard-Core Idolatry: Facing the Facts)

Although Wagner was addressing Christians who longed to see their cities impacted for Christ, the truth he poke applies to our nation as well.

We cannot possibly see lives transformed and transcendent, virtuous changes in society--such as true justice and liberty--until the Church that holds the key repents of her own political idolatry and amends her ways.

The Church has sought help from Egypt, not God.

"Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and rely on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not to the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!" (Isaiah 21:1)

Until the Church repents of having GONE DOWN (instead of up)

And not to God, but to Egypt (a biblical type of the godless world system)...

Until she rejects the many horses (empowerment), fine chariots (benefits), and strong horsemen (politicians) who lead her around like chattel, she will wallow in lukewarmness. The churches in America will have dross in their silver, and water in their wine. (Isaiah 1:22)

We obey the master whom we love. God made our hearts to be devoted to only one thing, and He gave us the opportunity to choose. We cannot love TWO Gods!

Dr. Rubel Shelley, in his excellent book Written in Stone: Ethics for the Heart, observes that a person whose heart is divided is often devoted horizontally (toward something in this world) instead of vertically (toward God).

We cannot be both vertically and horizontally devoted. It will always be an impossibility to joyfully and competently serve the master you despise. Jesus demonstrated that principle through the parable of the four soils. When the heart is divided, the world wins out.

"God created us with a wonderful capacity to love. At the same time, He gave us the ability to choose where we direct our heart, strength, and mind. In fact, this is the basis of religion: religion is simply what we adore."

American Christian, what is it that you adore?

Church in America, what is it that you adore?

“A more certain way to attack religion is by favor, by the comforts of life, by the hope of wealth; not by what reminds one of it, but by what makes one forget it; not by what makes one indignant, but by what makes men lukewarm, when other passions act on our souls, and those which religion inspires are silent. In the matter of changing religion, State favors are stronger than penalties.”

The Spirit of the Laws, Baron de Montesquieu (1748)

Mary Diane Goin
Using My Liberty (Main Site)