Pat Shannan's MUSINGS
MOST GOVERNMENT AGENTS WORK FOR FREE
Recently, I received an audio tape recording of a Sunday sermon by a Presbyterian minister in Florida. It was an ear-tickling, stem-winding, patriotic sermon about how the nation was founded - with particular emphasis on the separation of church and state - that would make any listener be proud to be an American. "We have always had separation of church and state in this great nation," he said from his 501(c)(3) pulpit, completely unaware that he had personally relinquished that freedom when he stuck his neck in the corporate noose. A few bureaucrats lied to the church leaders three decades ago about the need to incorporate in order to secure tax deductions for all the donations by church members. In all their great wisdom, none of the elders or deacons had the foresight to look a few lines deeper in the statute and see that the churches already had a tax exemption anyway.
Just as conservative commentators chirp about government waste of taxpayer's money -- an archaic and impossible premise since June 24, 1968 - well-meaning but double-minded preachers mis-educate the multitudes sitting at their feet with such patriotic rhetoric as stated above. With one lung-full of breath they remind us to praise God for the freedoms we enjoy, and with the next burst they remind us of the importance of rendering an imaginary tax "unto Caesar" in order to preserve this liberty. ("A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." James 1:8)
Most writers and preachers really believe this tripe and are speaking from a platform of total ignorance. Even though real taxpayer support of government completely evaporated more than thirty years ago, the antediluvian rhetoric from politicians continued. It was only natural that spokesmen from coffee shops to the microphones and printing presses would pick it up and repeat it - with all sincerity, we might add. People pay taxes today not with any patriotic spirit but rather with that of the mob-controlled businessman who prefers paying extortion to getting his windows smashed.
Is it not a case of mass mind control whenever the large majority people continue to believe what has been proven to have been impossible, e.g. Oswald shooting JFK, ANFO destroying Murrah, and "No shots were fired at the Davidians?" ("WACO - A New Revelation" - 1-877-511-4791) What is more double-minded than a self-professed Christian voting for the "lesser of two evils?"
Now, after re-educating a whole new generation with corporate church deception, the bureaucracy has acquired sufficient power and arrogance to go after even the "single-minded" man. The Indianapolis Baptist Temple has never registered as an ecclesiastical corporation and its principals say it never will. (See article on previous pages)
Pastor Greg Dixon of Indianapolis, in the name of the Lord, has defied the government mob for nearly twenty years and was seriously targeted by the IRS a decade ago. A confrontation, which many people fear could be the next "Waco," is shaping up at the Indianapolis Baptist Temple. Dixon and his more than 1,000 members have their backs to the wall and intend to defy the Circuit Court ordering the church to vacate and allow the government to confiscate the premises.
Failing a stay of execution in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, the IRS will take over the church premises. The members have vowed to remain. Militia groups from a half dozen states have pledged to secure the church and protect it against any intervention. April 10th is "D-Day." The anticipated result of this impasse will be a temporary backing down by government until several weeks or months later after the militia members have gone home. Then, when the property is vulnerable again, they will attack in the dark of the early morning hours.
Meanwhile, the hypocrisy of this situation is magnified by another "church" in Olive Branch, Mississippi. The Inner Man Church has been licensed since 1995 but went from the status of church to "church" when it was discovered that its bingo games were keeping too much in "untaxed dollars." IRS spokesman Dom LaPonzina (let your imagination fly with that handle) said that because of the separation of church and state doctrine, churches don't have to file for tax-exempt status. For the ones that choose to file for that status, such as Inner Man, he said particular belief systems are not a consideration.
"It's not for the government to decide what religion qualifies and what doesn't," LaPonzina said. "What we look at is not whether the doctrine is to worship a deity or whether they worship tomatoes and cheese. We look at whether they have a congregation, regular services, a location, a written dogma, and if they perform ceremonial services."
(Oh, Yeah? What about this?) Now consider other long range ramifications of churches contracting for a government-granted privilege to exist. Paul Weyrich reported in February on his "Endangered Liberties" television program of another outrage in Oregon. It seems that some neighbors around the Sunnyside Methodist Church in Portland complained to the city about the use of the church facilities to serve meals to the homeless.
Bureaucrat Elizabeth Normand, a Portland Land Use Hearing Officer (equivalent to a judge, I am told), issued a decree so restricting the operation of Sunnyside that church leaders around the nation fear it will have a precedent-setting effect and will end up being used a model for those in public life who think that people who love and worship God constitute a real threat to the common good.
In addition to restricting what the 100-year-old church can do about their program to aid the poor, Miss Normand limited to 70 the number of people who can attend Sunday services. She also restricted Wednesday night Bible classes and virtually every other use of the church facility. The church has a capacity of nearly 400, incidentally.
.Normand's ruling so alarmed clergy in the Portland area that they have formed a cross-denominational coalition for the appeals process. Even Jewish Synagogue Rabbi Joseph Wolf, with foresight enough to see that he could be next, is screaming about the unconstitutionality of such an edict and this new effort to destroy freedom of religion.
Once again, Sunnyside asked for it long ago when they applied for the 501(c)(3), and they are about to find out that the state, and not Jesus Christ, is the head of that church. This appeal, if brought on constitutional grounds, will be a great waste of time and money. But what lawyer will tell them that? Especially before he gets paid? The church coalition will find, just as so many did with the driver's license struggle in the 1980s (See One in a Million), that the license overrides the right; that the church relinquished all constitutionally protected rights to operate the day it applied for and accepted the privilege. Therefore, it will now become a contract dispute judged in an equity court. Rights do not apply, and if the judge eventually reads and hears enough mention of "constitutional rights," he will finally blow his cool and expose this truth to the court.
A longtime friend of mine in Denver came to this rude awakening nearly twenty years ago when he was fighting a unjust citation in traffic court and arguing his constitutional right to travel, etc.
The judge interrupted him with, "Do you have a valid driver's license?
"Oh Yes, right here," he proudly replied, as he pulled it from his wallet and displayed it on the bench.
She then informed him that this had placed him in an equity jurisdiction, which supercedes any common law protection. The nexus is the signed contract (See I Rode with Tupper, Chap. 8).
But then as the wag said, "If mankind had been truly wise, Noah would have swatted those two flies."
Ken Anderson writes: The WTO [World trade meeting & riots] was not a victimless crime. Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper announced his resignation this week. Stamper was accused of dereliction of duty by his men, who, despite months of warning about the threat of protestors against the WTO, were totally unprepared for the events of that week [in November]. This is the same Norm Stamper who, shortly after becoming chief, donned his dress uniform and marched in a "gay pride" parade -- the same weekend he forbade uniformed officers from participating in a March for Jesus. Old Quote Still Appropriate I used to think I was poor. Then they told me I wasn't poor, I was needy. Then they told me it was self-defeating to think of myself as needy, that I was culturally deprived. Then they told me deprived was a bad image, that I was underprivileged. Then they told me underprivileged was overused, that I was disadvantaged. I still don't have a dime, but I do have a great vocabulary. Jules Feiffer
Subject: New Element Discovered We thank the anonymous researcher who provided this valuable insight:
Investigators at a major US research university recently discovered the heaviest element known to science. The element, tentatively named Administratium, has no protons or electrons and thus has an atomic number of 0. However, it does have one neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice neutrons and 111 assistant vice neutrons, which gives it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by a force that involves the continuous exchange of meson-like particles called morons. It is also surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since it has no electrons, Administratium is inert. However, it can be detected chemically as it impedes every reaction with which it comes in contact. According to its discovers, a minute amount of Administratium causes one reaction to take more than four days to complete when it would normally have occurred in less than a second.
Administratium has a normal half-life of approximately three years, at which time it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons, vice neutrons and assistant vice neurons exchange places. In fact, an Administratium sample's mass actually INCREASES over time, since with each reorganization some of the morons inevitably become neutrons, forming new isodopes.
This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to speculate that perhaps Administratium is spontaneously formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "critical morass." Research at other laboratories indicates that Administratium occurs naturally in the large companies, healthcare facilities and universities; and will often be found in the newest, best-maintained buildings. Scientists point out that Administratium is known to be toxic at any level of concentration and can easily destroy any productive reactions where it is allowed to accumulate. Jon Galt Sez: The first item of business should be: Exodus 20:3 - "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." That includes making fear into a god.
Americans concerned about the school shootings might be interested to know that since 1993, 82 students have been murdered in shootings in schools according to the National School Safety Center. However, during the same time frame, there have been 99 children killed by airbags mandated by the federal government.
"Waiting periods are only a step. Registration is only a step. The prohibition of private firearms is the goal." - Janet Reno
Quote of the Month "When I joined the military it was illegal to be homosexual, then it became optional. I'm getting out before it becomes mandatory." Anonymous Lt. Col. USAF (Ret.)
From My All-time Favorite Curmudgeon "All the extravagance and incompetence of our present government is due, in the main, to lawyers, and, in part at least, to good ones. They are responsible for nine-tenths of the useless and vicious laws that now clutter the statute books, and for all the evils that go with the vain attempt to enforce them. Every Federal judge is a lawyer. So are most Congressmen. Every invasion of the plain rights of the citizens has a lawyer behind it. If all lawyers were hanged tomorrow, and their bones sold to a mah jong factory, we'd be freer and safer, and our taxes would be reduced by almost a half." -H.L. Mencken (1880-1956), "Breathing Space", The Baltimore Evening Sun, 1924 Aug 4. Hmmm. 1924, huh? So, what else is new?