 January/February 2000 (XXXVIII 1) |
ore than 50 Friends carrying candles left the Arch Street Meeting House the evening of December 2 for a silent walking vigil on the streets of Philadelphia in support of the petition filed in November with the U.S. Supreme Court by Priscilla Adams of Haddonfield Meeting (NJ). She seeks relief under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 from penalties arising from her religious witness against paying taxes for the violence of war.
The agenda of PYM Interim Meeting that evening included a report on the progress of the amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief that PYM has engaged Philadelphia attorney Richard Bazelon to file with the U.S. Supreme Court. The agenda also provided opportunity to walk during an extended break. Friends paused at the 1876 statue of Religious Liberty at the National Museum of American Jewish History on Fifth Street south of Arch, then continued in quiet back to the Arch Street Meeting House.
After 8 p.m. on Thursday no crowds were on the street, but some cars blew horns to support our walk. No news media showed up although a press release had been widely distributed. While candles and cups were being collected back inside the meetinghouse and Friends prepared to return to business, organizers heard many appreciative comments:
- Impressive.
- I'm really glad we went out into the city.
- It was a privilege to participate.
- Thank you!
Later, Dorothy Carroll of Birmingham Meeting (PA) shared her reflections: "While I walked, I thought of how many of us want our resources to be used for constructive, not violent or destructive, purposes. But we don't know how to do it. And here in our Yearly Meeting Priscilla Adams is showing us one way. And then I saw Priscilla up at the head of the line with her two young daughters, leading this long procession of Friends with candles.
"Sometimes my candle tipped and burned the cup because I was also holding a banner. And I was thinking about my feet on the pavement; the ground beneath was not an even, easy road. What a metaphor for our life as Seekers!
"I loved the statue to Religious Liberty put there by B'nai B'rith and Israelites of America and I'd never seen it before. It fit right in with what we'd been hearing during Interim Meeting about work of the National Council of Churches of Christ and the Pennsylvania Council of Churches and the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Each of us is an activist in one way or another."
Priscilla Adams, who is PYM regional staff for Haddonfield Quarter, has refused to voluntarily pay federal taxes until the government provides assurance that her tax money will not be used for military purposes. PYM supports religious witness by not forwarding to the federal government the military portion of a conscientious objector employee's withheld taxes. When Priscilla completes her tax return and finds the amount considered due, she loans that money interest-free to social service agencies.
Lower courts which addressed the issue of accommodating war tax resistance declared that the government has a compelling interest in collecting taxes. The courts have not dealt with the arguments that even within the context of mandatory participation in taxation some accommodation of conscientious objection would be possible. The Supreme Court has not heard any case which raises these religious liberty questions under the 1993 law.
In addition to the PYM friend of the court brief, the American Friends Service Committee has filed a separate brief on behalf of Priscilla's case. The Rutherford Institute of Charlottesville, Virginia (a public interest civil rights law firm specializing in religious freedom cases) has contributed to the preparation of the case for the U.S. Supreme Court. Peter Goldberger and James Feldman, Priscilla's attorneys, learned in December that the U.S. Solicitor General is responding to their petition prior to its being considered by the justices. Peter Goldberger has been asked to speak during Yearly Meeting sessions on Saturday, March 25.
Priscilla observes, "As a mother, as a promoter of peace and respect among people, and as a citizen, I feel the Supreme Court has a really important decision to make about how government can encourage rather than disallow individual responsibility to reduce violence. I am so moved by the solidarity and prayerful respect within our Yearly Meeting as this process unfolds."
Suzanne Day
Westfield Meeting (NJ)
Part-time staff for War Tax Concerns/Support
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM