 March/April 2000 (XXXVIII 2) |
ollowing the Supreme Court's refusal to hear appeals from war tax resisters Priscilla Adams of Haddonfield Meeting (NJ) and Gordon and Edith Browne of New England Yearly Meeting, PYM Interim Meeting in January authorized a letter to Congress in support of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund bill.
Priscilla explained to Interim Meeting that her witness against paying taxes for war while working for peace continues. Now she directs our attention from the courts to the legislature. Friends are encouraged to write letters individually and as Meetings (and to send copies to the War Tax Concerns Support Group at PYM) urging Congress to accommodate the exercise of religious conscience by those who would pay taxes without paying for the military. As explained in the following letter, the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund bill deserves serious attention to protect a vulnerable minority in our democracy.
News of the rejection of Priscilla's appeal by the court appeared in newspapers in Burlington and Camden counties in New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Allentown and Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Even the ribbon of news in lights in Times Square declared the loss of religious liberty case by Quakers. The friend-of-the-court brief submitted by Yearly Meeting in support of Priscilla gives a good review of our corporate concern. Copies may be requested from War Tax Concerns by calling 215-241-7240 or e-mailing suzanned@pym.org.
Here is the text of the letter sent by Interim Meeting to members of Congress from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.
As Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, we are the thousands of Quakers in four Eastern states to which William Penn led our forebears and others who fled forced participation in war and religious persecution. As a people of peace, we contribute to society in numerous ways and appreciate that through government much is accomplished which cannot be done by smaller groups. Our religious principles, founded closely on the teachings of the New Testament, have been accommodated in the original Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Selective Service System, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993.
We appeal for your attention now because the U.S. Supreme Court denied two associated petitions for certiorari [99-632 and 99-798] seeking implementation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 ("RFRA") as intended by Congress. The Court refused to overturn court decisions which, in effect, exempted the Internal Revenue Service from the provision of RFRA requiring the government to use the least restrictive means whenever it must burden religious exercise in order to accomplish a compelling purpose.
The Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill, HR1454, provides the means for resolving this conflict between religious freedom and governmental action by providing an accommodation so that conscientious objectors could pay their full taxes with none of the money being used for military purposes. This bill to amend the Tax Code is modeled on the process Selective Service uses when a pacifist is called in a military draft. The Joint Committee on Taxation projects this legislation to be revenue positive. The prerogative of Congress to determine the budget would not change.
The Courts assert that changes to provide special consideration in the tax laws can only be made by Congress. In 1988, Congress took action to enact IRC Sec. 3127 — an accommodation for the Old Order Amish, allowing an exemption from participation in the Social Security system after the Supreme Court denied relief. Since the passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Congress acted in 1998 to provide protection for churches whose members tithe by passing the Religious Liberty and Charitable Donation Protection Act, P.L. 105-183, after the Courts had failed to provide an accommodation for them under the bankruptcy law.
We look to you for leadership in moving the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund legislation, HR 1454, to passage. We welcome your response and want to work with you to accomplish this goal of achieving the compelling state interest in collecting taxes without violating the religious freedom our democracy holds so dear.
In Faith,
Kenneth Sutton
Clerk of Interim Meeting Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM