If the Boston bombings made you worry even more about terrorism, come dialogue with the coordinator of Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) in Palestine and Israel, Tarek Abuata, and the pastor of the African Community Church of Lancaster, Rev. Sam Wanjau. Both will be sharing creative ways to deal with terrorism. Sponsored by www.1040forPeace.org, this event will be held at the Rohrerstown Mennonite Church Meetinghouse, 601 Rohrerstown, Road in Rohrerstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, June 30, beginning at 4:00 p.m. All are invited to bring a sack lunch and eat together at 5:30 p.m.; cold and hot drinks will be provided. An offering will be taken to support the ongoing efforts of the 1040 CPT Sustainer Team.
For a flier with details of the event, click here http://www.1040forpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/1040flyer6301.pdf
If you have questions, please e-mail Harold Penner <penner@dejazzd.com> or telephone at 717-859-3529.
That means that for every $1000 that I pay in federal income taxes, $600 goes to the military which means that 60% of my taxes go into war-making ie., killing people.
I believe it would be wrong for me to kill someone even if I wore a soldier’s uniform and killed on orders of the Commander-in-chief. I would be breaking the law of God.
If it is wrong for me to kill someone else in uniform and on orders of the Commander-in-chief, is it not wrong for me to pay the government money to enable it to kill other people? Is that not also a violation of the commandment “Thou shalt not kill“?
In order words am I sinning if I pay my federal taxes knowing that 60% of it (or in other words $600 of every $1000 of my taxes) is used to make weapons and use them to kill people in our wars?
Need I erect an altar to God every evening and pray God to forgive me for the taxes I have paid which were used by the American military to destroy and murder the peoples of the earth?
Daniel Riehl
In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul urges Timothy to be persistent in proclaiming the message of the Messiah Jesus “whether the time is favorable or unfavorable”.
Tax time is not usually considered an opportune moment for the proclamation of the Gospel. But I’m suggesting we rethink that assumption. In another of his letters, Paul wrote to the church in Colosse about how on the cross, the Messiah had “disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them.” Aren’t we remiss if in our annual ritual of filing Form 1040 with the rulers and authorities, we fail to bear witness to that triumph?
But how, you may ask, does one witness to the Reign of God while filing an annual tax return?
1040 for Peace answers that exact question. It is a purposeful plan to convert the unpleasantness of tax time into a sign of the Kingdom. For those who owe taxes and must pay, it means the withholding of $10.40 from the amount due and the sending of letters of explanation to those in authority over us. For those who owe no taxes but still must file a return, the letters remain important. They break the complicity of silence and bear witness to the Way of Jesus.
I began participating in 1040 for Peace in April, 2010. My reasons for doing so are included among the “testimonials” on the 1040forPeace website and I won’t detail them here. In short, I see the act of not paying $10.40 to be an act of witness to the one whose life and death judges all the principalities and powers, including the imperialism and militarism of the United States government.
What has the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) done about our nonpayment? It has sent us letters noting the underpayment. It has tacked on a small amount of interest. I understand we may be required to pay a penalty of up to 25 percent of the underpayment, or $2.60. And the IRS could choose to file criminal charges against us for “willful failure to pay”.
Obviously, the $10.40 is primarily a marker, a sign meant to communicate resolve and sincerity. So after the point is made, some choose to respond to the IRS letters with payment. Others leave the matter for the IRS to resolve, usually through a set-off of money owed by the IRS at a later time.
1040 for Peace doesn’t honor one approach more than the other. This isn’t about our purity, our courage, or besting the IRS. It’s about witness.
The letters we prepare explaining ourselves are not primarily for the IRS. The people working there are functionaries, simply doing their jobs. The witness we make for the Kingdom of God is directed to our members of Congress, where the decisions are made.
Even more importantly, our letters are shared with our congregations, friends and families. The Kingdom of God does not depend on what happens in Washington, D.C. Its power rests in the faithful witness of Jesus the Messiah and his followers. So we practice being faithful witnesses, and we encourage others to do the same.
We do not know what impact the collective witness of faithful Christians may have. During World War II, the witness of conscientious objectors in mental hospitals led to major changes in mental health practices. Was that their goal? It may have been in the thoughts of some, and that would have been a good thing, but probably most were just trying to give a faithful witness to the way of Jesus.
So have a look at the 1040forPeace website. Amid our preparations of Form 1040, does conscience prompt us to join this witness? In witnessing through tax withholding, we’ll be in good company. Dorothy Day, Denise Levertov, Gene Stoltzfus and John Howard Yoder have all been there before us.
Berry Friesen (March 15, 2011)
In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul urges Timothy to be persistent in proclaiming the message of the Messiah Jesus “whether the time is favorable or unfavorable”.
Tax time is not usually considered an opportune moment for the proclamation of the Gospel. But I’m suggesting we rethink that assumption. In another of his letters, Paul wrote to the church in Colosse about how on the cross, the Messiah had “disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them.” Aren’t we remiss if in our annual ritual of filing Form 1040 with the rulers and authorities, we fail to bear witness to that triumph?
But how, you may ask, does one witness to the Reign of God while filing an annual tax return?
1040 for Peace answers that exact question. It is a purposeful plan to convert the unpleasantness of tax time into a sign of the Kingdom. For those who owe taxes and must pay, it means the withholding of $10.40 from the amount due and the sending of letters of explanation to those in authority over us. For those who owe no taxes but still must file a return, the letters remain important. They break the complicity of silence and bear witness to the Way of Jesus.
I began participating in 1040 for Peace in April, 2010. My reasons for doing so are included among the “testimonials” on the 1040forPeace website and I won’t detail them here. In short, I see the act of not paying $10.40 to be an act of witness to the one whose life and death judges all the principalities and powers, including the imperialism and militarism of the United States government.
What has the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) done about our nonpayment? It has sent us letters noting the underpayment. It has tacked on a small amount of interest. I understand we may be required to pay a penalty of up to 25 percent of the underpayment, or $2.60. And the IRS could choose to file criminal charges against us for “willful failure to pay”.
Obviously, the $10.40 is primarily a marker, a sign meant to communicate resolve and sincerity. So after the point is made, some choose to respond to the IRS letters with payment. Others leave the matter for the IRS to resolve, usually through a set-off of money owed by the IRS at a later time.
1040 for Peace doesn’t honor one approach more than the other. This isn’t about our purity, our courage, or besting the IRS. It’s about witness.
The letters we prepare explaining ourselves are not primarily for the IRS. The people working there are functionaries, simply doing their jobs. The witness we make for the Kingdom of God is directed to our members of Congress, where the decisions are made.
Even more importantly, our letters are shared with our congregations, friends and families. The Kingdom of God does not depend on what happens in Washington, D.C. Its power rests in the faithful witness of Jesus the Messiah and his followers. So we practice being faithful witnesses, and we encourage others to do the same.
We do not know what impact the collective witness of faithful Christians may have. During World War II, the witness of conscientious objectors in mental hospitals led to major changes in mental health practices. Was that their goal? It may have been in the thoughts of some, and that would have been a good thing, but probably most were just trying to give a faithful witness to the way of Jesus.
So have a look at the 1040forPeace website. Amid our preparations of Form 1040, does conscience prompt us to join this witness? In witnessing through tax withholding, we’ll be in good company. Dorothy Day, Denise Levertov, Gene Stoltzfus and John Howard Yoder have all been there before us.
Berry Friesen (March 15, 2011)
Dear Friends,
“The world breaks us all and some become stronger at the broken places.” –Ernest Hemmingway
Christine Wyrtzen sang a song that, long ago, deeply touched my heart. It simply said, “I’ve been through a fire that has deepened my desire to know the living God, more and more. It hasn’t been much fun, but the work that it has done in my life has made it worth the hurt. You see, sometimes we need the hard times to bring us to our knees. Otherwise, we do as we please and we never heed him. But he always knows what’s best; and it’s when we are distressed that we really come to know and love God…as he is!”
If it would interest you to know what life to me felt like, consider reading James Herbert’s book, THE OTHERS. His protagonist, Nicholas Dismas, is me! But beware; the book is a horror story that begins in hell…and, I’ve only known one person who actually made it past the first few pages and went on to read the book in its entirety. Amazingly, THE OTHERS, is based on real-life occurrences.
Sorting out life’s normal complexities is hard enough, in and of itself. For those of us who have grown up in environments of extreme dysfunction (filled with addiction, violence, horrendous abuses, etc.), utter confusion and a “living hell” is a long-term reality. Thankfully, there is a loving God and plenty of available, compassionate help that can completely change our long-term paradigms and fill us with peace and hope!
In retrospect, I would not change one thing about my life; as today I am absolutely content and reasonably happy! I know who I am and for what I was designed! I do out of who (or more appropriately, whose ) I am! As Lord Byron aptly posed, “I doubt sometimes whether a quiet and unagitated life would have suited me—yet sometimes I long for it.” Oh, the joy of living contentedly within God’s paradox!
After opting out of military service (12/71) and setting off on my quest for honest answers and lasting solutions, it only took me 31 years to find the life of utter peace within God’s paradox which my heart had so longed for. For the wounded, who are blind and deaf to actual truth-filled reality, it takes time to sort out the lies; to discover and come to appreciate that “success is the journey—not the destination.”
18 years + 31 years=49 formative years…eek!
For perspective, Jesus reminds us of another friend, Moses, who spent 40 years in an adoptive home; another 40 years in the desert, herding sheep, trying to sort out the first 40 years; and 40 years walking in circles, trying to rescue his birth-people, most of whom did not truly wish to be rescued; then died, seemingly not getting to enjoy his promised reward. Many, many years later, Jesus and a few more friends, took a hike up a mountain. Jesus’ friends got to see, first hand, how he treats his faithful friends. They got to see Jesus and honor faithful Moses with a personalized welcome into his promised reward. Jesus always makes us wait the worthwhile. That’s just who he is!
My next 31 years (12/71-7/1/02) were filled with normal life experiences: employment (a career in metal fabrication), pastoral internship, marriage, Bible college, travel, pastoral ministry/ordination, ministry to the marginalized (homeless, addicts, prisoners, refugees, etc.), business ownership (auto parts/automotive mechanics—destroyed in shopping center fire, remodeling/roofing), five lovely children (3 died at birth), divorce, adopted a son, grandchildren, continuing education (psychology, physiology, physics, computer science/security, literature, communications, music, art(. Spaced throughout was successively intense personal counseling, (sexual abuse, codependence issues, relational flaws/self protective issues and mechanisms, death/grief, separation and divorce issues/support).
These years brought much joy; much sorrow; and sadly, much loss—the greatest shame of which was unnecessary, though consequences of what we chose in “the fall.” How I thank Jesus for being willing to walk through it all with me!
ON July 2, 202 I woke up with an awareness that a lifelong prayer had been answered…I was completely ready to abandon myself (unconditionally) to God…So I did just that! Absolute peace and contentment became mine, on that day!
One week later, I followed God’s leading into full-time engagement with his marginalized ones, which led to employment in rescue mission ministry—first in Portland, Oregon; later in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Thus began my last step of preparation (unbeknownst to me) for my life’s main calling….
Lord,
if like a fragile flower,
torn petal by petal,
my life must continue to tear,
let there be fragrance.
–Ruth Harms Calkin
Blessings,
Norm Lowry
Norman Lowry KN9758
SCI-Camp Hill
PO Box 200
Camp Hill PA 17001-0200
www.normanlowry.blogspot.com
Google “norm Lowry”
Introduction: Norman Lowry is in prison for his resistance to the fiscal, political, military, court and prison oppression of the American empire. His faithful witness to the way and will of Jesus of Nazareth makes him unwilling to promise to never again block a military recruiting doorway. For this he is currently serving a seven year sentence in the Pennsylvania penal system. From prison he is writing the truth of our situation as he sees it. 1040 For Peace readers may find some wisdom in his analysis. We will be posting a series of letters from Norm in the days ahead.
Because of spam problems we have had to disable the email response form. You may phone your thoughts if you wish to me at 717 859-3388. – John K. Stoner
September 24, 2012
Dear Friends,
My name is Norm Lowry. Simply put, “I am one beggar showing another beggar where the bread is.” (Brennan Manning). Primarily, my passion is the love of Jesus; secondarily, the love of mankind.
Like each of you, I find my life is seamed together with scars. Like each of you, many (if not most) of my scars represent pointedly painful reminders that we are not created to meddle with sin and yet we chose to do just that.
How grateful I am that Jesus foresaw my life (and yours) prior to creation and chose to reconcile us (and all of the soon to be fallen creation) to himself! His plan has always been for us to live in his precious and most costly (to him) freedom. Today, it is my little aim to live my life to the fullest, within this magnificent freedom.
From an early age, the simple teachings of Jesus and the Old Testament prophets fueled endless questions of just how it is that we tend to see God as being violent or vindictive; one who would cosign the illicit power and control mechanisms of our institutionalized religions; one who claims to “love mercy and do justice,” yet doesn’t mind that we abuse, oppress and marginalize those who are poor or who simply look or act differently than we.
Slowly, patiently and painstakingly, Jesus has unwrapped my self-centered/self-protective personal agendas; lovingly laying each one next to his matchless love, grace and mercy. Little by little, he has unveiled his rich, personalized plan for my life; at each junction, patiently waiting for me to empty my hands, that I might be able to hold his riches (he cannot fill hands already full).
My heart has perpetually been attached to those who suffer the ill-effects of our society’s love of extreme violence, racism, bigotry and poverty-production. For many years, I sought (through normal channels) to address my grave concerns–through activism, protest, preaching, teaching, dialog, and writing articles in the world’s independent press. Sadly, it was mostly those in foreign lands (which face American oppression) who were willing to field discussion. American apathy, sadly even among those who claim Jesus’ precious name, is epidemic.
Three + years ago, after much waiting before God, I was led to amp-up my protests, to include chosen acts of civil disobedience and imprisonment, as a pointed and purposeful means of saying “no” to our love of injustice, lack of mercy and extreme willingness to marginalize and oppress those we do not desire or value. What a rich (albeit often sad and lonely) experience. The powers that be and their systems of oppression (fiscal, political, military, court and prison) do not look kindly at such confrontation; especially of direct confrontation of their inherent brutality.
For my first protest, I served 23 months in the Lancaster County Prison; for my second, 12 months. Recently, I was sentenced for my third protest and was given the state legislative maximum sentence (1-7 years in the PA state system, which I will max out), because I will not agree to cease using trespass or destruction of military property in my protests. The judges admit that I am indeed a non-volent protester–yet say that my choices dictate such extreme sentencing. To me, I am simply doing what is normal; what Jesus asked–love enough to confront, stand for the love of mercy ad for honest justice for all, especially for those deemed by society as the least.
It seems to me to be the greater value to invest my life with those oppressed/enslaved than to join an apathetic public in being oppressors/enslavers!
‘If they hated our precious Jesus how much more will they choose to hate us.’
Blessings…
Norm Lowry
Norman Lowry KN9758
SCI-Camp Hill
PO Box 200
Camp Hill PA 17001-0200
www.normanlowry.blogspot.com
Google “norm Lowry”
by Berry Friesen, Lancaster, Pa.
View source of Article
Seven years ago, early in the second term of President George W. Bush, Goshen (Ind.) College professor John Roth called on U.S. Mennonites to “commit themselves to a five-year sabbatical from affiliations with any political party.”
In a statement released by the college, Roth described “a new posture of aggressive political activism” among Mennonites. Notwithstanding the historic skepticism Mennonites have held toward politics, during the 2004 election campaign, Roth said, “Mennonites seemed to have been co-opted by the polarized rhetoric of radio talk show hosts, direct mail campaigns, polemical ads and website bloggers.”
At the time, I was unenthusiastic about Roth’s proposal, partly because I had taken time off work the previous fall to campaign door-to-door for John Kerry. That was a first for me. In other ways I also fit the profile Roth lamented.
My second objection was that a sabbatical from politics would heighten our inclination to seek purity as our highest calling. This tendency often has removed our voice from public life—a result I find difficult to reconcile with the biblical emphasis on witness.
Now, surrounded by the drama and spectacle of another national election, I feel different. It’s time to implement Roth’s proposal with a boycott on voting in the 2012 national election. To ensure our action is understood to reflect concern for public life and not only our own righteousness, it also is time we publicly proclaim the reason for our boycott: the failure of our political
system to give us a choice that is law-abiding and thus meets the minimum threshold of Romans 13.
During the past seven years, Republican and Democrat distinctives have been eclipsed by the unity of the two major parties in their disregard for the rule of law. Examples include the refusal to prosecute Wall Street banksters who stole billions of dollars, the flagrant violation of constitutional protections related to privacy in our communications, the persecution of whistle-blowers and the violent taking of American lives based solely on secret accusations of government officials.
In foreign affairs, the two major parties again stand together in claiming America’s right to roam the earth and do as it pleases. It matters little which political party controls the White House; both pursue war and send killing squads into other countries without Congress casting a vote. Nations that refuse to fall in line, such as Iraq, Libya, Syria or Iran, are stigmatized relentlessly by deceitful propaganda and are eventually crushed or dismembered.
Not only do followers of Jesus have no stake in the make-believe wrestling matches these two parties stage every four years, we have an obligation to call it what it is: a charade designed to divert our attention from the horrors off-stage. We are becoming a lawless nation. Until that is named, the posturing and showboating at center stage will not change our national direction, no matter how authentically the lead characters play their roles.
What the U.S. political structure asks us to give every four years is the very thing it is forfeiting by its disdain for the rule of law: legitimacy. If we are faithful to our calling, we will refuse to give it. And we will find a way to explain ourselves out loud, in the public square.