The Internal Revenue Service
P.O. Box 9052
Andover, Massachusetts 01810-9052
Dear Friends,
On the 15th of April I mailed you a letter with my 2011 tax return, explaining why my conscience will not allow me to pay what my tax return says that I owe. My conscience and faith have not altered in the past 6 months. Paying for war goes against the core of my understanding of God’s will.
War involves murder. Murder is illegal. If I were to hire someone to murder someone else, our government would put me in jail, and yet you are asking me to pay for the murder of hundreds of people in various parts of the world. The fact that my country’s government is asking me to do this does not change the fact that it is wrong. I try to live the ten commandments, including the command not to kill. For me, that commandment includes refusing to pay for killing. Exodus 20:3 (NIV) tells us, “You shall have no other gods before me.” My interpretation of this is that God’s guidance has to come first, even if contrary to human laws.
I wish that I could pay taxes. I like the standard that those of us who can should contribute financially to meet human needs in our own country and beyond. I take my responsibilities as a U.S.A. citizen very seriously, and it grieves me to have to choose between U.S.A. law and my faith. I sincerely hope that a time will come when our government will not force its citizens to make this choice. I also hope that we will stop glorifying war and violence and start using our money to save lives instead of destroying life.
To show that I take my debt seriously, I saved up money for months to get the amount I owed with my tax return, and recently gave a gift to Friends Peace Teams. This organization is doing remarkable work to in violence prevention and trauma healing in several “hot spots” around the world. A copy of my receipt is enclosed.
I look forward to discussing taxes with the IRS and other government representatives.
In peace,Susan Lee Barton
No comments:
Post a Comment