Manhattan Declaration

The Manhattan Declaration contains this as its closing paragraph:

Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar's. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God's.

Since this so closely reflects the principles of the Pro-life strike, I am hereby including it on the Links page, and am inclined to consider it a sister site.

This younger sister has attracted an tremendous amount of traffic and an enviable number of signers in a very short time, while ProLifeStrike.org remains, by comparison, virtually unknown. But envy is uncalled for. Upon launching this Pro-life strike website 10 months ago, I lamented within the Manifesto page that no one was already doing this:

The concept of a pro-life tax strike is not new, but this website appears to be unique in seeking a concerted grass-roots effort.

and looked forward to the possibility of someone with better credentials picking up the baton:

If you're a recognized pro-life leader, you might offer to make this idea your own. Be our guest; assuming these general principles are followed, we willingly defer to someone with better credentials and an established following.

With 152 religious leaders and over 88,000 (at last count) signers, The Manhattan Declaration may be the answer to my plea, or at least a beginning. Although it falls short of actually calling for a tax strike, I heartily recommend this website, and pray that it will stir folks up to conscientious civil disobedience.

Criminal obedience

Suppose you surprise a burglar one night as you enter your home. The place is ransacked, he's carting off your most precious possessions, and when he sees you, he pulls a gun and orders you to drop to the floor. "Just do what I say," he snarls, "and no one will get hurt."

Do you obey?

Probably you do. You obey the criminal, not because you want to obey, nor because you have a duty to obey, but because you're afraid of him. He has a gun, and you don't. So you obey.

Our government has turned criminal. Our government orders us to fund the slaughter of the innocents, which is against God's Law.

Some Christians would say that we ought to obey our government out of patriotic loyalty, and that we have a moral duty to pay our taxes. But is it ever a duty to obey a criminal?

Be honest. Is it not rather that you are afraid? The government has all the power, and so you obey. Not because you want to, nor because of a duty, but because you're afraid of what they will do to you if you don't obey. Just do as they say, and no one will get hurt.

But people are already being hurt. The babies are being slaughtered, with your tax dollars. Mothers are being maimed for life. Our religious freedom and our consciences are being trampled upon.

At least a few folks should resist the criminal. Please consider joining the strike.