Wednesday, October 1, 2008

David Little

Two posts ago, ("Pro-life strike: nudge"), I lamented that the idea of a pro-life strike or pro-life tax resistance movement seemed to be "a microscopic nudge at present, practiced by very few". Then I offered a prayer that, if the idea were pleasing to God, "may the nudge continue, and by Your grace and Spirit, grow". I also mentioned in that post a certain David Little in Canada as the only other active pro-life tax resister that I knew of.

David Little, Mother Theresa, Pope John-Paul II Shortly thereafter, to my joy and surprise, that same David Little saw my humble blog post and contacted me. This led to some long conversations and reading in which I have learned much about the man. I am happy to now report that, not only is Mr. Little a fellow pro-life tax resister, he may be the very epitome of that term. Even more importantly, his prayerful efforts may represent the makings of what I had prayed for: the dawning of a real movement (maybe even an eventual "tsunami"!). All in God's will and pleasure.

Mr. Little's approach has been more aggressive than mine, refusing to pay taxes, and letting the Canadian government officials know exactly why. As a result, he is currently facing trial, but is starting to attract some individuals to stand with him in the fight. Among other public statements is this one:

I have made it clear publicly for more than 20 years that I would rather suffer imprisonment than voluntarily surrender money to any person or institution who would use even the smallest portion of my money to perpetrate murder on any human being.
In 2004, David founded the St. Thomas More Society of Canada (STMS) "to raise resources of both persons and funds to take pro-active measures against the government of Canada, legally and politically; to end tax funded abortion in the short term, and to reverse the legality of all abortion in the long term."

Do I hear an "Amen!"? Or a "Yes!"?

Can we dare to pray and work for this in the U.S. as well as in Canada?

The above are just a couple highlights. Chances are I'll be writing more about David Little and STMS. Meanwhile, you can learn more at the STMS website. See especially David's remarkable story and his legal case.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

David Little is also one of the tax resisters featured in We Won’t Pay: A Tax Resistance Reader which ought to be required reading for anyone trying to organize and develop a tax resistance campaign of any sort.

Jerry said...

Thanks for the tip. David Gross's website was instrumental in providing a link that eventually helped David Little and myself to learn about each other.

Anonymous said...

Here is another person of conscience who refused to pay taxes because of U.S. legality of abortion and the Federal support of Planned Parenthood:

Fr. Albert Lauer of Cincinnati, OH. In his case, legal action was threatened by the IRS. Fr. Lauer and his bishop decided that in future years if he drew no salary there wouldn’t be any problem so that’s what he did. Reported in the book: Priests, by Michael Rose, Sophia Institute Press, 2003, Chapter 1.

Jerry said...

Thanks for the info. After reading your comment, i wanted to contact this man, but Googling "Fr. Albert Lauer" gave me this notice. R.I.P.