The Words of the Sileven Family
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The Words of the Sileven Family |
Rev.
Everett Sliven
It is my candid opinion that government, at all levels, has now become the adversary of churches and freedom of religion.
There are now approaching seven thousand cases in this country where Christians are being prosecuted. Just recently in Milwaukee, two pastors came to me and said, "We had started a church in a home, and we were told that if we opened our Bibles one more time in these homes, we would go to jail."
Today there are parents in Florida who are about to lose their children because they refused to send them to a state-approved school. It is not because the quality of their education is poor -- in fact, test results indicate that the quality and academic achievement is superior.
I too would agree that the IRS has become a law unto itself. In fact, without trying to be inflammatory, I think there are many people who feel they are really the Gestapo-like agency of our government. The Reverend Moon case and the Bob Jones case simply lay the foundation upon which the IRS will continually come down upon churches. Now, for the first time, we have one small Southern Baptist Church in the state of Georgia, where a deacon turned in his pastor and church for not paying social security, even though it is being exempted. And the IRS has levied a $25 a day penalty against that church, with the indication that they will sell the property, if necessary, to collect.
Nebraska has been the horror story of our nation for a long time. In 1980, the Amish were prosecuted, even though the Yoder case is in good standing. They were fined, they refused to pay the fines; the state confiscated their buggies, and sold them at public auction. Rather than fight, the Amish moved.
The Mennonites have been prosecuted consistently in the state of Nebraska for the education of their children. In York, Nebraska, Pastor Moray of the Apostolic Church -- three state deputies came into his church with guns on their hips and lined the people up against the wall and confiscated their records. And then parishioners took their children to their homes to teach them.
As I sit here today, they are being prosecuted for truancy. And not one time has there been any evidence that the children have been hurt or that their education is lacking. In Gering, Nebraska, the Church of Christ was prosecuted. Its school had to move across the state line into Wyoming. In Morril, the Independent Baptist Church had to move across the state line to operate. In North Platte -- my wonderful friend, brother Bob Gellsthorpe is sitting in the audience today -- he spent 93 days in the jail there. They have levied fines against him of $200 a day, against his church. And now, within the next 30 days, they are going to sell his personal property, his home, and his church building to collect those fines.
Also, in other cities, for instance, in Central City, Nebraska, there is a man by the name of Monel who is a simple watch-repair man. He was teaching his children at home. His wife is hiding in another county to avoid arrest, even though a jury found him not guilty when he was tried. Also, there is another pastor in the state, whose wife is hiding out in the state of Iowa, to teach their children.
In Louisville, that is another story. In 1981, our church was padlocked for the first time. In 1982 I was arrested four times, and spent 120 days in Cass County jail. On October 18, 1982, there were almost one hundred praying ministers who were not a part of the case at all, who were carried out -- physically removed -- by 18 armed officers, and the church padlocked for the second time. Then in 1983, there were seven of my men who went to jail. Their wives and 32 children fled the state to avoid arrest. And then, in spite of the fact that I had filed briefs in my case and my daughter had done the same, the judge put out a warrant for our arrest. I recently returned to the state of Nebraska, voluntarily coming to the court, voluntarily closing our school down, since we have a new law to operate under, waiting until it comes into effect on July 10th. The judge was vindictive and he sentenced me to eight months in jail, stating right over the bench that he would have liked to have given me two years in the state penitentiary.
He admitted, as well as did Judge Case, that they were not bound by the Constitution in this case. That is in the record. They do not believe that the Constitution applies. In addition, I was forbidden to have writing materials to write books and pamphlets while I was in jail. I am now out on appeal.
It's very interesting to me, Senator, that in Nebraska, the Attorney General of our state was impeached by the Legislature, and the Supreme Court overturned the impeachment. He was then indicted on three counts of felony by the Grand Jury. He was given a $10,000 bond; he was allowed to sign for this. I was given $100,000 performance bond, and $10,000 cash bond. I refused to pay it -- thank God for friends who went out and collected the money to pay it. But I guess it's more dangerous to preach the Gospel and to train children than it is to commit felonies in the state of Nebraska.
What is the problem? I think it's been touched upon, especially by Attorney William Ball. And that is the problem of definition. We have a terrible problem with government trying to define religion. It's very interesting that in the state of Nebraska -- and President Reagan is falling into the trap by his advisors, and that is -- we're saying that it's an educational issue. Now, that may be what government defines it as but in our country, the Constitution, especially the First Amendment, allows me to define the tenets of my faith for myself. Therefore, if I believe that education is in fact a part of my religious faith, no government -- including the Department of Education, the IRS, or anyone else -- has the right to define away that part of my faith and put it under the regulation of the state. Unless they can show harm. Not one time in seven years have they shown harm to the children. In fact, they have shown that we are doing a superior job in education.
I want to say, just in closing, that I have in fact submitted what I believe could be used as a basis for model legislation. And I want to close by reading it, because I think it contains the inner portion of what we need:
"No federal state or local government shall define, classify, tax, license, approve, certify, restrain or restrict or otherwise infringe the practice of any sincerely held religious belief of any citizen of the United States. There are no compelling state interests that supersede the right of individual citizens to practice their beliefs. Religious beliefs shall be defined by the individual citizen and no citizen's religious beliefs must conform to those of another, to be protected by the government and its agencies. This act in no way diminishes the ability of government at all levels to punish crime as defined under the common law."
I believe that would give the basis for what we would like to see in legislation. Thank you.