"War Tax Resistance" by Bruce and Ann Borquist must be commended for its clear presentation of a timely issue. The bibliography should be especially valuable for those who break away from the h~rd, refusing to :'prciy for peace, yet pay for·war." However, we must take issue with.a common distinction, repeated by the Borquists in their article. "No-risk . methpds of resistance include living lightly on incomes below taxable levels ..."while "high-risk actions involve the possibmty of criminal penalties." Then it is recommended that one "plan ahead how serious you want to be in your war tax n~sistance efforts, and adopt a method with acceptable risks." There is the implicatipn that "serious" efforts must involve high risks, and that greater risk will bring quicker or more favorable results. The teaching of Christ is clear in this matter~ Give fo Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. So if we participate in the government's money economy, Caesar will have his du~. There is no l?eating the government at its own gam~, and the constitutional -• t RAIN Patrons· ·Last December we asked our subscribers to "help build the new RAIN." They (you) responded generously. The names of donors are listed below. Altogether, we raised about $2700, which may not seein much by normal publishing standards, but with our "living lightly" budget it helps a lot. Thanks,· folks . You'll see some changes in RAIN over the next several months and we ·hope you like them. We invite your comments. To those readers who are .. not subsc~ibers : you can help by ' ·. I becoming subscriber~. And, of course, tax-deductible contributions are always welcome. To the people on the following listindeed, to everyone who buys and reads RAIN-thank you for your support. John Barber Karin Beck Sh.erwin N. Berger Ann and Bruce Borquist Breitenbush Community ·· LETTERS objections to war taxes are futile. ·We consider the most effective resistance to the mili~ary-industrial complex to be nonparticipation. In tax terms this means limiting our taxable income (legally, with no risk of criminal penalty) to zero. Learning to live lightly outside the money economy is a continual challenge to the cherished notions acquired w_ith our middle-class upbringing. Changing our personal habits of material acquisition and consumption in the direction of living more simply is seldom simple, nor does it feel like a no-risk approach to war-tax :resistance. But our faith in higher values calls for direct positive action. We must be willing to risk personal comforts (private auto, large house, i.e. all the amenities requiring lots of Caesar'smoney) in order to be free to give to God what is God's. Larry and Marge Warning Oysterville, WA Th.e Borquists reply: Our attorney told us . early on in our "frivolous return" challenge Joseph F. Brown Ernest Callenbach Dave Campbell Carl C. Clark Bob Coe and Merrilly McCabe Carlotta Collette ·Lee Cooper Pauline and Dave Deppen Bill Ferguson Portia and Bill Foster Michael Frasher Food Front W. W. Fuller III Douglas Funkhouser Mr. and Mrs. Stanley A. Furman William T. Geer Harley Gibson T. L. Goudvis .Del Greenfield Jere Grimm Elaine and Charlie Harris Harvey Harrison Kansas Area Watershed Council Marjorie and Ogden Kellogg Doug Kirkpatrick Stuart Krebs Fred Krueger March/April 1985 RAIN Page 3 that social change is a chipping process. American society doesn't change its ways of thinking in an overnight revolution, but by individuals picking, and winning, small battles on positions only a little ahead of the mainstream. Much of what w_e wrote is based on that premise, and we and the Warnings arefirmly in agreement on that "high-risk /low-risk" strategy choice in·war tax resistance. Risk and effectiveness are not necessarily directly related-in fact, high risk methods are described as such only because they cannot stand a court challenge. The Warnings have weighed beliefs, values, and costs and.adopted th e "living lig~tly" method of WTR. For RAIN readers, this fits with many other social change agendas as well. Other taxpayers, however, have told us that they resent having th eir income level dictated by the government as th eir only legal way of preventing contributions to the military. They instead write letters or take positions that run the risk of provoking a hostile response from the government. Th ere is no easy formula or answer. Fred W.·Lancaster Louis J. Laux, Jr. Bob Lohaus E. K. MacColl • Norm Marshall Christine and Ernst Miller Ann R. Mulrane Eric Noon William Norman Rheua Pearce Noel Peattie John Picaro Privacy Journal Maggie Rogers Clayton T. Russell Sy Safransky (Sun Magazine) -Marie and Robert Schutz Sumner Sharpe and Margaret Strachan Michael Stoops James Thiele Walter Thiem Bob Wallace Gail and Rusty Whitney Connie and Jim Winter-Troutwine Sally 'and Mark Wingate Thomas Zellers
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