Challenge or tragedy: A government raid at sublimity, Oregon

Voluntaryist, The, Oct 1998 by Watner, Carl

The 34 acres were auctioned off at the county courthouse in Salem, Oregon on May 23, 1997. The only (and successful) bidder was Mr. J. D. Bruce of Sublimity, who bought the property for $119,000. The County claimed a debt of $16,412 against the property, but according to State law it was permitted to keep the excess generated by the auction. Revere and supporters of the Embassy of Heaven Church garnered a great deal of local publicity over the injustice perpetrated by the County upon the Church, and were successful in persuading most potential bidders to shun the auction. It is Revere's position that the County violated its own laws in foreclosing on and selling the property. A purchaser could only buy whatever interest the County had in the property; and since the County did not have the option to reject the statement of tax exemption and never notified the Church of the end of the two year redemption period, it had no real legal interest in the property and could convey nothing to the new buyer. The County's position is to let the title companies sort things out, if and when subsequent buyers seek title insurance.

Since the Embassy of Heaven Church began in the mid-1980s, Revere has preached nonviolence, avoided lawsuits, and lost all confidence in the justice of the courts. He certainly does not plan to sue the County. Instead, he hopes to continue in possession of the land by erecting signs and placing several church members back on the land to establish an office. Though these people may go to jail for trespassing, Revere hopes to use their imprisonment as a way to publicly highlight the illegal and unlawful seizure of the Church's property.

Many public commentators have pointed out the parallels between the raid on the Church's property and government raids at Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas. Although no one was killed at Sublimity and neither of these earlier attacks involved nonpayment of taxes, all three were similar in that the governments involved used massive amounts of physical force and military armaments to subdue uncooperative subjects. Revere, and others, have raised certain Church vs. State issues, such as whether or not the State can pick and choose which religions it will recognize and exempt from taxes. This, however, begs the question. The main issue is whether or not governments should have the right and power to tax anyone, much less churches.

The real tragedy at Sublimity is that no writer or participant has challenged the right of the State to collect taxes. As I pointed out in my article on "The Tragedy of Political Government" (Whole No. 79), the main problem is that few people realize government is an immoral and impractical institution. Most people have been conditioned-via public schoolingto accept government as a natural part of their environment. Therefore they never question the legitimacy of taxation. The purpose of this article, indeed of the whole Voluntaryist enterprise, is to challenge the legitimacy of the State and activities, such as taxation, which support the State. Taxation is theft, regardless of what the government calls it. The real challenge to voluntaryists-if further tragedies like those at Sublimity are to be avoided-is that more and more people must be educated to understand the nature of the State and taxation. "Challenge or Tragedy"-which shall it be?