For those who have been following the saga of the Shire Free Church: Monadnock, here’s the latest, much of which was well-covered by the Keene Sentinel’s Martha Shanahan last week. After bringing on liberty attorney Brandon Ross for our tax appeal case last year, the church board decided to dismiss the 2014 case in favor of re-filing in 2015. We’ve since filed the 2015 tax exemption with our attorney’s oversight.
Given the state’s rejection of multiple liberty churches’ tax exemptions in 2014 (including the Peaceful Assembly Church – also represented by Ross), the board wanted to make sure we were putting our best foot forward, legally.
There has been a misconception that this is all about money; it’s about religious freedom. We don’t believe that the Shire Free Church, or any other church, should owe taxes. However we have nonetheless continued to give voluntary contributions to the City of Keene’s operations we support, like road maintenance and fire protection.
Shire Free Church: Monadnock is established to promote peace and other divine virtues, and to promote the study of religion in freedom and fellowship. We believe there are many paths to God, one for each individual. We believe God is the source of all creation; and divinity is expressed through compassion, empathy, forgiveness, freedom, generosity, honesty, humility, kindness, mercy, patience, and peace.
This is not about keeping money. If it were, we’d not be hiring an attorney. In fact, Shire Free Church: Monadnock’s board decided to go ahead and pay the full amount demanded by the city for 2014 in order to forestall any violent acts by the city agents and start our 2015 appeal without any liens on the property. The state religion is a dangerous, aggressive religion and we will use their system to protect your right to choose a religion of peace instead of believing in the violent, morally-corrupt state.
Today Ian Freeman and I went to Monadnock Regional High School in Swanzey, New Hampshire to hand out “Philosophy of Liberty” flyers to the students as they left for the busses. You may remember that this used to be a regular event for Keene activists back in 2011 and 2012. We successfully handed out dozens of flyers to students, and some even stopped us to ask a few more questions about the material and ideas. It was a successful outreach event, and I intend to continue sharing these pamphlets with curious minds. Here’s the video from today:
The author of the article, student Kellie Doc Gordon, excoriates the Keene Sentinel and journalist Meghan Foley, claiming Foley’s article on the pledge controversy was “biased” against the school. Of course the reality is that the only reason the article seemed one-sided was because the school bureaucrats basically refused to comment. They’re circling the wagons. All Foley got from them was the school superintendent saying they’ve dealt with the situation. No one else from the school, including the teacher in question, was willing to comment.
“The Pawprint Newsletter”, the school’s weekly propaganda rag, also included an editorial cartoon which suggests that the military is somehow risking their lives for your freedom of speech, which is demonstrably false. The military is fighting in foreign lands to uphold the commands of politicians, whose interests have nothing to do with preserving freedom and whose actions result in the further destruction of those freedoms. The military are merely the enforcers for the military industrial complex. Don’t believe me though, take it from a decorated Marine, Major General Smedley Butler, the author of, “War is Racket“.
I will write up some future posts about this incident (was awaiting outcome before writing anything) but there are a few things I would like to get out immediately:
1) The “substance” found was not Klonopin. I’m still baffled why the sheriff department was telling the people who were calling on my behalf that it was Klonopin when the officers involved in the search identified the substance during the actual search. The substance is a medicine for which I have a prescription to treat a condition I have.
2) I really appreciate all the assistance I received from the “liberty” community at large especially Virginia copblockers and Keene activists (I’ll write up a post about this later).
3) New Hampshire is honestly the “best” state in my opinion in terms of freedom (post to follow).
4) My real “sin” in my opinion was not consenting to a search of the vehicle.
Social media is on fire locally with the Keene Sentinel breaking a story about a heroic student at Monadnock Regional middle school who recently got in trouble for not standing for the socialist pledge of allegiance.
Fatima M. Smart was threatened by her teacher, Vicki Mercier, when Fatima refused to be a lemming and stand up with the rest of the class for her daily dose of mind-numbing chanting and idol-worship. Fatima is well within her rights to stay seated, and should be able to do it without being threatened or scared. If only more Americans were as brave as she, but many who otherwise would follow Fatima’s lead, will not because of fear of social pressure. In Fatima’s case, that included her teacher targeting her in an attempt to embarrass Fatima in front of her class.
If you love freedom you should actively oppose participation in the pledge of allegiance and give Fatima your support. Don’t let the nationalists shout you down or pressure you to participate.
Her mother, Kerry A. Boscarino, says she is planning to bring a civil case against the school district, since the teacher refused to apologize for targeting her daughter for humiliation. Stay tuned here for the latest. Thanks for your courage, Fatima!
