"Among the reasons the United States is so open, so tolerant, and so free is that no person may be restricted or demeaned by government in exercising his or her religion."
To be clear, Conscientious Objection to Military Taxation does not require that pacifists be exempted from paying their fair share of taxes, only that the tax code comply with the constitutional right of pacifists to freely practice their religion and live in accordance with the dictates of their consciences.
Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund
Because our system of taxation places all tax dollars in a general fund to be used at the government's discretion for education, infrastructure, health care, military, etc., to ensure that the Conscientious Objector's tax dollars not be used to fund the military and the taking of life, President Trump's tax reform proposal must both recognize Conscientious Objection to Military Taxation and support the passage of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Act recently introduced in Congress by Representative John Lewis:
"This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to establish the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund for the deposit of income, gift, and estate taxes paid by or on behalf of taxpayers: (1) who are designated conscientious objectors opposed to participation in war in any form based upon their sincerely held moral, ethical, or religious beliefs or training (within the meaning of the Military Selective Service Act) . . . Amounts deposited in the Fund shall be allocated annually to any appropriation not for a military purpose."
Conclusion
The Supreme Court has once again asserted the importance of religious freedom and of respecting the moral rights of citizens. As Justice Alito's Opinion in Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby Stores makes clear, the government, in this case, the IRS must not discriminate against men and women who wish not only to run their businesses but, perhaps more importantly, to live their lives in a manner required by their religious beliefs . The IRS must heed the decision of Judge Wollman that it is not the role of government to interfere with and "second-guess the honest assessment of a difficult and important question of religion and moral philosophy." The IRS must defer to the sincere religious belief of pacifists that their participation in the military tax process makes them morally and spiritually complicit in the taking of life in war. That is, it must recognize indirect complicity in the commission of an immoral act by another. If the Trump Administration wishes its tax reform to be inclusive and truly great, it must recognize that requiring pacifists to pay taxes that support war and the bearing of arms in any form is unlawful and include a provision for the Conscientious Objection to Military Taxation.
[1] I am not including the 6% of their tax dollar, U.S. citizens paid towards Veterans benefits, because many if not most pacifists see helping veterans with war/military injuries as a contractual and moral obligation of this nation.
[2] Remarks of John Fuller, Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, Amendments to the Constitution, Harrisburg, PA, 1837, p. 278.
[3] United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. 163 (1965); Welsh v. United States, 398 U.S. 333 (1970).
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