Welcome to the National Campaign
for a Peace Tax Fund

The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund (NCPTF), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit organization which advocates for passage of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill (currently H.R. 1921). When enacted, this law will restore the rights of citizens whose conscience does not permit physical or financial participation in all war. Federal taxes of designated conscientious objectors will be placed in a non-military trust fund, enabling these citizens to be free from spiritual bondage, increasing federal revenue, and restoring the balance of government between collective security and non-interference in an individual's free exercise of belief. (More on the purpose of NCPTF.)

 

Peace Tax Fund Loses Key Board Member

John Little Randall, who served on the Peace Tax Fund Board for ten years and was currently Vice-Chair, died suddenly April 29, 2008. His deep caring, unique humor, candor and leadership will be missed greatly. Since his retirement from teaching math in a community college, John was increasingly active in his support of the Peace Tax Fund and Conscience and Peace Tax International (CPTI) (new window). He helped his wife Nana-Fosu Randall establish a Montessori school in Kumasi, Ghana, and maintained several websites, including the sites of CPTI (new window), John William Montessori School (new window), Friends of John William Education Center (new window), and Voices of African Mothers (new window). A memorial service will take place 6:00 PM, Tuesday, May 6th, at Scarsdale Friends Meeting (new window) in Scarsdale, New York. To add your thoughts or remembrances about John, please visit his memorial page. 

New Peace Tax Foundation DVD

The new edition of the Peace Tax Foundation's video, Compelled by Conscience, is now available as a DVD. This 12-minute video is an excellent summary intended for both newcomers and activists. It explains the ideal of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund bill in its historical and current context. Leaders and ordinary people from across the religious and political spectrum explain why there is a need to enable citizens to pay their taxes without violating their conscience. Bonus tracks on the Compelled by Conscience DVD include extended interviews, a video from a similar movement in Canada called Conscience Canada, and a moving NCPTF 35th anniversary concert. The DVD is ideal for sharing with a friend or a church group.

Check out a preview clip from our DVD, Compelled by Conscience (pop-up window). Purchase the DVD from our on-line store.

Church Bulletin Insert Available

A 5.5" x 8.5" two-sided, full-color insert is available for use in church bulletins between February 17th and March 16th, 2008. Beginning with a story of two pastors punished by the IRS for practicing their faith, the piece summarizes the rationale and need for the Peace Tax Fund and encourages readers to craft brief statements of conscience. With preparation, some churches may provide space to reflect and write, and collect these expressions of individual conscience along with regular gift offerings. Download the bulletin insert (PDF format).

Statements of Conscience

Read and create personal expressions of conscience about paying for war:

News

Indiana Congresswoman and Peace Tax Fund Cosponsor Julia Carson Dies at 69.

2008–1–8

Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind.), the first African- American and the first woman to represent Indianapolis, died of lung cancer December 15, 2007. Carson was an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq. She was also a champion of children's issues, women's rights, and efforts to reduce homelessness.

Carson told National Public Radio correspondent Daniel Zwerdling in a 1996 interview, "My mother dropped out of school when she was in the second grade. She lost her own mother when she was only four years of age—and for someone like me to be able to walk life's journey into the halls of the United States Congress, as an elected member of that body, it's most overwhelming...."

Former Congressman and Peace Tax Fund lead sponsor Andy Jacobs told NCPTF Executive Director Alan Gamble in a January 8 phone call that he lost a good friend, a "jewel," last month. He wrote, "The same praise Carl Sandburg gave to Lincoln—'Look where he came from and look where he went; and wasn't he a kind of tough struggler all his life right up to the finish?'—could, and should, be said of our sister, the late Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind.), who has passed beyond the sound of our voices into the sunset of her temporal life and into a dawn of history."

Representative Carson was an avid and consistent supporter of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund, one of the original sixteen who introduced H.R. 1921 in April 2007. The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund mourns with her family and those inside and outside of Indiana's 7th district whose interests she represented. Gamble encourages Peace Tax Fund supporters to advocate for liberty of conscience and belief with the vigor and courage embodied by Ms. Carson. Nominations for her vacant seat will occur January 12-13, with a special election scheduled for March 12, 2008.

Read and/or listen to more on Rep. Carson by clicking on the National Public Radio (new window) or Wikipedia (new window) story.

Peace Tax Fund's Executive Director Presents Kansas Peace Series Lecture.

2007–12–10

So much effort is spent opposing the current war. Will peace be achieved when the fighting stops? On what are we building and to where are we headed? Read the November 2, 2007, lecture by Alan Gamble, which opened the 25th anniversary gathering of the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee in Newton, Kansas. Lecture in RTF format (will open in Word). Lecture in PDF format (new window).

The Daniel Jenkins Case Will Seek Review by an International Human Rights Commission.

2007–12–5

Daniel Jenkins' legal case—a case of conscientious objection to military taxation—was denied a hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court on October 1, 2007. Jenkins' petition was one of several hundred that were submitted during the summer months. Of these, only seventeen were chosen for review by the Supreme Court.

A comprehensive amicus brief was submitted by the New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in support of Jenkins' petition for a writ of certiorari (the procedure used in appealing for U.S. Supreme Court review). This amicus brief contains historical material that may be of interest to NCPTF supporters. Both the petition and the supporting brief are available at the Conscience and Peace Tax International Web site:

• Daniel Taylor Jenkins Petition for Writ of Certiorari
• Brief of New York Yearly Meeting as Amicus Curiae in Support of Petitioner-Appellant

As the final door to the U.S. courts closed, another opened at the international level. The Jenkins case can now be appealed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Preparations are underway.

The Jenkins case is based on retained rights of conscience as identified in state constitutions and as protected from federal denial by the Ninth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The freedom of individual conscience is also guaranteed in various international human rights covenants.

The case cannot be appealed to the United Nations human rights tribunal system, as the petitioner is an American citizen, and the United States government has never ratified the necessary protocol.

For additional information contact Daniel Jenkins at 518-891-4083.

Conference on Conscientious Objection to Paying for War in Flushing, NY, September 23–25, 2007

2007–9–18

A conference called "Is the Freedom of Religious Conscience a Fundamental Human Right? Conscientious Objection to Paying for War: Court Cases and Appeals to International Human Rights Tribunals" will be held at the Friends Meetinghouse in Flushing, NY, from Sunday, September 23rd, through Tuesday, September 25th, 2007. The conference will focus on the process of taking conscientious objection to military taxation (COMT) cases beyond national courts by appeal to various international tribunals, looking at how individuals, groups of individuals, and organizations can be involved in advancing such cases into the transnational forums that have been established to protect fundamental human rights. Conference participants will also have an opportunity to work on personal statements of conscience, as well as a collective statement that may become a contemporary version of the Flushing Remonstrance. Written in 1657, the Flushing Remonstrance was one of the earliest declarations of the freedom of religious conscience in North America. More information on the conference (new window).  Text of the Flushing Remonstrance (new window).

Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill Is Reintroduced in the 110th Congress

On April 18, 2007 Representative John Lewis (GA05) reintroduced the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill (H.R. 1921) in the 110th Congress.

This legislation establishes a governmental trust fund into which designated conscientious objectors will pay their full federal income taxes. The accumulated revenue will then be allocated yearly by Congress to any federal program that is unrelated to military purposes. (Full article)

Witness to the Dilemma of Conscience, Marian Franz

• 2006-11-30
• Marian Franz, a witness for peace in the halls of power, died November 17, 2006. She was 76. Marian directed the National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund (NCPTF) for 24 years. Marian believed no witness for peace and conscience is ever lost.

New Website Feature: Conversations with Congress

• 2006-11-15
• Director Alan Gamble, and other staff and supporters of the Campaign dedicate one day per week to visiting Congressional offices. The Campaign invites you to join the conversation.

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