Hi David,

Thanks for letting me know. That's a brilliant letter (although I could quibble 
over the bible's (but not Jesus') overwhelming support for war). 

I love the choice of AusAID since it is a commonwealth government program. And 
an interesting strategy, sending the cheque to the treasurer, and asking _him_ 
to solve your problem.

Please let me know as soon as you have any response. I am trying to decide what 
to do next.

I predict you will get a polite letter returning your cheque (or thanking you 
for your donation to AusAID), sympathising with your position and telling you 
that the law doesn't allow taxes to be spent at the discretion of individual tax 
payers and that you still need to pay the remaining 10% to the tax office.

You're right that the bankruptcy process has engendered a certain amount of 
bitterness in me, mainly over the sheer quantity of money they took from my 
family. In round figures I think I redirected/withheld around $6,000. This was 
inflated to around $30,000 with interest and fines over many years, then to 
$60,000 with Trustee's expenses, stamp duty on the house sale etc.

While I have continued to submit tax returns, I have not paid any tax since, or 
written any letters explaining why. They have again instituted debt-collection 
measures for the $971 they claim is now owing. Soon it will be a bankruptcy 
notice again and I will be _forced_ to decide.

My mother begged me again, only a week ago, to give it up. She can see that it 
does take some toll on my health, since I have a "nervous stomach" like my 
father, and she believes it is preventing me from doing things I should be doing 
in my life, (or _will_ prevent, when I'm permanently bankrupt), like overseas 
travel or being a director of a company, or simply not taking jobs that pay me 
what I'm worth.

She says that she'd like to know, when she departs this world, that I'm free of 
this sword hanging over my head.

Robert Burrowes isn't exactly a good advertisement, having become a hermit with 
delusions of saving the world by figuring out the origins of violence, through 
introspection (it's already been done). [Ed. update 2011 : Robert and his 
partner Anita have since emerged from their self-imposed exile and are doing 
good things.]

My mother also makes the point that I am not doing anything to publicise my 
actions and to try to get others to join in, as I did around the initial court 
hearings.

But the things you wrote are as true as ever and I don't know what to do.

Regards,
-- Dave Keenan


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Here are my biblical quibbles. Feel free to ignore them:

"Thou shalt not kill" is clearly a mistranslation (as pointed out by C.S.Lewis). 
It's really "Thou shalt not murder [your own kind]". Killing enemies in war is 
absolutely _required_ by the god of the Old Testament including the women and 
children, animals, buildings, even trees and fields. But you're allowed to let 
the virgin girls live, as "wives".

And it does not prohibit judicial killing of your own kind for crimes as minor 
as working on the sabbath, cursing your parents, not believing in god, being 
gay, or not being a virgin on your wedding night. I can give all the references 
if you want, but you are probably very aware of this (mostly Leviticus, Exodus, 
Deuteronomy, Joshua). But that's the god of the Old Testament which can be 
dismissed as a figment of the Jews' imagination.

I think it is possible that Jesus' message was consistently of forgiveness, 
rather than than an eye for an eye, but there are many apparent inconsistencies 
recorded by New Testament writers. What do you make of these? Matthew 5:17 10:34 
11:24 25:46, Luke 14:26 22:36, John 2:15, Acts 5:1-11, Romans 1:32.
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