GUIDE TO ASKING QUESTIONS
Form #09.017
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
RELATED ARTICLES:
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"The heart of the righteous studies how to answer [does their OWN homework], but the mouth of the [lazy and] wicked pours forth evil [with their injurious presumptions]."
[Prov. 15:28, Bible, NKJV]"Liberty means responsibility. That's why most men dread it."
[George Bernard Shaw]"Freedom, liberty, and sovereignty are NOT spectator sports."
[SEDM]"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance on EVERYONE'S part, not just OUR part."
[SEDM]"You can only DESERVE or have a RIGHT to that which you are willing to GIVE and to EARN. That's a corollary to The Golden Rule in Matt. 7:12: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It is also a restatement of the requirement for equal protection and equal treatment that is the foundation of American jurisprudence."
[SEDM]"A person dependent on somebody else for everything from potatoes to opinions may declare that he is a free [SOVEREIGN] man, and his government may issue a certificate granting him his freedom, but he will not be free. ... How can he be free if he can do nothing for himself? ... Men are free precisely to the extent that they are equal to their own needs. The most able are the most free."
[Wendell Berry, "Discipline and Hope" in A Continuous Harmony (1972), p. 124]"It is good for a man to bear [experience the consequences of] the yoke [ignorance and inexperience] in his youth. "
[Lamentations 3:27, Bible, NKJV]___________________________________
Patriot v. Liberal (NO liberals allowed)
1. Introduction
The only weapon that a corrupted government has to enslave people, short of pulling out the guns, is lies, deceit, propaganda, and the abuse of words of art. These tactics are thoroughly documented in:
Foundations of Freedom, Video 4: Wilful Government Deception and Propaganda
Those who seek liberation from such criminal abuses must learn to use their tongue just as carefully as their corrupted and stealthful government opponents. There is a reason that lawyers are referred to as "silver tongue devils": Because they work EVIL with their mouth and their unconstitutional and prejudicial presumptions. These presumptions, in fact, are the basis for an UNCONSTITUTIONAL state-sponsored civil religion and serve as a substitute for religious "faith".
"The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness."
[Prov. 15:2, Bible, NKJV]"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit."
[Prov. 15:4, Bible, NKJV]"Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles."
[Prov. 21:23, Bible, NKJV]"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
[Prov. 18:21, Bible, NKJV]"An evildoer gives heed to false lips; A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue."
[Prov. 17:4, Bible, NKJV]
Our ministry therefore observes very stringent constraints relating to all its communications with its officers and Members and other third parties. If you either attempt to contact us to ask a question using our Contact Us page or intend to post a question you may have to our Member Forums, you are required to strictly observe these guidelines or:
- Your offending post to the Member Forums may be flagged as a violation and eventually deleted. Before we delete it, you will be asked to repost or resubmit your question rephrased to comply with this page.
- Your offending question may go ignored or rejected if it was submitted through our Contact Us page.
- You may be regarded as a careless, reckless, and presumptuous person who ultimately will be victimized by their sin and who therefore will bring reproach upon us by carelessly or presumptuously using our materials in violation of the Member Agreement protecting them. Hence, we will distance ourselves from you because of the harm or blame you will inevitably bring to us for your own self-inflicted and predictable failures and omissions.
The purpose for these guidelines is to avoid and prevent the following violations of either God's law or man's law:
- Holding us to a higher standard than the government itself.
Their rules prohibit anyone relying on anything they say, so we must
do the same thing in order to be on an equal playing field.
See our Disclaimer and the following
for details:
- Undermining your sovereignty. The purpose of this website is to
make you entirely sovereign, independent, and self governing in as many
respects as possible. You can't be sovereign and let someone else
run, or even suggest how to run, your life, nor can you or should you
trust or rely on any person, ministry, or statement of any third party.
We are a society of law, not men, so you shouldn’t rely on men
or any creation of men. The only thing you can or should rely
on is legally admissible evidence published by the government and POSITIVE
law which you are subject to in making a decision about what to do.
This is covered both in our member agreement and also in the following
document:
Reasonable Belief About Income Tax Liability, Form #05.007
http://sedm.org/Forms/FormIndex.htm - Violating any part of our Member Agreement, Form #01.001.
- The rendering of legal advice. Our Terms of Use and Service, Form #01.016, Section 4, Item 4 strictly forbids us to give legal advice.
- Creating the appearance that we intend to violate any law or conspire with anyone else in doing so and thereby make us the unjust and undeserving subject of a criminal investigation or enforcement activity.
- Encouraging false presumptions by law enforcement personnel about
the nature of our ministry, our members, or our activities.
See:
Presumption: Chief Weapon for Unlawfully Enlarging Federal Jurisdiction, Form #05.017
http://sedm.org/Forms/FormIndex.htm - Misunderstandings and illegal and unconstitutional enforcement caused
by abuse of “words of art”. See the following for
details:
Rules of Presumption and Statutory Interpretation, Form #01.006
http://sedm.org/Forms/FormIndex.htm - Giving anyone the opportunity or excuse to blame us for their choices or actions or the consequences of their choices and actions. We are not an insurance company and we will not accept responsibility for anyone else, for ANY amount of money. See Prov. 6:1-5, Prov. 11:15, Prov. 17:18, and Prov. 22:26.
- Rewarding or encouraging laziness and irresponsibility, which are the opposite of being sovereign and which violate God's laws. See Prov. 6:1-5, and Prov. 12:24.
- Making assurances or guarantees of any kind about the effectiveness or success of any of the information or services we offer. Our Terms of Use and Service, Form #01.016, Section 4, Item 6 strictly forbids us to make promises or assurances about anything. You cannot be sovereign in any sense of the word if you don't agree to take complete and exclusive responsibility for all of your choices and actions, or if you delegate decision making to anyone other than yourself for any aspect of your life. See Prov. 6:1-5, Prov. 11:15, Prov. 17:18, and Prov. 22:26.
- Breaches of the privacy of officers of this ministry which might make us vulnerable to political or legal persecution by public servants whose illegal and/or criminal deeds are exposed by information available through our ministry. Matt. 6:3.
If you want to find out what happens to people who violate any of the above, visit the following links. We have no desire to imitate the fate of any of the people described in the following links.
- Persecution of Tax Honesty Advocates: http://famguardian.org/PublishedAuthors/Govt/TaxHonestyPersecution/TaxHonPersec.htm (OFFSITE LINK).
-
Who's
Who in the Freedom Community, Form #08.009. - U.S. Department of Justice, Press Releases:
http://www.justice.gov/tax/TEN.htm
(OFFSITE LINK). A lot of what is said here is LIES and propaganda.
For a rebuttal, see
Liberty University, Section 8.
We also caution readers and members that the rules for interpreting the meaning of words and statements within our forums, communications with us, or our forms/publications/litigation tools shall be those that appear in the following resources available on this site:
- Disclaimer, Section 4
-
Tax
Form Attachment,
Form #04.201, Section 4
http://sedm.org/Forms/FormIndex.htm - Legal Notice of Change
in Domicile/Citizenship Records and Divorce from the United States,
Form #10.001, Section 8.6.1 and following
http://sedm.org/Forms/FormIndex.htm
Even if you follow the protocol for asking questions documented herein, and successfully get your questions answered and/or your problems addressed, be advised that our Member Agreement, Form #01.001 says that you agree to take complete, exclusive, and personal responsibility for all of your actions and choices and that you aren't allowed to believe or trust anything that anyone, including either us or those in government, says. Instead, it says that you can ONLY rely upon your own reading of the law itself as a reasonable basis for your belief. This is also covered in our memorandum of law Reasonable Belief About Income Tax Liability, Form #05.007, which you should read. It is a biblical sin to rely on either a man or anything other than God and your own reading of His law and man's law.
"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man [we are a man], and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD."
[Jeremiah 17:5, Bible, KJV]
"That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."
[1 Corinthians 2:5, Bible, KJV]
"It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in princes [or political rulers, who are but "men"]."
[Psalm 118:8-9, Bible, NKJV]
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding [because YOU are a "man"]. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He [RATHER THAN THE winds of political opinion] shall direct your paths. "
[Prov. 3:5, Bible, NKJV]
"The Moloch [socialist] state simply represents the supreme effort of man to command [or PREDICT] the future, to predestine the world, and to be as God [which was Lucifer's original sin]. Lesser efforts, divination, spirit-questing, magic, and witchcraft, are equally anathema to God. All represent efforts to have the future on other than God's terms, to have a future apart from and in defiance of God. They are assertions that the world is not of God but of brute factuality, and that man can somehow master the world and the future by going directly to the raw materials thereof. Thus King Saul outwardly conformed to God's law by abolishing all black arts, but, when faced with a crisis, he turned to the witch of Endor (I Sam. 28). Saul knew where he stood with God: in rebellion and unrepentant. Saul knew moreover the judgment of the law and of the prophet Samuel concerning him (I Sam. 15:10-35). Samuel alive had declared God's future to Saul. In going to the witch of Endor, Saul attempted to reach Samuel dead, in the faith and hope that Samuel dead was now in touch with and informed concerning a world of brute factuality outside of God which could offer Saul a God-free, law-free future. But the word from the grave only underscored God's law-word (I Sam. 28:15-19): it was the word of judgment."
[The Institutes of Biblical Law, Rousas Rushdoony, 1973, p. 35]
If you want sovereignty and the ability to be self-governing, then you must take exclusive and personal responsibility for all your choices and actions. Sovereignty begins with personal responsibility. ALL RIGHTS and ALL sovereignty come from responsibilities to a higher power, and that higher power is God and not any vain man or government.
"Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the LORD [and the people in the Constitution]?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion [of either the Constitution or the Bible] is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word [and laws] of the [sovereign] LORD [or "We the People" in the Constitution],
He also has rejected you from being king [and a sovereign over your government as a private citizen, or a public servant]."
[1 Sam. 15:22-23, Bible, NKJV]
Therefore, if you are harmed because you didn't do all your homework or didn't read all the relevant laws or more usually, because the government didn't follow the law, then you are not allowed to blame us or transfer responsibility to us for that consequence. It is human nature to try to blame or transfer responsibility to anyone but you for your own choices, but our Member Agreement, Form #01.001 says you aren't allowed to victimize us in that way. This tendency is thoroughly described in the article below:
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The Unlimited Liability
Universe (OFFSITE LINK) |
2. Mandatory Due Diligence: How to answer your own questions before contacting us for answers
Our Member Forums and our Contact Us page are intended as a LAST RESORT only for use by Members in finding a solution to your question or problem. If you are NOT a Member, you may not use these resources to post questions or contact us for help. Membership is free by simply signing the Member Agreement, Form #01.001 and posting it in Member Forum 9.7, which is private and not readable by anyone but us.
Any good lawyer will tell you that you should NEVER ask a question that you don't already know the answer to in advance. By insisting that you exercise due diligence in answering your own question BEFORE you ask it of us, we are getting you in the habit of being able to not only answer your own questions, but anticipate and prepare for and prosecute DISHONEST responses from the government.
Therefore, BEFORE utilizing either our Member Forums or our Contact Us to obtain help or ask questions of us [and thereby disturb our EQUAL right to be left alone], please at least do the following to find the answer to your question or problem.
- Download, print, read, and follow the entire Path to Freedom, Form #09.015. This is MANDATORY for all members per our Member Agreement. Our Copyright License Agreement requires that anyone can obtain our materials but only those who consent unconditionally to the Member Agreement and fully comply with it can USE our tax materials or services to interact with third parties in the government, legal profession, or courts.
- If your question relates to using materials you obtained through our Ministry Bookstore, please visit the Support Page and look at help available on specific subjects.
- If your question relates to how to find something on the website
our how to use the website, then please download and watch the following
video OFFLINE. Do not stream it directly from our website because
you will over-utilize our precious bandwidth. This video is also
available on the opening page (http://sedm.org) by clicking on "WEBSITE
VIDEO ORIENTATION" in big letters. The video answers just
about every question you could have about how to use the website.
WEBSITE VIDEO ORIENTATION - Search our FAQs Page for the answer to the question, which has probably already been asked and answered previously.
- Search our FAQs section of our Member Forums.
- Search our Member Forums for the answer to the question, which has probably already been asked and answered previously. You will need to sign up for an account in the upper right corner to post questions.
- Go to our Search Page and click on Subject Index for information about the topic you are interested in.
- If you are faced with a specific situation that you have questions about, go to our Search Page and click on Situational Index. This page arranges information on this page by situation.
- If you have questions about a particular subject area, you should go to Section 1.5 of the Forms/Pubs page, download the relevant Memorandum of Law, and read it as a starting point for investigating the subject matter.
- If you have questions about how to respond to a tax collection notice,
go to one of the following pages:
10.1 Federal Response Letters
10.2 State Response Letters - Visit our Ministry Bookstore and look at books we offer that may address your issue. If there is such a book, please obtain and read it before posting your question in the Member Forums. We don't enjoy rewriting or reinventing solutions in our forums that already exist in books available through our Ministry Bookstore. If your question is already answered in one of our books, our forum moderators will tell you to get the book instead of cluttering our forums with answers that already appear in existing materials. Don't be so cheap as to force us to waste time rewriting our books in the Member Forums. We have better things to do than entertain Ebanezer Scrooge and help him pinch pennies. The workman is worthy of his/her hire.
- If none of the above resources answer your question, then and only
then should you contact us with your question. We prefer that
you post your question to our Member
Forums and NOT our
Contact Us Page.
12.1 You must consent unconditionally to our Member Agreement before you can join the Member Forums to post your question.
12.2 The reason we insist that you post your question to the Member Forums instead of to our Contact Us Page is because we want everyone to benefit from the answer, and not just you. Otherwise, we will have to keep reanswering the same question over and over again, thus wasting our valuable time. If the answer appears in the Member Forums or the FAQs, everyone can read it and therefore will not need to ask the question again.
12.3 By posting to the Member Forums rather than the Contact Us Page, you are more likely to get a diversity of answers instead of our own view of things. This facilitates more thorough peer review instead of only our view of things.
12.4 The Contact Us Page is reserved primarily for contact relating to personal issues that would be inappropriate to talk about in a public venue, such as Member Subscriptions.
3. Warning to lazy people who refuse to do their own homework before contacting us
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. If you don't exercise your mandatory due diligence BEFORE asking questions or before commenting on our approach, you are guaranteed to piss us off and represent yourself not only as a person who is not sovereign, but who is lazy, irresponsible, and presumptuous and not deserving of our help.
"He who answers a matter before he hears it,
It is folly and shame to him."
[Prov. 18:13, Bible, NKJV]
One of the main goals of this ministry is to seek "justice" as legally defined. "Justice", in turn, is legally defined as "the right to be left alone". It is hypocritical for YOU to seek justice in your OWN case and yet to NOT leave US alone to the maximum extent possible while attaining it for YOURSELF. Likewise, when you do contact us and violate our right to be left alone, you should feel obligated to offer something of value in return to compensate us for the use of our time, which is property that has value. That is the only way that those who are truly "sovereign" can justly interact with each other and respect each other's equal rights.
PAULSEN, ETHICS (Thilly's translation), chap. 9.
Justice, as a moral habit, is that tendency of the will and mode of conduct which refrains from disturbing the lives and interests of others [INCLUDING us], and, as far as possible, hinders such interference on the part of others. This virtue springs from the individual's respect for his fellows as ends in themselves and as his co equals. The different spheres of interests may be roughly classified as follows: body and life; the family, or the extended individual life; property, or the totality of the instruments of action; honor, or the ideal existence; and finally freedom, or the possibility of fashioning one's life as an end in itself. The law defends these different spheres, thus giving rise to a corresponding number of spheres of rights, each being protected by a prohibition. . . . To violate the rights, to interfere with the interests of others, is injustice. All injustice is ultimately directed against the life of the neighbor; it is an open avowal that the latter is not an end in itself, having the same value as the individual's own life. The general formula of the duty of justice may therefore be stated as follows: Do no wrong yourself, and permit no wrong to be done, so far as lies in your power; or, expressed positively: Respect and protect the right.
[Readings on the History and System of Common Law, Second Edition, 1925, Roscoe Pound, p. 2]____________________________
"The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance of man's spiritual nature, of his feelings and of his intellect. They knew that only a part of the pain, pleasure and satisfactions of life are to be found in material things. They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred, as against the Government, the right to be let alone - the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men."
[Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 478 (1928) (Brandeis, J., dissenting); see also Washington v. Harper, 494 U.S. 210 (1990)]"Justice [the RIGHT to be LEFT ALONE by EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE GOVERNMENT] is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been, and ever will be pursued, until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit."
[The Federalist No. 51 (1788), James Madison]"He [God] has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? "
[Micah 6:8, Bible, NKJV]"The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice."
[Psa. 37:30, Bible, NKJV"Blessed are those who keep justice, and he who does righteousness at all times!"
[Psa. 106:3, Bible, NKJV]
There is therefore an inverse relationship between the amount of work you expend to answer your own question or issue BEFORE contacting us and the amount of offense we have to helping you. The more of your own effort you expend in governing your own life and answering your own questions before contacting us, the more likely we are to not only help you, but respect and admire you.
Our website and ministry is not a dumping ground for all the tasks or problems that people are too lazy to execute or confront on their own. Those who must be spoon fed or force fed every step of the way toward freedom (like the Israelites who grumbled against Moses about leaving the comfort of Pharaoh, which resulted in a DEATH sentence from God in Num. 14:26-28) are lukewarm Christians who should go back to their government cage on the federal plantation and leave us alone. Christ vomits them out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16) and so do we. The Bible also says such people need AND DESERVE a nanny government.
"Turn at my [God’s] rebuke;
Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
Because you disdained all my counsel,
And would have none of my rebuke,
I [God] also will laugh at your calamity;
I [God] will mock when your terror comes,
When your terror comes like a storm,
And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
When distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call on me [God, or even God's servants such as us], but I will not answer;
They will seek me diligently [going to SEDM], but they will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the LORD,
They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
But whoever listens to me [and KEEPS my commandments per John 14] will dwell safely,
And will be secure [protected], without fear of evil.”
[Prov. 1:23-33, Bible, NKJV]
Remember: The purpose of this website is for YOU to learn and enforce the law, and NOT for:
- Us to become an "expert" who you rely upon to avoid learning the law. An "ex" is a has been and a "spert" is a drip under pressure.
- Us to make a profitable business (like the hypocritical Pharisee lawyers in what Mark Twain calls "The District of Criminals") out of offering an "insurance" franchise (or what the bible calls "surety") to people who are too lazy or irresponsible to either learn the law or confront their own problems.
- Us to become an uncompensated slave to people who are too lazy to do their own homework. Our time and labor, like any right, is property that has value. Anyone who uses it without equal consideration and express consent is stealing. All the hypocritical guilt trips in the world about how WE should fight other people's battles for them without compensation as a "Christian duty" doesn't change the nature of this basic equation.
The only way you are going to learn the law, in turn, is by having an incentive and reason to study it in order to solve a problem that matters to you personally. The only thing we do by solving problems for you rather than you solving them yourself is to undermine the very purpose of this website.
We care as much about your MOTIVE for pursuing freedom as we care about HOW or WHETHER you pursue it. Like Jesus, we care more about your heart than about the law and the facts. Those who:
- Want insurance or guarantees.
- Seek prosperity or are only pursuing our services or information for personal benefit to them or for commercial benefit. These people are sometimes called "pay-triots for profit". If they are a church, we call them "non-prophet churches" preaching the "prosperity gospel".
- Think they are entitled to that which they did not earn with their own labor.
- Seek to be
legally
unequal to
every other American in the eyes of the civil law, or to
receive "benefits", special
favors, or "privileges" (franchises) from the government. See the video below:
Foundations of Freedom, Video 1: Introduction, Form #12.021 - Seek emotional counseling. We aren't a counseling website, but a law enforcement site. Our forums are structured as a mock court that can discuss facts and law ONLY, and not as a source of free therapy. There is no end of people who lack confidence in themselves and who will deny any and every opportunity to take responsibility for themselves. We would therefore not have a life and would get NOTHING else done if we did this. Click here for the ONLY interchange on this site which talks about such subjects. We will NOT entertain further questions on this subject.
- Think being "entertained" with eye candy is more important
than shutting off the stinking tv and taking it to the dump and using
the time it frees up to READ THE LAW for themselves.
“Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes [law],
And I shall keep it to the end.
Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;
Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
For I delight in it.
Incline my heart to Your testimonies,
And not to covetousness.
Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things [TV],
And revive me in Your way.
Establish Your word to Your servant,
Who is devoted to fearing You.
Turn away my reproach [the corrupted de facto government] which I dread,
For Your judgments are good.
Behold, I long for Your precepts;
Revive me in Your righteousness.”
[Psalm 119:33-40, Bible, NKJV]
. . .don't belong here and will ultimately discredit themselves and the freedom community generally. You can only deserve what you are willing to give and earn. If you SOW indifference, irresponsibility, and lack of commitment on your part, you can and most assuredly will REAP it and deserve it from us. That is the Golden Rule spoken of by Jesus: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Click on the link below for a sermon on the Golden Rule, which you can also listen to on our Sermons Page, Section 7.11:
Payday is Coming 2, January 2, 2013, Joyce Meyer (OFFSITE LINK)
Anything worth having is worth earning, and we will make sure you earn it if you expect our help. This is NOT "unchristian" or satanic, but simply God's own stated approach to freedom in the Bible. This concept also happens to be the foundation of the concept of equal protection and equal treatment under the law.
"The hand of the diligent will rule [be sovereign and govern themselves], But the lazy [or irresponsible] man will be put to forced labor. "
[Prov. 12:24, Bible, NKJV]"Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest, how long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep--so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man."
[Prov. 6:6-11, Bible, NKJV]
We sincerely believe that evil, covetous, and tyrannical rulers are God's chosen punishment for those who refuse to take responsibility for governing and supporting themselves under His law. Who are we to interfere with that sovereign punishment by God Himself and how can we do so without committing mutiny and blasphemy against His holy name? Read Delegation of Authority Order from God to Christians, Form #13.007, Section 4.2.3 for exhaustive details on this subject.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, "Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations [and be OVER them]".
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have rejected Me [God], that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods [Kings, in this case]—so they are doing to you also [government becoming idolatry]. Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them."
So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king. And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take [STEAL] your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take [STEAL] your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. And he will take [STEAL] the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. He will take [STEAL] a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. And he will take [STEAL] your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work [as SLAVES]. He will take [STEAL] a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants [PUBLIC OFFICER SLAVES/WHORES!]. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day.”
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
[1 Sam. 8:4-20, Bible, NKJV]
“The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will exalt the law [HIS law] and make it honorable. But this is a people robbed and plundered! [by corrupt rulers] All of them are snared in [legal] holes [by the sophistry of greedy corrupt lawyers], and they are hidden in prison houses; they are for prey, and no one delivers; for plunder, and no one says, “Restore!”.
Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come? Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the [government] robbers? Was it not the Lord, He against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, nor were they obedient to His law, therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger and the strength of battle; it has set him on fire all around, yet he did not know; and it burned him, yet he did not take it to heart.”
[Isaiah 42:21-25, Bible, NKJV]
"Because you [Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived] have done this , and have not kept My covenant and My statutes [violated God's laws], which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom [and all your sovereignty] away from you and give it to your [public] servant."
[1 Kings 11:9-13, Bible, NKJV]
We believe that OWNERSHIP and RESPONSIBILITY are
inseparable and go together at all times. You can't
OWN yourself unless
and until
you take COMPLETE, EXCLUSIVE, and PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for
Yourself and all of
your choices and actions
under the delegated authority of ONLY God's
laws. It is the desire to evade this responsibility that is
the cause of ALL of the problems documented on this website AND was the
very thing that got Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden of Eden and
alienated from God to begin with.
4. Protocol For Composing Questions
| NOTE: Please DO NOT contact us with questions about anything on the Family Guardian website. We ARE NOT responsible for anything on that website and are a SEPARATE ministry. We provide links to that site for reference purposes only. You should visit their SEPARATE Member Forums if you have questions or comments about their content. |
Therefore, in all communications with us, any member of the ministry, or any third party about our ministry or the services or information that it offers, the following rules for communication should be observed in asking questions:
-
If your question requires legal research, you should do your best to find the answer yourself FIRST before asking the question, and:
1.1 Post your question along with your proposed answer and all the evidence supporting it.
1.2 Thoroughly explain and justify your proposed answer to your own question and invite others to critique and improve it.
The reason for the above is to prevent people who are too lazy to do their own research from abusing and STEALING the time and resources of others. Sovereignty BEGINS with taking complete, personal, and exclusive responsibility for yourself to the fullest extent that you are able, and to help others only after they have demonstrated an EQUAL commitment to the subject matter but are at an earlier stage of development in their committed self-progress.
-
You should state that you consent unconditionally to all present and future versions of our Member Agreement, Form #01.001 and are a Member in Good Standing.
- You must not ask a question that has already been asked and answered
somewhere on this website. Our website contains answers to hundreds
of questions that have been previously asked. Please carefully
read and/or search these answers before contacting us. We DO NOT
enjoy answering the same dumb question over and over for people who
are too lazy to look at what has already been done. You can read
the answers at:
3.1. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Page:
3.2. SEDM Forums: Questions and Answers from Members to Ministry Staff. You must become a member of this separate fellowship before you can post to this forum:
- You must emphasize at the end of your question that you are not asking for legal advice.
- Questions MAY NOT:
5.1 Relate to attempting to execute an activity prohibited by section 4 of our Terms of Use and Service, Form #01.016.
5.2 Advance or promote any of the flawed tax arguments appearing in the
Flawed Tax Arguments
to Avoid, Form #08.004
5.3 Advance or promote any of the flawed legal arguments contained in our Member Subscription forum entitled "Flawed Arguments to Avoid". - You must ask for law and information that is pertinent to the HYPOTHETICAL and not REAL situation you describe and not to YOUR situation.
- You should seek more than one option in pursuing the course that you want to undertake, with the goal of deciding for yourself based on the best information available, which is the best option. You can share your choice and the reasons for your choice on our forums if you like.
- If you refer to anyone other than us in your question, you have to refer to them as "a human being" or "a hypothetical human being" who is a Member and not a statutory “person”, statutory “U.S. citizen”, statutory “U.S. person”, “inhabitant” (of the federal zone), “taxpayer”, etc.
- You may not ask any ministry officer personally or individually does in a given situation. This would breach our privacy and invite government persecution of the ministry or its officers. That persecution would likely come from public servants whose illegal and/or criminal deeds are exposed by information available through this website.
- You should avoid “words
of art” or at least qualify their meaning when you use them.
See the following for examples of “words
of art”:
10.1. Sovereignty Forms and Instructions Online, Form #10.004: Cites by Topic
http://famguardian.org/TaxFreedom/FormsInstr-Cites.htm (OFFSITE LINK)
10.2. Great IRS Hoax, Form #11.302, Section 3.9.1:
http://famguardian.org/Publications/GreatIRSHoax/GreatIRSHoax.htm
- You should avoid “privileged” words. See:
Sovereignty Forms and Instructions Online, Form #10.004, Instructions, Step 2.6:
http://famguardian.org/TaxFreedom/Instructions/2.6WatchLanguageWithGovt.htm (OFFSITE LINK)
-
You should avoid all the following language in your question, all of which create the impression that you are seeking legal advice:
12.1. You should not ask us to approve, sanction, or condone your choice. You can inform us of your choice and the consequences of your choice, but you should not expect us to approve of or condone it.
12.2. You aren't allowed to personalize questions, refer to "I", or "me" or "my" in your question. Instead, use the phrase “a hypothetical sovereign” in place of these words. The only pronoun you can use is "you" and be referring to us.
12.3. You cannot use the words "should" or "must" in a question. That would constitute advice. Instead, you have to use the word "may" or "might".
12.4. You should not ask us for our “opinion” on any subject. We don’t share “opinions” when responding to legal questions. The only thing we will talk about or want to talk about, both in person and in the forums, is WHAT THE LAW ACTUALLY SAYS about the subject you are discussing, whether the interested party is the proper subject of that law, and what kind of law it is: Private/special law or public law.
- You should not base your criteria for acceptance of any proposition
based on OPINIONS of third parties. The only thing you should
post in the forums or provide as a basis for belief is evidence that
satisfies the
court
rules of evidence for the forum in question. Don’t cite
what your family member or friend says or even what your attorney or
cpa or bank says. WE DON’T CARE about OPINIONS of third parties,
including anyone in the government or the IRS or even the legal profession
about a given subject. This is what the courts call “political
speech” and it is NOT evidence. The reason WE DON’T
CARE about opinions of third parties is because they are not admissible
as evidence in any legal proceeding in a REAL, CONSTITUTIONAL (non-franchise)
court, and we ONLY make decisions based on what constitutes legally
admissible evidence on the subject matter under the Rules of Evidence.
Rather, please keep your discussion focused ONLY on WHAT THE LAW says
or what a court says BASED ON EVIDENCE in the jurisdiction one is referring
to. The reasons are:
13.1. True constitutional courts cannot entertain “political questions”. An example of a “political question” is one involving a religious belief or an “opinion”, even from an expert. Under Federal Rule of Evidence 610, religious beliefs or opinions are not admissible as evidence. See:
13.2. The U.S. Supreme Court has declared that “we are a government of laws, and not men” (Marbury v. Madison). Hence, the OPINIONS of men are irrelevant and ONLY what the law actually says is relevant when interpreted using the STRICT rules of statutory construction and interpretation. Even the law itself can be irrelevant if it is a private law franchise and it is being cited against someone who is NOT the subject of the franchise. See:
13.3. The only "courts" that can act in a political capacity are administrative franchise courts in the Executive and not Judicial branch who are arbitrating disputes INSIDE the government EXCLUSIVELY among fellow public officers. PRIVATE parties not consensually engaged in franchises are committing a crime of impersonating a public officer in violation of 18 U.S.C. §912 to enter into franchise courts. Franchise courts include family court, traffic court, and tax court. Members are NOT allowed to participate in government franchises and therefore are NOT allowed to employ such "pseudo courts" in any dispute against a government officer or to quote or use the rulings of such "pseudo courts" in their defense.
-
You should not ask any questions of the following nature:
14.1. What’s the “best” way to________. “best” is subjective and depends on what your goals are.
14.2. What “works” [or works best] to do___________. “works” is a subjective.
14.3. What is the most “successful” way to__________. Instead, ask for options to accomplish a task and you decide what is best. The word “successful” is subjective.
- The best way to rephrase questions is to use the following form:
“What are some options that you would investigate if you were in the hypothetical situation described, which is not my situation?”
5. Examples of How to Ask Questions
We emphasize the constraints in the previous section in our Member Agreement, Form #01.001. Below is a sample question format:
Dear SEDM,
I am a consenting Member in good standing who is following the Path to Freedom, Form #09.015 and has completed up to step 14 of section 2 of that document. I will not use SEDM materials or services in connection with a tax liability for any tax year in which I was not in full compliance with the Member Agreement or which occurred before I completed the steps in section 2 of the Path to Freedom.
I have already exhausted all options for obtaining an answer by following the Guide to Asking Questions, Form #09.017, section 2. I am approaching you as a last resort to obtain an answer that I cannot find anywhere else.
I do not seek legal advice and I will not interpret your response as legal advice. Rather, I seek education and corroborating information useful in making my own educated choices.
Since I am asking a tax question, I have signed up for Member Subscriptions using order number _______________ as of ________(date).
My question(s) relate to the following hypothetical situations:
1. ___________________________
2. ___________________________
Thanks,
John Doe
Let us give you a few examples of questions you can fill in starting at number 1 above: The forbidden "advice" words are in red and the statement on the right removes them.
Table 1: Examples of How to Ask Questions
| # | Wrong way to ask the question | Right way to ask the question. | Reason |
| 1 | What should I do? |
1. What would you do if you were in the hypothetical situation I just described and you wanted to act consistent with the member agreement? 2. What law and other information might be pertinent to a hypothetical person in the situation I just described? 3. What options are available to those facing hypothetical situation described and what are the pros and cons of each? I'd like multiple options and I will choose the best option based on my own criteria. |
You can't personalize your questions because then the answers become legal advice. You can't use "should" or "must", nor can you use pronouns like "I", "Me", "My", etc. |
| 2 | I am going to. . . | This hypothetical person might do. . . | You can't personalize your questions because then the answers become legal advice. |
| 3 | The IRS told my employer. . . | What if the IRS told a private, non-statutory employer that is NOT mine. . . | Only "public officers" have "employers". You can't be a Member and also be a "public officer". See Federal and State Tax Withholding Options for Private Employers, Form #09.001 |
| 4 | Is there anything else I should do? | Is there anything that a compliant member in the situation I described can study on this website that might help them? | You need information to study, not advice. We aren't an insurance company and we can't act as your parent or legal representative. The most we can do is point you to law and other information that might be helpful and relevant, but we can't advise or insure or indemnify you against your own mistakes. |
| 5 | Why should I trust or believe what you say or that it is factual or truthful? | What law is consistent with what you just said and supports the position you are taking? Where and how can I find that source of law so I can read the evidence for myself? | The only reasonable basis for believing ANYTHING on this website is your own reading of the law, and not anything we or anyone else says, including government employees or publications. |
| 6 |
1. How many people have been successful
using this technique? 2. Will that "work"? |
Is what you just described completely consistent with what the law says? Where does the law say that? Why doesn't the IRS follow the law on this subject? | "Success" and "work" are very subjective words and everyone has a different definition. We aren't allowed to share personal information about other members and we don't compile statistics on the success of the techniques and laws described on this website because each person has a different definition of success. We aren't an insurance company. All we can do is show you the law that is pertinent to help you live within its limitations, or to explain why that law is pertinent to a certain circumstance. |
6. Frequently Asked Question: Why won't someone answer my questions BEFORE I become a Member?
"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear as a ray of light. "
[Thomas Paine, The American Crisis; SOURCE: http://www.famguardian.org/PublishedAuthors/Indiv/PaineThomas/TheAmericanCrisis_files/TheAmericanCrisis.htm]"All truths pass through 3 stages: 1. First it is ridiculed; 2. Second it is violently opposed; 3. Third it is accepted as self-evident. 97% of people WAIT [as SPECTATORS] until the 'truth' has become self-evident to either believe it or to ACT upon it. Freedom is NOT a spectator sport and we don't talk to or certainly help spectators because we don't want to protect or reward COWARDS."
[SEDM; Click here for source]
NOTE:
People who are contacting us for any of the following purposes are NOT the subject of this section:
- Bring copyright violations on this site or the Family Guardian sister site to our attention.
- Contact us for an interview as a member of the media.
- Bring errata in our materials to our attention.
- Ask questions about our ministry.
- Ask about whether you qualify for membership or the obligations or "benefits" of membership.
QUESTION:
I am not yet a member. I'm trying to learn more about sovereignty to see if its right for me. I have had so many people tell me so many different things and all the different sites doesn't help either. Trying to understand but its like no one is willing to talk to you without the right credentials.
ANSWER:
Welcome. The reason you are having so much trouble is because you are relying on men rather than reading the law for yourself. You have become a slave to public opinion and political correctness and will never liberate yourself and your mind unless and until you quit listening to others and read the law for yourself.
Since you are confused or reluctant about how our information and services compare with others, please consult the following, which contains hundreds of pages of resources comparing our offerings with that of others and pointing out inaccurate positions of others:
Beyond that, if you want to interact, go to the Member Forums. You must be a Member to join, but membership is free.
http://sedm.org/forums/
Our Member Agreement, Form #01.001, Section 7 says you aren't allowed to believe anything that either we or any man says and can ONLY trust what the law says, so it's pointless to talk at this stage before you make an informed and INDEPENDENT decision to become a Member. Our Member Agreement, Form #01.001, Section 2.1 also says that your decision to join was made completely independently by reading the law for yourself. All we would do by calling you before you make your decision is to unduly influence that decision and undermine or invalidate what the agreement says. The bottom of our Contact Us page also says we don't call to just talk to people, and especially not to non-members who are presumed to be statutory "taxpayers" until they indicate otherwise by becoming a Member. We won't let you sit on the fence or receive blessings of our individual help that you aren't willing to earn with equal consideration. Like God, there is no room for "lukewarm" Christians or half-committed members. Christ took the same approach when He said the following and we are just emulating His wise approach:
"He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."
[Luke 12:30, Bible, NKJV]"So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth."
[Rev. 3:16, Bible, NKJV]
Talk is cheap and people who make decisions based on talk, what anyone says, or what THEY think or believe rather than exclusively reading God's law and man's law for themselves always end up in trouble.
"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man [we are a man], and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD."
[Jeremiah 17:5, Bible, KJV]
"It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in princes [or political rulers, who are but "men"]."
[Psalm 118:8-9, Bible, NKJV]
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding [because YOU are a "man"]. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He [RATHER THAN THE winds of political opinion] shall direct your paths. "
[Prov. 3:5, Bible, NKJV]
All you prove by insisting on someone to talk to rather than reading the law for yourself and reaching your own conclusions INDEPENDENTLY and then becoming a member is that:
- You want the “benefits” of knowledge without any of
the risks or liabilities. In short: You want something for nothing,
which is the
foundation of SOCIALISM. Recall that Babylon the Great Harlot is
a THIEF (Rev.
18:6), and everyone who wants or expects something for nothing is
a THIEF.
"Araunah said to David, 'Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, 'May the Lord your God accept you.'
But the king replied to Araunah, 'No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.' "
[1 Sam. 24:22-24, Bible, NIV]Our way of stating the above is: "Give the LORD what is RIGHT, not what is LEFT."
- You do not want to read or learn the law.
- You want your prayers and even your faith to be an abomination to
the Lord:
“One who turns his ear from hearing [or learning] the law [God's law or man's law], even his prayer is an abomination.”
[Prov. 28:9, Bible, NKJV] - You don't trust your own judgment in reading the law. Instead you believe the LIES that a government employee called a "teacher" told you in the public fool academy that you need to be told what to do and can't govern your own life.
- You can't or won't govern your own life by reading the law.
Therefore, you are doomed to be a slave to the whims of others for the
rest of your life.
“We of this mighty western Republic have to grapple with the dangers that spring from popular self-government tried on a scale incomparably vaster than ever before in the history of mankind, and from an abounding material prosperity greater also than anything which the world has hitherto seen.
As regards the first set of dangers, it behooves us to remember that men can never escape being governed. Either they must govern themselves or they must submit to being governed by others. If from lawlessness or fickleness, from folly or self-indulgence, they refuse to govern themselves then most assuredly in the end they will have to be governed from the outside. They can prevent the need of government from without only by showing they possess the power of government from within. A sovereign cannot make excuses for his failures; a sovereign must accept the responsibility for the exercise of power that inheres in him; and where, as is true in our Republic, the people are sovereign, then the people must show a sober understanding and a sane and steadfast purpose if they are to preserve that orderly liberty upon which as a foundation every republic must rest.”
[President Theodore Roosevelt; Opening of the Jamestown Exposition; Norfolk, VA, April 26, 1907] - You either don't want or aren't qualified for a REPUBLIC
that the U.S. Supreme court describes as "a government of laws
and
not men" (see Marbury v. Madison).
"The government of the United States has been emphatically termed a government of laws, and not of men. It will certainly cease to deserve this high appellation, if the laws furnish no remedy for the violation of a vested legal right."
[Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803)]
In confirmation of the above, look at the statue outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.
We can educate and help you personally ONLY AFTER you become a party to a covenant with us as a Member, but we can't give you "advice" because you are the sovereign and we will NEVER interfere with that sovereignty by becoming an expert, giving you a "sales pitch" or trying to convince you of anything other than to read the law and BELIEVE and act on what you read for yourself. You will never be free until you step out in FAITH towards God and agree to be PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE for your own education, decisions, and actions and to blame NO ONE, including us, for any of them.
The Unlimited Liability Universe
http://famguardian.org/Subjects/Spirituality/Articles/UnlimitedLiabilityUniverse.htm
You only have two choices: BRAVERY....or LIFETIME SLAVERY. Which will you choose? The free materials on this site are more than adequate to make your own independent and informed decision about becoming a member. The problem is not a shortage of information or even education, but of commitment, will, faith in God, and confidence on your part. No amount of talking with us will solve that problem.
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget ye were our countrymen."
[Samuel Adams]
You can do it! We know you can. You just have to CARE enough to do it.
Lastly, by taking the stand in this section, we do not intend to force you into a commercial relationship with us, because Basic Membership is and always has been absolutely free. Our main goal is to:
- Protect our materials and credibility from injury or abuse.
- Promote efficiency in allocating our limited resources and services to the largest possible audience of the most deserving people.
- Prevent rewarding people for being lazy or irresponsible or avoiding ALL risk. Only those who risk can truly be free.
- Avoid people who selfishly place their own needs or desires higher than their obedience or allegiance to God and His laws. Only those who are exercising God's delegated authority can be truly sovereign, because God is the ONLY sovereign in the universe. We (believers) all work for Him under His delegation of authority order, the Bible. Anyone who thinks THEY are the "sovereign" apart from God is a fool and a man worshipper who we want no part of, and is emulating Satan himself in wanting to be "like a God".
7. Sources other than us who may be able to help you
Our time and our services are in high demand but we are heavily under-resourced
and staffed. We are more in need of
Activism
Leaders and helpers than in more work and problems to solve. Please
be considerate in adding to an already overwhelming work and research burden.
We aren't the only ones who either can answer questions or who want to help people. Ideally, you should either start or consult your own local freedom and law study group and help and encourage each other through that group. This is the preferred method and we prefer that you use this method instead. We are only here as a last resort. Consult the following resources to either start or locate your own Activism Group:
- Consult our Clickable Activism Map on the opening page and locate your region. The region will least leaders in your area, if any, who can be contacted to get you connected to their group.
- If you don't find anyone in your area in the previous step, you
can be the first person to start your own Activism Group in your county
or state using the following resource:
SEDM Activism Leader Guide, Form #16.001
If you want to help others with their problems as a volunteer to help
reduce our already overwhelming workload, please let us know so that we
can build a registry of Members we can do referrals to who can help in specific
areas. Alternatively, you can just dedicate a set amount of time helping
people in our Member forums.
The more help you give to others, the more likely you are to earn and deserve
our help when we are able to help.
Activism
Leaders, volunteers, and active contributing members always get priority
over those who only want to take, when it comes to getting our help.
8. Further Reading and research
See the following authorities on this site for the reason for these constraints upon methodology for asking questions, and a duplication of what appears here for wider dissemination:
-
Path to Freedom,
Form #09.015, Sections 15.6 to 15.7.
-
SEDM Member Agreement, Form #01.001, Sections 1.2 and 4 (Item 4).
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