ULC Minister Fights Back, PA Legislator Cavils
Lancaster County legislator Katie True is running scared. In a cordial but direct letter to her legislator, a constituent ULC minister challenged Ms. True on her support of PA House Bill 1099. The ULC minister wrote:"PA House Bill 1099 is in direct conflict with the Constitution of the United States of America."
and later...
"There is no human being in the universe that can know the will of God and which religion is right or wrong. Do not presume that you can or do know God’s will."
further...
"The very idea of entertaining this bill at all places you at great
risk, as it would clearly cause you to violate your Oath of Office to
protect and uphold the Constitution of the United States of America."
"This violation, by definition, is an act of treason. With that fact in
mind, know that engaging in this disgusting perversion of the law puts you at personal and professional risk."
This part of the letter seems to have struck a nerve with Ms. True and instead of explaining her position, maybe for lack of a cogent argument, she cowardly replied:
"I find your...email threatening and have forwarded it to Pennsylvania's Attorney General's office."
The ULC minister ended her letter with the following powerful question and declaration.
"Which religion would the Officers of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have me follow? The Roman Catholic Church, who harbors and protects rampant pedophilia? The Muslim Faith, where men, women and children are used as human bombs? I choose the Universal Life Church."
What is implied in the letter is that Ms. True's own actions are putting her at "personal and professional risk". The ULC minister enumerated this in her letter, explaining that The Constitution enjoins law makers and judges from abrogating the constitutional rights of the individual and that individual in turn has legal recourse to pursue damages against those who seek to deny them.
posted by Br. Benedict at
9:37 AM
11 Comments:
I have been perusing your website and blog. I personally am a Christian and find the idea of supporting all religions and coming together a noble one. However I question this post due to the comments on other religions. Yes, Roman Catholicism has its problems and I do not agree with their actions regarding the pedophilia problem that seems to run rampant. Yes, Islam has been perverted by radicals. But Islam in itself is a peaceful religion. This post seems to boast that ULC is a better religion or way of life to follow. However what is the point of ULC if your ministers do not see and accept religions for what they are meant to be and not what a few of their followers have done to it?
Is the Christian or Muslim faith and their leaders under threat of bogus legal invalidation? Is any other faith under such attack? What about Wicka, Scientology, Voodoo, Deism or Satanism?
Don't pretend to understand while sitting back and doing nothing, save critiquing at your own convenience. If Christianity were under the same kind of attack, you would never ask, "What's the point?"
The fact is this legal body, the Officer's of the Commonwealth of PA, have presumed to know what religion is and isn't. This course of action throughout history is nothing new and only clarifies the Officers’ ignorance of the laws they're sworn to uphold. The same kind of religious oppression prompted many to flee to the New World, later known as The United States of America. Remember?
It would be easier if the motivation of such a bill were solely monetary, but it's not. PA Bill 1099 is nothing short of religious doctrine and dogma perpetrated over hundreds of years. It's old so it must be right.
These Officers of the Commonwealth of PA would like the world to believe that ordination via mail or internet just isn't credible. However, they won't point out that email has been used for legal reference in courts and businesses for years or that most people in developed countries communicate more electronically than even in person, not to mention the ebb and flow of electronic finance.
Could the incredible growth of the ULC Congregation worldwide (in the double digit millions) have other "established" faiths nervous. Their numbers have been dwindling...haven't they? Their history certainly leaves much to be desired. Could it be a simple act of desperation to keep their headcounts up? Conspiracy? Hardly. However, it does raise an eyebrow.
The ULC encourages freedom, community, spirituality, goodness, kindness and more, but never defines or limits an individuals capacity to be faithful, spiritual or express themselves.
Where is God? Everywhere...if you believe in God. Therefore, where is the ULC? Everywhere.
How is God expressed in the universe? Through everything. How is the ULC expressed? Through everything...including mail, the internet and any future technology that makes communication possible throughout the entire universe.
What is the point? Freedom. God given rights guaranteed, not given, by the Constitution of the United States of America, whether our ministers or others see and accept all religions for what they are meant to be.
It is my humble opinion that the Constitution of the United States of America is one of, if not the single most important document know to human kind and the job of defending it against enemies, both foreign and domestic (including corrupt legislators) falls to the people of this great nation...that's us. That's a job I relish and will not shirk.
One final note; the Supreme Court of the United States of America made it clear that any law passed in conflict with the Supreme Law of the Constitution of the United States of America is VOID at it's inception...not VOIDABLE later.
Under Federal law which is applicable to all states, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that if a court is "without authority, its judgments and orders are regarded as nullities. They are not voidable, but simply void; and form no bar to a recovery sought, even prior to a reversal in opposition to them. They constitute no justification; and all persons concerned in executing such judgments or sentences, are considered, in law, as trespassers." Elliot v. Piersol, 1 Pet. 328, 340, 26 U.S. 328, 340 (1828)
-and-
The U.S. Supreme Court, in Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1687 (1974) stated that "when a state officer acts under a state law in a manner violative of the Federal Constitution, he "comes into conflict with the superior authority of that Constitution, and he is in that case stripped of his official or representative character and is subjected in his person to the consequences of his individual conduct. The State has no power to impart to him any immunity from responsibility to the supreme authority of the United States." [Emphasis supplied in original].
-and-
The U.S. Supreme Court has stated "No state legislator or executive or judicial officer can war against the Constitution without violating his undertaking to support it." Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U.S. 1, 78 S.Ct. 1401 (1958).
-and-
If a judge does not fully comply with the Constitution, then his orders are void, In re Sawyer, 124 U.S. 200 (1888)
-and-
Whenever a judge acts where he/she does not have jurisdiction to act, the judge is engaged in an act or acts of treason. U.S. v. Will, 449 U.S. 200, 216, 101 S.Ct. 471, 66 L.Ed.2d 392, 406 (1980); Cohens v. Virginia, 19 U.S. (6 Wheat) 264, 404, 5 L.Ed 257 (1821)
-and-
"Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rule making or legislation which would abrogate them."
Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 US 436, 491.
Let there be no doubt that the most unspeakable crimes have been perpetrated under color of law...yet again.
This is from a friend of the ULC:
As a non-practicing Hare Krishna (long story...raised in the faith-left active participation behind as an adult) I can say that I'm extremely disappointed, though not surprised, by the continued efforts of our state government to impose ridiculous and ultimately harmful "Nanny" legislation.
When I was an active follower of the Hare Krishna faith I attended many wedding ceremonies conducted by ordained sannyasa swamis-all of those marriages were not recognized by the "official" powers that be and the couples had to be remarried at the local courthouse in order make things legal. This is not a new issue-my former Swami Maharaja attempted to fight this attitude in PA back in the 1980's to no avail.
There are many in our government, both at the state and federal levels, who believe that the best way to protect democracy and the rights of the people is to subvert democracy and the rights of the people. That's the ideological reasoning at least. The other bit is, of course, economics.
The Constitution does not give legislators the power to dictate which religion is 'valid' and which is not!
More from a friend of the ULC:
After conferring with some other folks, an interesting historical bit was presented to me and I thought I'd share it with you. Russia passed a law about 7-8 years ago that is remarkably similar to HB 1099. According to new Ruskie law, in order to be recognized as a bonafide religion, that religion had to have existed in the Motherland for no less than 100 years, had to posses a specific number of followers in their congregation and the elders or other such religious heads had to be Russian citizens. This has created an interesting problem for missionaries-Catholics specifically, since the days of Perestroika. The Catholics have been attempting to set up churches and parishes only to find that the numbers in their congregation and the citizenship of their leaders does not meet the laws criteria. One other interesting note-the belief of choice in Mother Russia has been Russian Orthodox Christianity since the days of the Muscovites (I believe...I can check the date of it's inception) and R.O.C was the only religion reasonably tolerated during the Soviet period. What other faiths had the chance to be established? Very damn few. Final note, fringe faiths did not have the right to congregate or celebrate-even in the privacy of a members home. Makes it a bit difficult to build your congregation. When a fringe faith goes through the registration process with the government they must provide all sorts of personal information (names and addresses of members and leaders etc)-which has proven useful for the police to hunt them down when their petition is rejected.
So, is PA on the same level as Russia? Perhaps not-but one must admit that the parallels are striking.
Now, the mechanisms that PA plans to utilize to determine the validity of a particular faith are not outlined in the body of the house bill-I find this intriguing and a bit frightening.
I think that ordained Minister in pennsylvania should contact Andre Hensley at the ulchq and find out what he is doing helping us with this problem if this bill is passed it would crush many minister aho was ordained by ULCHQ
As a ULC minister in PA who has performed weddings I am very concerned about this situation and what it means for the ministry in my state. Any news as to when/if this issue will be resolved? I am going to stop performing weddings in PA (moving to NJ instead) until this is resolved. Thanks so much and God bless!
I am pleased to see that the the ACLU is finally taking action on behalf of this injustice towards the ULC and it's Ministers.
I'd like to personally thank them, and everyone working with them for their efforts!
Rev. T Sweeney and I support the fight to defend the Constitution of the United States of America.
Thank you!
I am pleased to see that the the ACLU is finally taking action on behalf of this injustice towards the ULC and it's Ministers.
I'd like to personally thank them, and everyone working with them for their efforts!
Rev. T Sweeney and I support the fight to defend the Constitution of the United States of America.
Thank you!
I can see where Mrs. True could take the comment about "personal" risk as a threat to her safety, and I'm sure any Judge or Prosecutor would regard it the same way, as a Terroristic Threat. Thta waqsn't a smart thing to put in the letter. She should've just stuck to the profeesional risks of violating the Oath of Office. As it is, her letter probably hurts, more than helps the cause. The law will never stand up to a Constitutional challenge, so there is little to worry about. Utah tried a similar law that was shot down when ULC challenged it in Federal Court. This one will Crash-And-Burn the same way.
Here is the kicker: If they invalidate Ordinations simply because they were done on the internet, then they must also invalidate financial transactions through Pay Pal, sales through EBay, faxed contracts and agreements, Electronic Checks, etc....It aint never gonna fly!
I want to add why I got ordained to perform a wedding. The bride is in liver failure. They thought they were legally married. They got married by a Justice of the Peace. Months later when they went to get a certified copy of their license, they found that it didn't exist. Someone lost it! The marriage performed at the courthouse wasn't valid because there was no record of it even happening! The marriage license was reissued. The bride was in very ill health and being I befriended them in the homeless shelter in which I worked, they wanted to get married there where they were comfortable and loved. They didn't have the money to pay a clergy. They didn't trust the court house. I got ordained by ULC on saturday and did the ceremony on monday. It was nice. The bride was comfortable. I can't believe states would impede marriages based on strict credentials like that. A ceremony is a ceremony. I am a Christian and I took my responsibility seriously in doing this ceremony. It may be the only one I ever do. I think that if the marriage license is signed properly and filed properly, that is the only concern the government should have.
I have been a minister in various denominations for years and I relied upon the ULC to open my own outreach and church in 1997 when distraught by Denominationalism. After last years unconstitutional edict I have found my way back to Denominationalism with an open minded group the United Church of Christ. Everyone please write your representatives and stop this attack of American liberty.
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