I only just met Ernie Land, but I found that we had quite a bit in common.  We are roughly the same age and when we discussed the best way to run a religious based not-for-profit, we agreed that it should be in compliance with all applicable tax laws as they are commonly understood.  Ernie didn’t always think that way, but among other things, he has seen the damage that any other course can do to a person or a family as he has witnessed the fate of his friend Kent Hovind who has spent many years in federal prison and who is facing a new charge.

If you spend some time on the internet you will find that there are many theories as to why the common belief that most people in this country who work and earn beyond an insubstantial amount of income are required to file income tax returns are mistaken.  Irwin Schiff has a fairly elaborate explanation that shows how most of us are deceived into filing tax returns that are not really required.  Like Kent Hovind, Irwin Schiff is in federal prison.

Here is where Ernie and I differ,  Ernie believes that at least some of those people are right, that there are ways in which our government is fundamentally invalid.  He urges compliance merely as a practical matter.  I have yet to find an argument of the Schiff variety at all persuasive and it is not for lack of understanding or study.

Kent Hovind has been talking to a lot of people lately and has been making the argument that the crime of structuring that he was convicted of (systematically dealing in amounts of cash less than $10,000 to avoid reporting requirements) were really motivated to silence him in his quest to show that evolution is bad science.  My inference is that the reason Kent got in so much trouble on the structuring was related to the other counts of his indictment that involved paying the employees at a Dinosaur theme park in cash and referring to them as “missionaries” rather than withholding taxes and filing the appropriate forms.  Ernie agrees that it was a bad idea for Kent to do that, but still believes that the federals government’s prosecution of Kent has a religious basis.

Ernie runs Kent’s legal defense fund.  He is also trying to mobilize support for Kent.  He is putting out a challenge to people who have alternative views about the legitimacy of the government to use Kent Hovind’s case as a showcase for their theories.  Here is what he wrote me that I am reprinting with his permission.

I want to begin by making a statement about any of the subjects of the entrapment of the Church with Corporations, the enslavement of free men with, strawman, 14th amendment citizens, birth certificate/dealer origin title, free State citizen vs. U.S. citizen, admiralty law vs common Constitutional law, the gold fringe flag ,the know your customer banking regulation, the health care chip, evolution vs creation, the government brain washing in school systems, or most of the other conspiracies of government which are all tied into the wealthy, such as the Kennedy assassination
and the immediate dissolution of taking our US Treasury back, the secret societies such as Knights cavalier even dating back to Nimrod, which all tie in to Satan’s dominion and his well planned work. These subjects however are so well planned and thought out that the sheep in the world will not put the time and effort into learning the truth, so 99% of the public blindly go about disputing the mountain of facts and circumstantial evidence, so they do not have to dig in and learn the facts for themselves. So yes, I believe these conspiracies have so much fact and circumstantial evidence proving them for someone with education or knowledge to sincerely believe them.

Now for the patriots, for the freemen, for the Liberty Alliances out there, Kent Hovind’s case is a perfect opportunity for any of them to prove their theories in Court will be practical and actually work. With Kent’s worldwide notoriety here lies great opportunity to prove common law, Bill of Rights, and the U.S Constitution is still the highest law of this land. Provide me some documents with proper arguments to file in Federal Court that will prove the facts. Kent stood before a Magistrate at the U.S. Federal Court on  7/13/2006 where a sealed (unconstitutional secret grand jury) indictment was issued against, KENT HOVIND, they claim aka Kent Hovind, in case number 3:06-CR-00083-MCR-CMT and asked to enter a plea in which Kent enter the plea, “”Subordination of False Muster”, the Magistrate, acting in my opinion under color of law, responded, “I will not take that plea and will enter a plea of not guilty.” Kent responded, “I object.” The Magistrate responded, “Overruled, I am entering a plea of not guilty.” Kent said, “I take exception.” The Magistrate responded, “Overruled.” And then moved to enter a not guilty plea on record.

So here is the chance for someone out there to prove their common law theories by providing proper documents to set this case straight and have the magistrates, judges and agents removed.

I take no copyright on this message and anyone can post this challenge where ever they wish.

Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving,
Ernie Land

So if you have an alternative theory that you have been longing to test, you may want to consider taking up Ernie’s challenge.  Myself I would rather see Kent Hovind admit that it was a really bad idea to not be scrupulous in his tax compliance, but that’s just me.

Here is a contact form if you want to contact Ernie.

Background

For some background on Kent Hovind and his tax woes, you can check out this coverage recap.  You may also want to check out the coverage at quatloos, Bob Baty’s facebook page, Kent Hovind’s 2 Peter 3 and the Kent Hovind wikipedia entry which is quite thorough and well sourced, even though I get dissed on the talk page.