As I wandered around the Indianapolis Baptist Temple awaiting the start of today's press conference, I couldn't help but notice that things were not as they were when I last visited the church. The auditorium was bare of the colorful pennants and flags that had been hanging on the walls. People were busy packing boxes and stacking them up in anticipation of being evicted next Tuesday.
I looked over the information which Rev. Dixon and his staff had left out for the media. One letter caught my eye:
Hello, my name is Amanda Duncan. I'm twelve years old and a seventh grader at the Indianapolis Baptist School. Please don't close down my school. I've only been here since '96 but the best years of my life was spent here at this church and school. I'm asking you please don't close down my school.
In Christ,
Amanda Duncan"
This is just one of the letters that the Indianapolis Baptist Temple will overnight to Chief Justice Rehnquist of the US Supreme Court. Amanda and over one hundred other students from the Temple's school will plead with the Chief Justice to postpone the seizure of their church and school until the IBT has had the opportunity to exhaust all their legal remedies by arguing their case before the Supreme Court.
Even though Justice John Paul Stevens denied the IBT's motion for a stay of Judge Sarah Evans Barker's order to vacate the church's property by noon on Tuesday, November 14th, under Rule 22 the defendant, IBT, can request a stay directly from the Chief Justice and that is what they intend to do. The IBT's attorney, Al Cunningham, will present arguments to the Chief Justice on Monday, November 13th asking for a stay of the lower court's order. If the stay is not granted the US government will seize the church and it's twenty-two acre campus in Indianapolis on November 14th.
I read through a couple of dozen letters from other IBT students and before I knew it it was time for the press conference to begin.
Rev. Greg Dixon opened the meeting by thanking all the media present (local ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates were in attendence as well as radio and newspaper journalists) for attending and for the positive coverage that they'd received so far. He then went on to read the following press release:
Indianapolis Baptist Temple November 9, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Indianapolis Baptist Temple has one ray of hope left to stave off Federal Marshals seizing their church property at 12 noon Tuesday, Nov. 14, WITH WHATEVER FORCE IS NECESSARY, according to a Sept. 28 Order to Vacate from Federal Judge Sarah Evans Barker, Indianapolis. The Supreme Court rules allows the church to appeal directly to the Chief Justice William Rehnquist. The letter for reapplication has been sent today and will be on his desk tomorrow morning, Nov. 10. The court is closed for holiday but the appeal will be on his desk the first thing Monday morning.
Thousands of faxes and mailgrams will go to the court in Washington, DC over the weekend which have been generated by church members and talk radio. More than a hundred letters from the children who attend Indianapolis Baptist School grades 1 - 12 will be overnighted to Mr. Rehnquist today.
While the Federal Marshals are preparing to seize the church, the congregation is busy moving all of the personal items out of the buildings and into storage. Dr. & Mrs. Greg J. Dixon are moving out of the church parsonage at 339 W. Cragmont Drive where they have lived for 32 years. Three other families will be moving out of church homes which are on the 22 acre site also, along with some homeless that are staying at the church.
Rev. Greg A. Dixon, who succeeded his father as pastor of the church, will announce Sunday morning where the congregation will meet Sunday, Nov. 19. As of today, a suitable location has not been found for the educational ministry.
The pastors and congregation invite all to attend a prayer service on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 11 A.M.
(end of press release)
After reading the press release Rev. Dixon then took questions from the media. He was asked about the prayer meeting to be held on the date of the ordered eviction. He said that he expected more than a thousand people to attend and that he'd received calls and emails from many people saying that they were going to come. When asked what would happen when noon rolled around on Tuesday, he shrugged his shoulders and said that that was up to the Federal Marshals. He intended to stay at the pulpit until they drag him away. He reiterated that they intend to resist passively and nonviolently and that they would not hand over the keys "to God's property".
When asked how he intended to make sure that the event was nonviolent he said that the church has security people who will be circulating during the meeting and that they are considering installing metal detectors. He said that his fear was not that some individual would cause trouble, but that the federal government might try to slip in agitators to cause problems. He stated that he was not being "paranoid" but that there was good reason to suspect that the government might do something of that nature.
He went on to say that any supporters 18 years of age or older are welcome and invited to attend and that, of course, anyone is free to leave whenever they like. He said that "there won't be any guilt trips" or anything of the kind, but that it will be up to each individual as to how long and how far they desire to stay in the face of physical eviction and probable arrest by the marshals. Rev. Dixon did assure me that the school children would not be present for the prayer meeting as they'd decided to close the school next Monday and Tuesday for fall break. This reporter was relieved to know that the children will not be in the church given the federal government's predisposition to burn churches occupied by children.
At this point Rev. Dixon shared some information that he'd recently received involving results of a poll that asked Americans who they feared more, the IRS or God? 57% said that they feared the IRS more than they feared God. Rev. Dixon smiled and said that he feared God and not the IRS and that's why they were taking this stand.
He and Dr. Dixon again reiterated that this is about control, not taxes. As they've shown in the past, FICA and other federal taxes were paid by each of the ministers individually and that there are no unpaid taxes. The issue is that the IBT did not withhold the taxes and pay them and that the IBT does not bow to the state, but rather serves God. By being an unregistered New Testament church and not a 501(c)3 not for profit corporation the Indianapolis Baptist Temple has not put itself under the jurisdiction of the state and is not obligated to act as a tax collector for the government. Of course the feds disagree and wish to make an example of the IBT.
Dr. Dixon stated that we were witnessing history. This case is "reversing 200 years of history" that we're now living in a country where the very notion of an uncontrolled church is unthinkable to the government. He went on to say that this was nothing new and that Baptist minister John Bunyon had been imprisoned for 12 1/2 years in Bedford jail in England for refusing to buy a license to preach state approved sermons. This and other such outrages are what prompted many people to risk their lives to come to America in hopes of escaping the government controlled Church of England. The First Amendment's free religion clause was meant to prevent government control of churches. Of course if a church is organized as a 501(c)3 corporation under the IRS code the church then loses it's First Amendment protections and must operate under the control of the IRS. The Catch-22 of this situation is that if a church does not register than the US government does not recognize it as a church and it has no First Amendment protections.
Rev. Dixon and Dr. Dixon expanded upon some of their previous answers and then thanked everyone for attending the press conference.
I will be present at the prayer service on Tuesday, November 14th and will report from the church as the day unfolds.
[ Sierra Times ]
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