Now any liberty that requires a license is no longer a liberty. The definition of a license is also given in Blacks law dictionary and is defined as follows: "A permission, accorded by a competent authority, conferring the right to do some act which without such authorization would be illegal, or would be a trespass or a tort. A permit, granted by the sovereign, generally for a consideration to a person, firm, or corporation to pursue some occupation or to carry on some business subject to regulations under the police power. A license is in no sense a contract between the state and the licensee but is a mere personal permit neither transferrable nor vendible. That would be state exrel. Cuillot vs. Central Bank and Trust Company, 143 LAP. 1053, 79 SO. 857, 858.

In America, we the citizens are the sovereigns. Therefore, why is government continually trying to force licenses on us to perform those God-given, God-ordained, inalienable rights. If there are any licenses to grant, then we the people would be the ones granting them to the government officials since we are sovereigns and government is not the sovereign but is the servant and agent of the people.

II. THE FOREFATHERS UNDERSTANDING OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTIES

Mr. William Blackstone was probably the greatest jurist of the era

of the founding of our nation. More of his commentaries were purchased

in America than in England, and they were used extensively in the founding of our nation. I would like to quote from his commentaries as to the

understanding of a man's relationship to his God.

"Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his creator, for he is entirely a dependent being. A being, independent of any other, has no rule to pursue, but such as he prescribes to himself; but a state of dependence will inevitably oblige the inferior to take the will of him, on whom he depends, as rule of his conduct: not indeed in every particular, but in all those points wherein his dependence consists. Consequently, as man depends absolutely upon his maker for everything, it is necessary that he should be in all points conformed to his makers will. This law of God is of course superior in obligation to any other. His binding over all the globe and all countries, and in all times; no human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this: and such of them as are valid derive all their force, and all their authority, mediately or immediately, from this original. Upon this foundation depend all human laws; that is to say, no human laws should be suffered to contradict these."

On the particular subject of sovereignty of the people, I will now

quote Mr. George St. Tucker who was a famous jurist in the early 1800's in the state of Virginia. In his footnotes on Blackstone's commentaries he expounds the American Constitution on principle of government. He speaks extensively to the sovereignty of the people and I quote,

"The American Revolution has formed a new epic in the history
of civil institutions, by reducing to practice, what, before,
had been supposed to exist only in the visionary speculations
of theoretical writers....The world, for the first time since
the annals of its inhabitants began, saw an original written
compact formed by the free and deliberate voices of individuals
diposed to unite in the same social bonds; thus exhibiting a
political phenomenon unknown to former ages. This memorable
precedent was soon followed by the far greater number of the
states of the union, and led the way to that instrument, by
which the union of the confederate states have since been com-
pleted, and in which, as we shall hereafter endeavor to show,
the sovereignty of the people, the responsibility of their
servants are principles are fundamentally, and unequivocably,
establish; in which the powers of the several branches of the
government are defined, and the excessive of them, as well in
the legislature, as in the other branches, find limits, in
which cannot be transgressed without an offending against
that greater power from whom all authority, among us is de-
rived; to wit, the people."

It is absolutely understandable by this quote that our early founding forefathers understood that all sovereign power rested in the people of the states. Our founding forefathers were extremely concerned about government intervention into the freedom of conscience and freedom of exercise of religion. They had fled from Europe for these very reasons. Therefore they insisted on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution that would prohibit congress from making any law concerning the establishment of religion and prohibiting the free exercise thereof. This amendment simply says that congress can make no law relating to religion. The question comes, what is religion?

Many of our forefathers have suffered jall, beating, confiscation of property, fines and other harassments because they refused to take licenses, permissions, permits, etc. from local and state governments to exercise their religious practices. Included in these practices was the collection and distribution of money and property, the education of children, public worship, and many other things. It also included the care for the elderly, the sick, etc. There is no doubt that to our founding forefathers religious liberty meant not only the practice and belief of religion but the defining for one's self what his religious beliefs and practices would be. The

only limitations upon these practices would be the commission of the common law crying decency in order in the community. In other words, a court could only punish a crime which would be a crime by common law, biblical law, and by common usage such as harm to property, limb, or life and public order. As Blackstone says in his commentaries there can be no crime where there is no injury. There must be an injury before the government can step in and make any kind of prosecution or bring about any punitive action. When children are being taught at home by their parents and they are not being harmed physically or no one else is being harmed, how can the government step in and say this is a crime? When churches band together to educate their children and tests show that they are learning at a higher academic level than those attending the general government schools, how can this be a crime? I must emphasize here that we have to stay away from psychological, emotional, and mental definitions of abuse. These vary greatly among varying bodies. Many believe that teaching a child the Bible is mental abuse; some believe that causing children to memorize scripture is a mental abuse. Parents must be left with the sole responsibility of determining what goes into the mind of a child. This is nothing less than the religious beliefs and practices of most Americans.

III.

WHAT IS CAUSING THE LOSS OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN AMERICA

Religious liberty is dead in America. The reason I say that it is dead is because no religious practice is allowed in America that is counter to the interests of the state. For instance, in the Bob Jones case the courts have said it is not acceptable to believe and practice segregation in marriage and dating and courting because that violates public policy. In the Faith Baptist Church case of Louisville, Nebraska the state has said that it is not acceptable to believe that education is a part of your religion and therefore, in this state you are prohibited from practicing the free exercise of educating your own children. All over the United States the IRS is intruding into church affairs because they have determined on their own that certain practices of certain religious groups is not acceptable religious practices for public policy. In the Rev. Moon's case they have said that it is not an acceptable religious tenent

in America for a minister to put church funds in his own name in a

bank account and administer those funds even if it is the desire of the church members. The IRS and state governments have launched upon a massive program to make a legal definition of a church and what is acceptable religion. This is totally unacceptable to us in America as American citizens if we are to have religious liberty. In fact, Russia does the same thing. They say that there will be freedom of religion, but religion and state shall be separate and that religion and education shall be separate. You cannot separate religion from government, government in itself is a religious function. The Roman Empire realized that it could not continue its current mode of operation without the many false gods and Caesar worship. When Christians came along and claimed that Jesus was Lord and not Caesar, it threatened the very empire. In America our constitutional republican form of government is and was dependent upon Americans having religious liberty. The reason religious liberty no longer exists in America today is because the current form of government is not what our forefathers gave us in the beginning. The current form of government that we practice is one of government being the rulers and the people being the slaves and religious liberty does not fit in that mode of operation.

IV. CURRENT LEGAL OPPRESSION

A. (People having served or now serving jail time in prison for non criminal religious beliefs)

1.

2.

3.

Pastor Everett Sileven, Faith Baptist Church, Louisville, Ne. He has served 157 days and has the potential of 150 days yet to serve.

Pastor Bob Gelsthorpe, North Platte Baptist Church, North Platte, Ne. He has served several months and faces possible confiscation of church property and personal property, as well as his bank accounts and fines.

Rev. Agnes Rich, Grand Island, Ne. She is facing jailings, and confiscation of property for fines.

4. Rev. Sun Myung Moon, he is facing potential jailings.

5. We have heard of and have not yet substantiated the fact that there are some 18 other pastors in America facing jailings over various charges relating to their religious beliefs.

B. Litigating cases

1. There are approximately six thousand cases being litigated in in the United States of America by government against churches

firm of

and religious organizations. The Gibbs and Craze law
Cleveland, Ohio is handling somewhere in the neighborhood of
three to four thousand of those cases. These cases involve
such things as

I.

J.

K.

Home Schools

Social Security Taxes

Property Taxes

Labor Department: minimum wages, workman's comp., etc.

IRS Harassment over Taxes and Unapproved Political Activity

The government must take at face value every single individual's definition of his religious beliefs. The only test government should give any individual concerning his religious beliefs is:

Has the exercise of the religious belief resulted in a crime against life, property, or community tranquillity?

HOW OUR RELIGIOUS LIBERTIES WERE VIOLATED BY THE STATE OF NEBRASKA

In 1977, the members of Faith Baptist Church voted to start a weekday educational ministry for their own children. They started this ministry

because they were conscience bond to obey their Lord Jesus Christ who commanded them in scripture (Deut. 6, Prov. 22:6, Ps. 101:3, Jer. 10:2, Eph. 6:4, and others) to establish the life training of their children in godliness and obedience to their Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible. While most Christians in the past felt they could send their children to a public school and still obey God in these commands, today that is not the general feeling of devout Christian parents. Because of the excessive secular humanism taught in the now, government schools, these schools are actually hostile to God and people who are devoted to him. Therefore, today, the majority of devout Christian parents feel they must remove their children from those government schools and from private schools who are controlled by the same state apparatus that has secularized the government schools. Thus, you have many home schools and many weekday educational ministries as an integral part of the local church.