My husband's boss wants to opt out of the country

[Nikia]

He said that the only reason that the government has power over us is because we make a series of contracts with it, starting with our birth certificates. His wife is pregnant with their third child and he is planning on refusing a birth certificate for the child. He is planning on his wife home schooling the children. He is also trying to sign into a "personal ministries" scheme in which he and his family would be considered their own church and not have to pay taxes as a result. He says he is doing this because he has serious religious disagreements with the government and wants nothing from them except to live in peace. Does this man have a valid point? Can he refuse the birth certificate? Can he get his family declared a religious tax exempt organization? The way I see it is that his religious freedom is protected under the first amendment and as Jesus said "Give onto Caesar what is Caesar's...". I don't see how he can say that he doesn't want anything from the government when he drives on public roads among other things. We all disagree with some things, maybe even most things, that the government does, but this isn't the Wild West. We do need government in a civilized society, especially one that has grown this big. Why should he get to exempt himslef?

[LisaM]

1. Why doesn't he move to Colorado City, Utah?

Where they apparently don't follow any laws at all. For example, some of the people don't believe in speed limits or having driver's licenses.

[Spider Jerusalem]

2. Your husband's boss is a raving nutball.

He seems to have a rather limited understanding of many things, including the nature of the social contract; the extent and scope of the government's power; the laws governing tax-exempt religious organisations; and probably almost everything else. He sounds like someone who's going to end up living in a shack in some godforsaken Utah desert somewhere.

[Occulus]

3. Go read the part of

the Declaration of Independence right after where they stop teaching about it in school. I'm talking about the full, single sentence immediately following the words "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Our founders realized that the ability of the people to overthrow a despotic government ruling over them was a necessary component of their infant democracy. Our leaders regularly rotate out of office; this ensures that none become too comfortable in their position.

Opting out of services such as public education is certainly the right of any citizen; I'm intrigued by the 'personal ministry' concept. And someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the birth certificate doesn't need to exist; one may not be produced if the baby is delivered at home, for example.

More power to him if he wants to take his family totally off the grid. I wish him the best of luck.

[Cleita]

4. He's not doing his family a service doing this.

Not having a birth certificate can leave you as a person without a country. My father was born in a farmhouse in Illinois before the turn of the last century. His lack of a birth certificate dogged him all his life everytime he needed to do things like join the army, get a passport, get married etc. etc. All he had was a document whereby his mother, years later attested to the circumstances of his birth. As legal and notarized as the document was, it was always regarded with suspicion, held up procedings and was a general pain in the ass for his lifetime.

[Nikia]

9. I thought of this too

That kid might decide as an adult that he wants to be be part of society. He might want to get a driver's license, get a normal job, get legally married, or even possibily join the military like your father. I should have told him off but I couldn't get a word in edgewise.

[HFishbine]

5. Cool

Just from an experimental perpsective, it will be interesting to see how successful he is. His kid may well thank him when he's an adult -- or maybe not when he can't get a job because he can't get a social security card because he doesn't have a birth certficate.

[david_vincent]

6. I once read about a guy in South Carolina

who refused to carry a driver's license on religious grounds. He went through a big hassle with the State, but eventually won. Apparently, in S.C. there is some law on the books exempting people from having to carry a driver's license if it's somehow against their faith. They don't want anyone to know about it because they don't want people to make use of it.
Trying to do the kind of thing that this acquaintance of yours wants to do would be a constant battle encompassing almost every aspect of living. For instance, I have a friend who decided he didn't want his baby to be vaccinated. He had a huge dispute with the hospital when his second daughter was born and basically had to abduct his own child in order to prevent them from vaccinating her. Your husband's boss would experience a neverending series of fights like this, over every little thing. It would be easier to go to some less developed country.

[LastTime2BeFree]

7. home schooling the children?

Has the opinion on that changed? I didn't get the memo. I thought it took a village.

[Drifter]

8. He can get all this and more ...

by moving to a different country.

You are either with us or against us.

I think to reap the benefits of living in this country, everyone must make these types of sacrifices (if you want to call them that).

All we need is 100 million new religions created for the purpose of avoiding taxes. That should solve all the problems.

Cheers
Drifter