Taxpayers invited to transform tax dollars

Mennonite Central Committee
Friday, 8 December 2000

As part of the recent U.S. $1.3 billion aid package to Colombia, $870 of U.S. taxpayer money covered the cost of a submachine gun. The same amount of money sent to Colombian Mennonites could pay for job training for a family driven from their land by violence.

As a symbolic stand against war taxes and a concrete way to help Colombians working for peace, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. invites taxpayers to redirect money from their 2000 income taxes to MCC's Taxes for Peace fund. The fund will go to support Colombian Mennonite peace work. Alternatively, those who do not want to withhold tax dollars can also contribute a percentage of their income to Colombian peace initiatives.

A War Taxes for Colombia packet with background information on the situation in Colombia, the work of Colombian Mennonite churches and the biblical basis and practical considerations for war tax resistance is available from MCC U.S. To request a packet, contact Titus Peachey, MCC U.S. peace education director at (717) 859-3889 or e-mail tmp@mcc.org.

The decision to direct withheld taxes to Colombia stems in part from a letter sent in July 2000 from Colombian Mennonite pastors to the churches in North America. In it, the pastors plead with North Americans to speak out against U.S. military aid and policies that feed the cycle of violence in Colombia.

"We ask you for support to transform this vicious cycle of death and destruction that military aid produces, into a virtuous cycle of abundant life and peace," the letter states.

Taxes paid by church members in the United States, the letter continues, "are economically supporting ... the annihilation of the Colombian nation and people."

About 80 percent of the $1.3 billion aid package, the stated purpose of which is to combat cocaine production, is military aid. This aid has had an immediate effect on Colombia. As the Colombian military prepares for its newly financed push into guerilla-held territory, guerillas are securing their positions while they still can. "Taxes" from drug growers in guerilla-held areas are becoming less reliable, and guerillas are turning increasingly to kidnaping to raise money.

A third party in the conflict, the paramilitaries, largely believed to be given free reign by the Colombian military, also collect income from drug growers. They have increased their attacks and massacres.

Nearly two million people have been displaced in Colombia over the years, and the recent increased violence has sent thousands more streaming into cities and across international borders. Meanwhile, Colombians say, the aid package does little to address the complex roots of their country's fragmentation -- economic injustice, oppression of minority groups and a culture of mistrust.

In the midst of the violence, Colombian Anabaptist churches work to build peace and celebrate signs of hope. Justapaz, the peace and justice organization of the Mennonite Church is creating Sanctuaries for Peace, neutral spaces where all are welcome. Justapaz is also involved in national peace negotiations.

Mennonite Brethren churches in Colombia sponsor a peace education program in their congregations and school. Mencoldes, the relief and development agency of the Mennonite and Mennonite Brethren churches, helps people displaced by the violence.

MCC plans to open a country office in Colombia in 2001. Currently, Armando Hernandez and Eunice Viloria are serving a one-year term in Riohacha. In their pastoral work, they meet many Colombians displaced by poverty and war.

Church members continue to work for peace despite tapped phone lines and death threats. Colombian Mennonite Hector Mondragan said he knows Christians may have to witness to Jesus' message of peace with their own lives.

"But we know this is the way to eternal life, and it is the way by which the will of God may be done on earth, on this earth, in Colombia as it is in heaven," he said.

Peachey suggested that congregations or other groups look for creative ways to support Colombians. "Some may want to join together by withholding enough war taxes to equal the cost of a submachine gun or other weapon. Others may want to reduce their tax liability by giving an additional contribution to the work of peace-building in Colombia," he said.

Rachelle Schlabach, of the MCC Washington Office, encouraged tax resisters to write to their government representatives to explain why they have withheld taxes. "If people do write letters, it could be a powerful advocacy tool, letting policymakers know just how strongly Mennonites feel about war taxes and Colombia," she said.

In previous years, MCC's Peace Tax Fund has gone toward cluster bomb removal projects in Laos and MCC work in Iraq.

Checks for Taxes for Peace may be sent to MCC at PO Box 500, Akron, PA 17501. Checks should be made out MCC, with Taxes for Peace noted on the memo line.

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org