Come to Your "Census"

Census Commentary by Pastor Bill Hofer
I believe that as a Christian I have dual citizenship.  I am a citizen of heaven (Eph. 2:19, 20) and I am a citizen of the United States of America.   It is my duty to be the best possible citizen I can.  Because of this I am not counseling anyone to deliberately break the law.  You have received in your mail a survey from the U.S. Census Bureau.  It is my opinion, and not necessarily the opinion of the Elders of Weed Berean Church, that this survey goes far beyond what we are required to supply to our government.  While you may fill in every blank on the form you are not required to do so.  Here is a sample letter from the website of U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, (R) TX that he recommends you use with your partially completed form. For my form I will only supply my name and the number of persons residing at my address.
To Whom it May Concern,
Pursuant to Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution, the only information you are empowered to request is the total number of occupants at this address. My “name, sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, telephone number, relationship and housing tenure” have absolutely nothing to do with apportioning direct taxes or determining the number of representatives in the House of Representatives. Therefore, neither Congress nor the Census Bureau have the constitutional authority to make that information request a component of the enumeration outlined in Article I, Section 2, Clause 3. In addition, I cannot be subject to a fine for basing my conduct on the Constitution because that document trumps laws passed by Congress [where such power is delegated]- Hofer.
Interstate Commerce Commission v. Brimson, 154 U.S. 447, 479 (May 26, 1894)
“Neither branch of the legislative department [House of Representatives or Senate], still less any merely administrative body [such as the Census Bureau], established by congress, possesses, or can be invested with, a general power of making inquiry into the private affairs of the citizen. Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U.S. 168, 190. We said in Boyd v. U.S., 116 U. S. 616, 630, 6 Sup. Ct. 524,―and it cannot be too often repeated,― that the principles that embody the essence of constitutional liberty and security forbid all invasions on the part of government and it’s employees of the sanctity of a man’s home and the privacies of his life. As said by Mr. Justice Field in Re Pacific Ry. Commission, 32 Fed. 241, 250, ‘of all the rights of the citizen, few are of greater importance or more essential to his peace and happiness than the right of personal security, and that involves, not merely protection of his person from assault, but exemption of his private affairs, books, and papers from inspection and scrutiny of others. Without the enjoyment of this right, all others would lose half their value.’”
Note: This United States Supreme Court case has never been overturned.
Respectfully,  A Citizen of the United States of America  
first published 2010

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