[Vision2020] Why is Paul Kimmel and Christ Church the subject of every conversation?

[Jim Meyer]

The discussions about slavery and Paul Kimmell's character are obscuring
the main point, which is, why should the citizens of Latah County care about
Paul Kimmell and his relationship with Christ Church? What is so deeply
upsetting to so many community members? Isn't it true that a few zealots
are persecuting both Paul Kimmell and Christ Church?

Perhaps the best way to answers these questions is to take a step back, look
at
the big picture, and restrict our discussions to items of verifiable fact.

FACT:  Paul belongs to a church (Christ Church) that believes private
property is a gift from God and that taxation is a form of theft.
Furthermore, Christ Church elders believe that it is their duty to avoid
civil regulation, including the payment of taxes, unless by the hand of God,
they get caught ("chastisement") [1]

FACT:  Christ Church has done almost everything imaginable to avoid paying
taxes, some examples of which are:
1. Filing false and/or misleading floorplans with the BOE [2]
2. Making false and/or misleading statements about parking spaces [2]
3. Submitted an irrelevant state certificate titled "Unincorporated
Nonprofit Association Appointment of Agent for Service of Process" to a
gullible Board of Equalization [2]
3. Thus hid a million dollar +/- publishing business that is in competition
with other local and web businesses and that should not properly be
considered nonprofit.[2]

FACT:  Paul Kimmell is head of the chair of the Latah County Board of
Equalization
and regularly makes decisions about property tax exemptions.

FACT:  Christ Church minutes state that Christ Church exerts "oversight"
over Paul. [3]

FACT:  Membership in Christ Church requires swearing allegience to the
Church,
church government, and church discipline. [4]

FACT:  In the general election Nov 5, 2002, Paul Kimmell won the County
Commission District 1 position by 6309 votes to John Arnos's 4953 votes, a
difference of 1356 votes. [5]

FACT:  Christ Church, with reckless disregard for IRS regulations governing
nonprofit organizations (including churches), used church resources and
exhortations to promote named political candidates, John Guyer for Moscow
City Council,
and Paul Kimmell for County Commission District 1 [6]. In Paul Kimmell's
case, this is
particularly troubling since it is possible that this unfair and illegal
behavior
may have affected the outcome of that election. Had the public known that
Paul Kimmell was
a Christ Church stealth candidate and had church members not been unfairly
mobilized, Paul Kimmel might easily have lost the election in November 2002.

FACT:  In a letter to his congregation, Doug Wilson divisively calls those
public minded citizens who are concerned about civil justice and fair
taxation in Latah County  "enemies" because they question whether or not
Paul Kimmell might have a conflict of interest.[7]

In summary,  given the unobscured facts, it is clear that the citizens
of Latah County have every right to question, in fact, even have an
obligation to
question, Paul Kimmell's covenantial relationship with a church that has
such obvious
contempt for civil taxation and thus the people of Latah County.
Furthermore, it is not even remotely persecution to investigate a church
that
has a stated policy of avoiding the payment of taxes. The "enemy" is not the
good citizens of Latah County. The enemy is misguided faith in arrogant,
socially irresponsible,
and money hungry church leadership.

Jim Meyer
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Don't take my word for it. Read the Christ Church Confession of Faith
yourself at http://www.christkirk.com/Literature/Confession.asp .These
statements have been revised and approved nine times by the elders. Here are
two
excerpts:
(A)  "We believe that churches should accept various burdens and
entanglements of civil regulation and taxation only under protest,
acknowledging the weight of such tyrannies as a judgment from God upon a
disobedient church. We deny that to receive this chastisement is compromise.
The justice of such chastisement is received from the hand of God, but not
acknowledged as just or right in the hand of the magistrate."
(B) "We believe that in the prohibition of stealing, God has ordained the
institution of private property. We believe that the Christian church should
teach against theft in all its forms (Ex. 20:15). We deny that the
institution of private property is a human invention. Rather, it is the
result of a biblical understanding of God's ordination of private property.
But because man is fallen, the institution of private property, like all
God-ordained institutions, has been much abused (Eph. 5:5). We believe that
the root cause of political disregard for the institution of private
property is envy and covetousness (Matt. 20:1-16). We deny that theft can be
sanctified, even if it is done in the name of civil justice (Is. 5:20). If
the civil magistrate oversteps the boundaries established for him in
Scripture, one result can be various forms of theft, including oppressive
taxation."

[2] Minutes of BOE meetings tax year 2002
[3] "Doug Wilson reported that Paul Kimmell, in his role as County
Commissioner, is
open to oversight from the elders on certain issues." Excerpted from Christ
Church Minutes in V2020 vol3 issue 57. Acknowledged but not denied by Doug
Wilson V2020 vol3 issue 74 (excerpted from his blog).
[4] Christ Church Constitution, Members and Electors Section:
http://www.christkirk.com/Literature/Constitution.asp ( "Do you swear in the
name of God to support the ministry of this church in its worship and work,
submitting to its government and discipline, while pursuing its purity and
peace?" )
[5] General Elections Results of Latah County
http://www.latah.id.us/Elections/2002General/
[6] Part of information submitted to the BOE July 2004.
[7] Prayer request forwarded to V2020 vol 3 issue 146