I originally wrote this article for the cryptocurrency community, but I would be remiss not to share it with more spiritually- and liberty-oriented people as well. The Bible tells us to "obey the governing authorities, for all authority is from God and the powers that be are appointed by God." But the Bible also shows over and over again that we are held accountable for the actions of our government and entire nations have been punished for the actions of their leaders. Thus, we should do everything we can to root out corruption and abuse of power, praying that we can live quiet lives without their interference.
"Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."
Sometimes the combination of these Biblical instructions requires us to take peaceful action to reform our government before it grows too powerful and evil to resist.
"Who is like the Beast? Who can make war against it?" - Revelation 13:4
For we know that there will come a day when the governments of the world will so constrain our freedoms that no one will be able to buy or sell without the mark of that Beast.
And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark — the name of the beast or the number of its name. - Revelation 13:17
This is an existential threat to Christians, who are forbidden from taking that mark. This is one case where we simply cannot obey the governing authorities.
Cryptocurrencies are a two edged sword. Used exclusively by a global government, they could very well lead to the very mark of the beast system the Bible warns us about. However, if it is kept free of such control, and decentralized into many alternatives, it could be the escape route we have been warned to seek. "Come out of her my people, lest you take part in her sins."
So, for these reasons, I ask Christians to consider joining our efforts to resist government efforts to take over the blockchain - especially digital currencies - and deny us this long term route to freedom. Today our brothers and sisters are risking their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to defend those very freedoms. Innocent people are being ruthlessly punished for peaceful activities like writing software to defend their rights to honest money and a level playing field.
Won't you join our efforts at Defend The Blockchain .com?
Here's an article I just published that describes the same thing from a libertarian point of view, the way our American Founding Fathers would have looked at it today.
"We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights... and governments are instituted among men only to secure these rights!"
Have a look and see if you can be a Patriot and a Christian at the same time.
"Defending against all enemies, foreign and domestic."
"Until poker chips and monopoly money are securities, the statement that "all tokens are securities" has no intellectually honest leg to stand on." -- Stan Larimer
Letter from Stan
Greetings Fellow Innovators,
It is my opinion that state and federal authorities don’t understand us. Instead of appreciating our entrepreneurial efforts and contributions to society, they fear us because of the bad acts of a few outsiders and the revolutionary nature of our innovations.
As you know, in recent days many investigations have been launched and cases filed against some in the community. We do not believe that regulators are attacking the industry out of malice, but from a lack of understanding. I believe it is important that we invest in defending ourselves competently against investigations and cases that are not well founded and that may set a far reaching precedent that could affect negatively the industry as a whole.
Further, reform is needed in how regulators treat members of our industry who have the fundamental right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. We have created a New Bill of Rights to help explain the revered original document to modern day authorities that may have forgotten their oaths to support and defend the Constitution.
I have established a legal defense trust for our community. It has been created with the intent of defending the blockchain community as a whole (not just BitShares) from cases brought from misunderstandings by regulators. These regulators often lack the comprehension of the technology (and noble philosophical underpinnings) of the industry. Unfortunately, that lack of understanding could have vast unintended consequences.
More importantly, the Trust will lobby for fundamental reforms in how our regulatory agencies do business with an eye to restoring respect for our constitutionally guaranteed human rights.
As the Community Defense Trust grows, we hope to come to the aide of many who are victims of unrestrained government power. However the Trust is not limited to defending against unfair government practices and violations of individual rights. We are equally concerned about defending the community against private individuals who seek to get others in trouble with the authorities by spreading malicious defamation and bogus charges against them. Thus, the Trust is chartered to deter such behavior by taking legal action in especially egregious cases, such as the Bitcoin Latina Scandal, where bad behavior on the part of its founder is an obvious case that could require legitimate government intervention.
But the current main objective of this fund is to support the defense of Jared Rice in the case filed by the SEC ( SEC vs Arise Bank, Jared Rice Sr., and Stanley Ford, 3-18 CV-186-M) in Dallas, Texas. Jared Rice is principally a programmer and coder, who is facing questionable charges of conducting a fraudulent unregistered offering. In this potential Trial of the Century much more is at stake than Jared's freedom. It is imperative that Jared Rice have available to him the services of lawyers who specialize in defending individuals against the SEC for the sake of the legal precedents that may be established if it all goes horribly wrong.
To date the Trust has raised and provided over $200K to partially cover the services of Edward T. M. Garland of the Garland, Samuel & Loeb Law Firm. But much more help is needed. If Jared cannot present his case in a way that the SEC understands, he may face severe penalties and be prevented from participating in the future in any blockchain business. THIS IS A THREAT TO ALL OF US. To that end, I seek your help and ask for your donations to pay for hiring such SEC specialists and mounting a vigorous defense of our industry.
Remember, if it can happen to anybody, it can happen to you!
Sincerely,
Stanley J. Larimer, Trustee
BitShares Community Defense Trust
defendtheblockchain.com
