The National Independent Consumers and Farmers Association (NICFA) reports that the religious freedom and property rights of the farming community are on trial in Wisconsin:
Emmanuel Miller, Jr., of Wisconsin is the first American to have been tried for NAIS non-compliance, on Wednesday September 23. Wisconsin requires NAIS "premises" registration and many farmers, including Mr. Miller, have refused to comply. Pat Monchilovich, another who refused, goes to trial in October.
Mr. Miller's belief is that he is a free man, and as such he should not be forced to register what he owns with the government, which would lead to the numbering and tracking of his livestock. Mr. Miller is also an Amish man with strong religious beliefs. He believes that the NAIS program may be a precursor to the Mark of the Beast. Paul Griepentrog of the Wisconsin Independent Consumers and Farmers Association reports:
They believed the need for caution in order to prevent them from being drawn into the NAIS program only to discover later that they had violated their beliefs and would then have no recourse to remedy their error. When asked what they would do if forced to register and be subject to fines, jail, or be forced to move they responded that they would accept or endure the consequences and stated: "If a faith is worth living for, it's worth dying for."
Judge Jon Counsell's questioning of the three state witnesses was very telling. According to one witness, the premise registration system was not shown to be a benefit to disease control in the state of Wisconsin, or any other state where it had been implemented. Another witness even contradicted the USDA's business plan by stating that the mandatory premise number was not part of the 15 digit individual animal identifier number.
Mr. Griepentrog's description of the attitudes of the Amish community is very telling of how these family farmers feel about the way the government has treated them:
Having lived in an area with an Amish community I was surprised at their attitude, as it was one of cold anger, born of misinformation and broken promises from persons representing state and national groups that had lulled them into a false sense of security; a blight that exists throughout the anti NAIS movement today.
His hope is "that the people involved will come to the knowledge of the truth without having to face the stark reality of the courts and move to correct this unnecessary program."
Government aggressions against independent farmers and their communities are becoming less and less uncommon. Whether they be primarily legal in the case of Mr. Miller, or physical in the case of the Stowers family in Ohio (click here for an update), these careless power-grabs against peaceful communities need to be scrutinized and protested.
