Lexington, Concord, and Plainfield

The State Motto of New Hampshire is simple: "Live Free or Die." But life will not be so simple for Ed and Elaine Brown in Plainfield, New Hampshire. Even if they don't die a violent death at the hands of the IRS, they probably won't live free.

Brown and his wife were convicted of 20 tax evasion-related felonies in January and sentenced to five years in prison and a $215,890 fine, according to the Boston Globe, for failing to pay the IRS $625,000.

Americans who pay federal income taxes in 2007 pay ten times more than the British government was demanding of the colonists in 1776. And this is only direct taxation. All consumers hand over nearly half of the amount of all their purchases to taxing authorities: buy a new mid-sized car for $25,000 and over $10,000 of the sticker price represents taxes levied on big-bad-businesses and passed on to you. So half of everything you earn is withheld as taxes, then half of every dollar left to you to spend goes for more taxes. You do the math (government school graduates are excused).

FOX News' Neil Cavuto, rumored by some to be a "conservative," interviewed Ron Paul, clearly with a view to hurt Dr. Paul's image, clearly with a view to buttress the moral authority of the IRS and our moral obligation to place our festal offerings at the feet of America's new Idol, the State, our Savior.

As we approach "Independence Day," we should reflect on the fact that the Browns are risking "our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor," and probably have more of a right to celebrate the 4th of July than most Americans, who neither understand nor care about what that holiday commemorates.

Despite the fact that taxation is theft, "the power to tax is the power to destroy," and the practices of the IRS are both unconstitutional and immoral, we hope the Browns won't make the same mistake America's Founding Fathers made: using lethal force to prevent the unwarranted confiscation of property. The Bible says pay your taxes, don't kill the tax collector; a human being is worth more than Federal Reserve Notes.