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Navy Man Ejected From the Military Because He Requested a Religious Accommodation.  By David Alan Carmichael

January 9, 2004 - In November of 1996, I requested a religious accommodation from the U.S. Navy, and I was subsequently ejected from the Navy on March 17, 1997 as a result. I requested the Navy to assign a Navy generated service number as a Military Personnel Identification Number (MPIN) rather than using a Social Security Number (SSN). My request was based upon my understanding of Revelation Chapter 13, whereby we are prohibited from identifying with that universal number which is required in order to do anything necessary for livelihood. Though nearly every person I know initially considered me a heretic, I am obligated to obey that which my conscience knows to be true rather than the popular opinions of any particular theologian.

I filed suit in United States Court of Federal Claims charging the Navy with unlawfully separating me from the service. (Citizen Review On-Line http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/oct_2001/navy_man_requests.htm). I filed the suit Pro Se initially but had Dr. Herb Titus come to my rescue as my Attorney of Record. Never-the-less, the case was flippantly dismissed. Fortunately, the United States Court of appeals ruled in my favor, finding that my claim justified the litigation. They vacated the lower court’s dismissal and remanded the case for trial. (David Alan Carmichael v. United States, 298 F.3d 1367, US Ct. App. Fed. Cir., Aug 12, 2002 - http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/federal/judicial/fed/opinions/01opinions/01-5034.html). Recently, there has been a shocking turn of events. The Claims Court judge, upon being mandated to try the case, initially made his own "sua sponte" motion for another dismissal for lack of jurisdiction. He stated that I had no claim for money, so he thereby could evade the Appeals Court’s mandate. Since then, however, he has had a radical change of heart.

It is very unusual for an enlisted man to prove he had a right to continue service. No one has a "right" to military service unless by some authority of statute or service regulation. We proved to Judge Futey that, in my circumstance, a regulation did apply that required my command to extend my service. Acting in reprisal against me for having the audacity to risk my career for my allegiance to God, the Navy deliberately failed to extend my enlistment for two years prior to transferring me, contrary to their regulations. Judge Futey has seen through the United States Attorney’s many smoke screens and has ruled that I had a "firm right" to continue service to at least January 1999. Thus, I have a right to money. Thus, the court has jurisdiction. We are now about to litigate the issue of the statutory right to retirement.

Since forsaking the SSN as an identifier in 1996, besides losing my Navy career, I can no longer: drive, vote, own realty or titled personalty, bank, get automobile insurance, get life insurance, fish, hunt, (marry), start a business, or bear arms, among many other things. The IRS says I owe them thousands of dollars, because I will not identify myself or my family members with their beastly number. Though the truth is, on the basis of the law of the land, I am not required by law to participate in Social Security. In most cases, identification with an SSN is either voluntary or merely an administrative convenience. Yet, I am prohibited from doing those things necessary for life, liberty and happiness unless I forsake my allegiance to God and His commands; unless I embrace the universal identifier in allegiance to, and trust in, Caesar rather than the King of Kings, Jesus. Most tell me my interpretation of scripture is in error. The SSN is not the number of the beast and I ought to obey every ordinance of man thrown my way, whether or not the ordinance is lawful. I say, "Prove my theology wrong by securing my liberty."

So, by inspiration as well as necessity, I am spearheading a movement to take on the beast through cohesive, comprehensive, and credible civil action. Dr. Herb Titus and Larry Becraft, two extremely well respected constitutional litigators, have agreed to help me form an organization that will take on these critical issues. The organization will give its members information, counsel, legal support, and civil action to protect them from being disenfranchised from their natural rights and common privileges as Americans. If our adherence to a Biblical mandate is inferior to government administrative convenience, under the guise of an arbitrarily claimed "compelling need", all liberties are lost. www.christianliberty.org

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