Jump to content

Arthur Evans (physician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bamyers99 (talk | contribs) at 17:47, 3 April 2016 (+Category:1920 births; +Category:2009 deaths using HotCat). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Arthur Evans (21 February 1920 – 10 March 2009) was a Quaker physician and a devotee of Prem Rawat who was imprisoned for refusing to cooperate with the United States government's attempts to tax him to pay for war expenses.

Each year, starting in the early 1940s, Evans would refuse to pay some or all of his federal income tax, donating that money (or sometimes double that amount) instead to charity. The Internal Revenue Service would typically then also seize the amount from Evans's bank account so that he would end up losing the money twice.[1] “But that’s all right,” he told a reporter. “My action merely is a protest — I’m motivated to act morally myself. I won’t pay the tax for war voluntarily. This way the responsibility for committing the immoral act is on the government.”[2]

In 1963, Evans was jailed for 90 days for contempt of court when he refused to turn over his financial records to the Internal Revenue Service.[3]

Evans was also active with the American Friends Service Committee and the Fellowship of Reconciliation.[4]

References

  1. ^ “Doctor Refuses To Pay Tax as Protest to Nuclear War” (Associated Press dispatch, 17 May 1962)
  2. ^ “Denver Doctor Again Refuses To Pay Tax” (United Press dispatch, 22 April 1965)
  3. ^ “Pacifist Ends Jail Term” New York Times 10 November 1963
  4. ^ “Deaths” Friends Journal August 2009