Former U.S. presidential candidate James "Bo" Gritz has asked that his name be removed from the membership rolls of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Gritz, a member of the LDS Church since 1984, said he no longer wants to be part of a church "that appears to be more controlled by the government than
God."Speaking from his home near Las Vegas, Gritz told the Deseret News he mailed a letter to the church's First Presidency on March 14 asking for the action after his stake president refused to renew his temple recommend because Gritz didn't plan to file a 1993 income-tax return.
"My question was, `Where in the equation of salvation does the (Internal Revenue Service) fit?' He told me he was withholding all the blessings of the church until he saw a 1040 form from me," Gritz said.
Members of the church must receive the endorsement of their ecclesiastical leaders before they can enter temples, which are considered sacred.
Church spokesman Don Le-Fevre said members are obligated by the faith's "Twelfth Article of Faith" to obey the tax laws of their home country.
"A member who refuses to file a tax return, to pay required income taxes or to comply with a final judgment in a tax case is in direct conflict with the law and with the teachings of the church," he said. "If a member disapproves of tax laws, he may attempt to have them changed by legislation or constitutional amendment."
Gritz said he never has failed to file a return.
"I've filed my tax forms in the past just fine, but it made me a little angry that he would place my temple recommend in review because of this damnable IRS situation . . . so I told him I wasn't going to file," Gritz
said. He also said the leader "chided" him for exercising his priesthood authority outside of his region, referring to Gritz's baptism of a young man in Sacramento, Calif., Gritz's home branch is in Sand Valley, Nev.
LeFevre said members who hold the priesthood can baptize qualified candidates only with the approval of and under the direction of appropriate
leaders. Other events during his 1992 presidential campaign also led Gritz to the decision, he said.
"I was asked by my stake president to no longer accept invitations to speak in church buildings."
He said the request came after he spoke to members of LDS wards in Phoenix and Mesa, Ariz. "Yes, it was during the campaign, but it had nothing to do with my candidacy. It was a talk I have given to missionaries all over at the request of mission presidents."
The church does not endorse political candidates or parties and, consequently, does not allow its buildings to be used for those purposes, according to a policy statement.
Gritz said he doesn't know whether he is still a member of the church and hasn't heard from leaders for six months. "We just don't want to be a member of a corporate church that isn't led by Jesus Christ."
Church authorities do not discuss the status of members publicly, LeFevre
said. Gritz, his wife Claudia Jean, son Micheil and daughter Melony were baptized in August 1984. He and his wife were later sealed in the St. George Temple. He said the letter asked that all of his family be removed from church
rolls. Since his campaign in 1992, Gritz and followers have purchased 200 acres near Kamiah, Idaho, where they hope to build a "Christian covenant community." It would draw citizens "who stand up for each other's rights under the Constitution," Gritz said.
He said the community, named "Almost Heaven," will accept people without regard for skin color or religion. The only criterion is that residents be in the United States legally.
Gritz, a former U.S. Army Green Beret, also conducts survivalist training programs called SPIKE (Specially Trained Individuals for Key Events) in the western United States.
The program grew out of his role in the Randy Weaver case in which Gritz served as an intermediary in the surrender of Weaver, who was acquitted last year of all but two minor charges in a August 1992 shootout and ensuing 11-day standoff.