John Harris

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I fought the law
and the law won

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Traveling
us crazy

John Harris was a prominent figure in the British Freeman on the land movement and founder of 'The peoples united community' (tpuc.org) website. He was a peddler of pseudolegal woo and was active on the seminar circuit, having given speeches at conferences of the British Constitution Group–most notably his 'It's an illusion' presentation[1] which is often the introduction to the whole Freeman idea for many people. Harris also sold DVDs and even T-shirts of his brand of legal woo.[2] He constantly asserted that we are being misled and deceived by the government and the authorities. He admitted to being anti-intellectual, going so far to state that he was the 'most unacademic man in the world'. When not espousing Freeman concepts, he worked as a carpenter.

While initially a prominent Freeman on the land advocate, Harris began to reject some of its core tenets such as the strawman theory and lawful rebellion. Having originally served an affidavit on the Queen to withdraw his consent to be governed and encouraging others to do the same, Harris soon rejected this course of action, equating it to asking permission to be free.

Aside from the main ideology of the Freeman movement itself, Harris promoted several other ideas and conspiracy theories. He was anti-government and EU. He talked of the Rothschilds and Rockefellers but asserted they are just puppets for the true power wielders. Harris was very anti-church and religion and stated that he did not believe in God or the existence of Jesus and that any historical evidence of Jesus is mere hearsay. In regards to the church, Harris believed that the true power in the UK government lies with the 26 peers-spiritual or bishops that sit in the UK House of Lords and that these in turn take their instructions from the Holy See in Rome (ignoring the fact that these are actually Anglican bishops with no allegiance to the Pope and have been since the Church of England split from Rome way back in the time of Henry VIII). He also believed that the Holy See itself is under the thumb of 'The Order of Saint John of Jerusalem' based at St Michael's Mount, Cornwall UK, who apparently have ancient texts (kept in bulletproof cases, that no one's allowed to read) that prove that Jesus does not exist, and using these are able to control the church. (Yes, the international global conspiracy is based in Cornwall, folks). Despite his anti-church feelings he did assert that the common law system so beloved of FOTL advocates is derived from the Bible, even if the Bible is full of lies and hearsay.

Harris had some rather amusing misunderstandings of etymology (a trait common to the Freeman movement). For instance he claimed that the reason we are taught to spell in school is because words 'cast spells' (presumably magical legal ones) and that if we fail to perform this is why we get exSpelled. The word 'Church' according to him comes from the word coerce,[3] thus revealing the true nature of religion. Absolutely anything beginning with the syllable 'con' must be a con. Especially the words CONtract, CONtrol and CONstitutional. [4] (For non-native English speakers, "con" is actually short for "confidence game" or "confidence trick".)

Like most FOTL peddlers, Harris did not practice what he preached. In his talks he claimed that he returns tax bills, invoices and legal demands to sender with the words NO CONTRACT written on them and actively encouraged other poor schmucks to do the same. However, when it came to himself and his website the opposite seems to apply and those supposedly contractual statutes must be obeyed. So much for Freeman Common law!

when please appreciate no matter how you view the legal system tpuc must adhere to it to exist. I was sent legal papers and was told an injunction would be sought if we did not remove the thread.

Harris, in line with typical Freemen, absolutely hated the government, going so far as to claim that "Democracy is slavery". He instead proposed that the UK needs a benign dictator to abolish all religions, corporations and courts, to seize their assets in the name of the people and to replace the police with the military as 'peacekeepers':[6]

1. All forms of religion across the world would have to be removed and the truth of the devises of conformity used by such would have to be known. All the buildings, land, money and anything else they own would be seized in the peoples name. Every church, chapel, monastery, cathedral, abbey and every building they own would be destroyed and the land would be used to the benefit of the communities it resides in. All religious positions including the pope would be disbanded never being allowed to form again.

2. Democracy and all it stands for would be destroyed including every building and never allowed to form again. Every asset of all concerned including all lands and monies would be seized in the peoples name.

3. Every banker, lawyer, barrister and his or her assets and buildings would be seized in the peoples name. Every bank destroyed.

4. The city of London would be demolished and the biggest walled garden would be built in the name of the people and for their enjoyment. Later to happen to every city.

5. Every house, castle or land owned by royalty, lords or earls and such would be seized along with all assets and monies in the peoples name.

6. All corporations no matter how small would be seized. No corporation would be allowed to exist. All assets of those concerned would be seized. All this being done in the peoples name.

7. All secret societies would be disbanded and all assets seized. Never being allowed to form again.

8. Every statue, monument or symbol would be destroyed.

9. Every CCTV camera, speeding camera and all methods of electronic control would be destroyed.

10. All the men and women of the armed services will be brought home to serve whom they are really meant to serve in the correct way.

11. The private political army known as the ‘police’ will be removed and the highest police force in the land (the military police) will walk the streets as peacekeepers, until such time each community choose their own peacekeepers from within their community.

12. All courts of this land will be disbanded and the communities will set their own peoples courts, as the law society will be disbanded.

13. There will be one law until such time no law is needed, the people’s law that is common to all without exemption based on truth. All law, statutes and mechanisms of victim less crime and precautionary principle will be eradicated and wiped from existence. All debts shall be forgiven. All prosecutions of victim less crime or precautionary principle based upon statute will be null and void.

He seriously believed this was going to happen in the next few years anyway.[6] Apparently Harris had never heard of the Soviet Union and the early 20th-century Russian revolutions. A lot of the items in the list sound suspiciously like something written by (naive and illiterate) revolutionary communists, though the Commies did like their monuments, so for point 8 Harris would have to invite the Taliban.(See the Wikipedia article on Buddhas of Bamiyan.)

On May 26th, 2015, John Harris announced a final goodbye to the TPUC community, citing himself becoming a monster and almost sending his family relationship into ruin, and wishing his love to all his readers online. He was regretful of his actions and wanted a chance to rebuild himself. About a week later, it was announced on the site that he had committed suicide.[7].

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. John Harris 'It's an illusion' talk at the Stoke 'Lawful Rebellion' Conference; transcript.
  2. Buy! Buy! Buy!
  3. It actually comes from the old English cirice which in turn comes from the West Germanic kirika meaning 'of the lord' but why let the truth get in the way of a good conspiracy theory.
  4. Archived January 8, 2012 at the Wayback Machine A perfect example]
  5. From the front page.... (forum posting)
  6. 6.0 6.1 What this country needs is a benign dictator – a ‘true’ ruler to measure from...., John Harris, 29 March 2010, The People's United Community
  7. John Harris