This notice will provide information and a response regarding an issue that has been brought to the attention of Noahide Nations by way of a public platform. Noahide Nations and others have been falsely accused, publicly, as being “Xtian Orgs Posing as Noahides”.  These false accusations were started by Frances Marakova of Rachav's B'nai Noah web site and Yahoo Group along with Pam Rogers and Nancy January of the Oklahoma B'nai Noach Society.  They were in complete violation of Torah for not contacting me first if they had a complaint and instead went public with their false allegations.  I have provided a great deal of information to many Rabbis in Israel and in the United States that clearly demonstrates the falsehood of their allegations.  Now I wish to share some of this information with you.{jcomments on}
The issue stems from a current flaw within the IRS Taxonomy Coding System (NTEE) which the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) uses to label 501(c)3, tax exempt organizations.  These codes are issued by IRS employees working in the Tax Exempt Organizations Department.

Noahide Nations recognizes that these are the types of issues that are more than plentiful as the Noahide Movement endeavors to bring forth the truth of HaShem and His Torah to the world.  Joseph’s brothers did all they could do to remove Joseph from the picture but Joseph recognized it as being from HaShem for good.  Noahide Nations also views these challenges as being from HaShem for good and that they are opportunities from HaShem to clear out these roadblocks to allow true Noahides to proactively participate in our role in His Creation in manifesting HaShem’s destiny for us as Noahides.

Now I would like to respond to the previously mentioned issue.

Form 1023 is the IRS application submitted by organizations requesting tax exempt recognition from the IRS.  For reasons unknown to us as of this date the IRS internally designated Noahide Nations and other Noahide organizations with an “X20-Christian” code.  They did so without our knowledge or consent.  Certainly anyone who does a cursory examination of the Noahide Nations web site will see that we are no more Christian than a Jewish organization would be Christian.  We were made aware of this through a flurry of phone calls and emails from distraught Noahide Nations Members who had been deceived into believing that Noahide Nations was really a Christian organization posing as Noahides.  I wish to thank these fine people who acted as true Noahides by contacting us directly and as a result of their concerns we became aware of the issue and can now do something about it.

Now I would like to present the facts.  In presenting the facts I will be providing you with links to many IRS documents and I encourage you to confirm the facts for yourself.

Our 501(c)3 application was originally submitted in June of 2005 and approved in Nov. 2006.   It was submitted under Central Texas Noahide Center (CTNC) which is our local Noahide group.  The 501(c)3 approval process generally takes around a year.  During this year long period the Board of Directors of CTNC approved a plan to implement a world outreach program known today as Noahide Nations.  All proper documents were filed and Noahide Nations is a dba of CTNC and is under the 501(c)3 umbrella of CTNC and therefore considered tax exempt.

Upon learning about the X20 coding I immediately contacted our attorney as well as our accountant.  Individuals and entities working with Noahide Nations are committed to discovering problems, discussing possible solutions and then implementing a plan that will bring about resolution.  It was no different in this circumstance.  I had significant discussions with the attorney and accountant, and then presented those results to the Board of Directors who all agreed to take this to the next level.  The next level was to have our attorney and accountant directly engage the IRS to investigate the miscoding of the CTNC/Noahide Nations organization.  Some of the key findings of this investigation are the following:

1)    The IRS can provide no explanation as to how we were miscoded.
2)    There needs to be a more uniform and accurate system established in assigning NTEE Codes.
3)    Organizations are not informed in advance of the NTEE Code designation being given.
4)    There is no mechanism in place by which an organization can challenge the designation as being inaccurate.
5)    There is no system in place that allows for additional NTEE Codes to be issued for organizations that do not fall within the existing classifications.
6)    There is no NTEE Code designation for Noahide.

The current set of codes do not allow for a Noahide Code designation.  So it then becomes a matter of choice on the part of the IRS agent handling the file.  In their defense there are many codes to choose from and when it comes to dealing with a file that doesn’t match the designation criteria of any of the codes they have no way of creating a new code based on the file.  CTNC/Noahide Nations and others are neither Buddhist, Islamic, Christian, Jewish, etc.  Thus the problem and our call to action.

Having no explanation to draw upon from the IRS we can only speculate as to what caused the IRS agent to make their decision.  We feel a possibility might be the inclusion of two additional documents that were not required and they were the Proclamations for “Day of Reflection” signed by President Reagan and “Education Day USA” signed by President Bush.  These documents clearly identify the Seven Noahide Laws, but again there is no code for Noahide.  This now leaves the choice up to the agent and is purely their opinion and possibly biased depending on their personal belief system.  In our humble opinion, in trying to find a reason and as silly as it may sound, could simply be that the two Presidents who signed these documents were well known Christians.  We may never learn the actual reason.

The Board of Directors for CTNC/Noahide Nations has now chosen to aggressively lobby the IRS as well as the Urban Institute (Database Management of NTEE Codes) on behalf of all Noahide organizations and all Noahides in the United States for recognition, at the federal level, of who Noahides really are.  Our ultimate goal is that of having a new NTEE Code established for designation of Noahide organizations.

Our initial goals are as follows:

1)    Provide a written explanation in each approved 501(c)3 organizations file as to why a certain Taxonomy Code was selected.
2)    Changes must be developed and implemented for a more uniform and accurate system in assigning NTEE Codes.
3)    Upon approval of 501(c)3 status every applicant be informed in advance of the NTEE Code designation being given and are then allowed to agree or challenge.
4)    There must be an official mechanism in place by which an organization can challenge the designation as being inaccurate.
5)    A viable system established that allows for additional NTEE Codes to be issued for organizations that do not fall within the existing NTEE classifications.
6)    A process in which Noahide organizations with 501(c)3 status can have their NTEE Code changed if they so desire.
7)    Creation of new NTEE Code for Noahide.

If we are able to accomplish this difficult task; it may become as historical as the “Day of Reflection” and the Education Day USA” Proclamations by two Congresses and sign by two presidents acknowledging the Seven Noahide Laws.

We have begun this most difficult challenge by initially drafting and sending letters to both the IRS and Urban Institute notifying them of the current inadequacies within their system as well as our objectives and ultimately getting a new NTEE Code established for Noahides.

In Defense of CTNC/Noahide Nations:

Due to the fact that some have chosen to use this “X20” Code unfavorably towards CTNC/Noahide Nations, its Founder, members, instructors, etc. we feel it is necessary to present our defense and let you decide for yourself as to who we are.

CTNC/Noahide Nations filed its Form 1023 in June of 2005 and received its approval on Nov. 8, 2006.  We filed for tax exempt status under church because we are not a school, college, university, hospital, medical research, etc., plus our attorney said it is the appropriate choice.

Please review the Form 1023 from the IRS web site.  In doing your review see if this application asks the question of what your religious orientation is.  The answer is no, but please confirm it for yourself.  The document being used against us which is part of Form 1023 is Schedule A “Church”.  Now most of us came out of Christianity so when someone says the word church, often times the hair on our neck stands straight up.  This was the exact response hoped for by those who have publicly made these false accusations.  However, the truth will be seen when you review the Form 1023 Instructions; please scroll down to page 16 which will give you the IRS official definition of the word “church”.  You will find that the definition states:  “There is no single definition for the word “church” for tax purposes.”  It also states that “A church includes mosques, temples, synagogues, and other forms of religious organizations.”   However, don’t take my word for it, please confirm it for yourself at the links below.

Form 1023

Form 1023 Instructions

Please note that we filed using the 2005 Form 1023, the one you review at the IRS site is the revised Form 1023 instituted in 2006.  The revisions are subtle and do not effect what is being conveyed here.

We know that our accusers have state that it is our supporting documents such as our Statement of Faith, Mission Statement and our Description of Activities.  These are all located on our web site in the “About US” section at the links below.

Statement of Faith

Mission Statement

Description of Activities

We are not required to file Tax Form 990 but we did anyway.  This form is also being used against us and once again it revolves around the use of the word “church”.  Please scroll down in the Form 990 instruction booklet to page 3, column 3, to Part B, for which types of organization do not need to file Form 990.  Pay particular attention to #5 which states “An exclusively religious activity of any religious order”.

Form 990 Instructions

I hope that the above information sufficiently proves that CTNC/Noahide Nations is NOT a “Xtian Orgs Posing as Noahide”.

Please allow me to take a moment to apologize to all those who have been effected by the drama that has been brought forth by these few individuals on this issue.  I know that many people have suffered as a result of what these people have done.  I must say, in my humble opinion, there are far more productive ways in which to truly help the Noahide Movement rather than attempting to destroy those who are in it.

Always remember that there will be endless difficulties along the way and people who are bent on preventing the Noahide Movement from moving forward.  We must proactively continue to uncover these difficulties, accept the challenges and work together to resolve them for future generations in the way that HaShem’s Torah teaches us in His Torah.

We at Noahide Nations ask for your to keep us in your prayers that HaShem provide His Blessings on our efforts to lobby the Internal Revenue Service for our own NTEE Code for Noahides.

If you have any questions please feel free to call at 972-853-8941 or email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . May HaShem bless you in all that you do.

Kind regards,

Ray Pettersen
Founder/President
Central Texas Noahide Center/Noahide Nations

UPDATE REPORT AS OF MAY 5, 2008

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