Get The IRS Out of My Church

However you say it, Amen or Ramen, this guy deserves one.

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Thank you, BBB. How would Jesus handle his US citizenship today? I wonder.

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I say get the IRS into every church in the land.

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Hi BBB,

By posting this article, I am assuming that you agree with a significant part, if not all of it.

Let me ask you then, are you specifically in favor only of government policies that are "Christian" and specifically opposed to those that are "not Christian" ?

What is your view of separation of church and state?

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The priest, pastor or rabbi is free to take a political stand from the pulpit. However, if he/she choses to indulge in political speak that house of worship is subject to the loss of tax exempt status. Stick to religion or pay the piper. They can't nor should they have it both ways.

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Dys! We agree!

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Conscript the clergy, sieze their lands and goods, and be done with it.

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A real believer in the First Amendment, eh?

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RealLife

real life wrote:

Hi BBB,
By posting this article, I am assuming that you agree with a significant part, if not all of it.
Let me ask you then, are you specifically in favor only of government policies that are "Christian" and specifically opposed to those that are "not Christian" ?
What is your view of separation of church and state?

I assume you know nothing of me by your question. I'm an atheist and find all organized religions detrimental to peace on this planet.

I also agree with Dyslexia. I would like to see all religious organizations and their spin-off businesses taxed and lose their exempt status.

BBB

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Churches were tax exempt in the USA long before the IRS existed.

The tax exempt status of churches is not dependent on the IRS.

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Real Life
The tax exemptions come with strings attached. Cut the string and lose the exemption.
Religion and government are like oil and water they do not mix.

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BBB
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/rel_liberty/establishment/topic.aspx?topic=tax_exemptions&printer-friendly=y

Origins

Tax exemptions of different types were common in the Colonial period. After the Revolution and the ratification of the Bill of Rights, most states retained these exemptions. State and local governments continue to exempt churches from local taxation. In 1913 the federal government embraced this trend by exempting churches and other religious organizations from federal taxation in the modern federal tax code.

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much of western history demonstrates that the church was the state and visa versa. This phenonoma created "tradition" which generally stupid people equate with "reason". I find no rational thinking that would support the concept of "church property" being exempt from tax bases. I also think political action PACs or whatever they are called now should be taxed as well.

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Why stop at making churches pay taxes? Heck, let's put a stop to any and all organizations being exempted from paying taxes. Make Jackson's Rainbow Coalition pay their fair share. United Way? Make em pay!

I'm with ya BBB. All the way. Any and all non-profits need to pay to give the politicians more money to waste. Stick it to them all.

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au1929 wrote:

Real Life
The tax exemptions come with strings attached. Cut the string and lose the exemption.
Religion and government are like oil and water they do not mix.

Which part of

Quote:

Congress shall make no law[/i][/u] respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof......

is not clear to you?

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real life
Apparently those clauses are not clear to you. Where does it give religion the right to interfere with the workings of government or to be free of taxation? And where does it extend any specials privileges upon religion?

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au1929 wrote:

real life
Apparently those clauses are not clear to you. Where does it give religion the right to interfere with the workings of government or to be free of taxation? And where does it extend any specials privileges upon religion?

What other group does the Bill of Rights protect in such a fashion? Business? Labor unions? Political parties? Fraternal societies?

Yes I would say that religion is treated in a unique way by the Bill of Rights.

If you are trying to make the case that religious people or groups are prohibited from every (or even ANY particular) type of participation in government, then specify where you think this prohibition is spelled out, or even implied. You cannot, because it does not exist.

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Real life

That is a hell of a stretch. The fact that the constitution protects religious freedom infers that it also give it special privileges.
The clause prohibits the establishment of a national religion and protects the right to worship or not worship as one wishes. It affords no special privileges to religion. .

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au1929 wrote:

Real life

The clause prohibits the establishment of a national religion and protects the right to worship or not worship as one wishes. It affords no special privileges to religion. .

This then begs the question, and I know I will be ridiculed for asking it, but here goes. Why then is there a problem with a local community putting a nativity display on the government property? That in no way is establishing a national religion. At the very widest stretch of imagination, you could make a case that it establishes a local religion. Yet many here would argue otherwise.

So does the clause have a narrow view as you seem to be saying or is it a broad view to mean that government cannot do anything as concerning religion?

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