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TAXES! Why do the richest institutions get out of them?
I'm heading back to the "establishment clause" again.
So if you are not interested, then skip it and go on to some blog that has boobies, or a video of a cat licking something it shouldn't. There'll be no joy for you in this mudville.
After reading and reading and somewhat obsessing over the "establishment clause" some more, I have come to two conclusions.
Number 1: Lawyers are idiots, and we are even bigger idiots for listening to them as much as we do. I have read tons in the last couple weeks, and once you take away 30% of the vocabulary that is used in the law basicly to make people feel like they don't understand it, it is all pretty simple arguments. It is the language you have to get past. And that is not easy. They purposefully make it hard to read and understand so that they continue to justify how important and how smart they really are.
Number 2: Chruches should be paying taxes to the federal government. I have been looking and the longer I look the less reasoning I see for churches to be a tax exempt organization. Other than tradition of course.
I have a solid argument lined up here. With lots of referances. So this is part one.
Look at it this way, a significant reason that the american colonists started talking rebellion, back in the day, was because the colonists were being taxed by the king, and then the king had several laws saying that anyone who's income exceeds this much, must also pay a tithe to one of these "authorized" churches.
So the government was FORCING the people, to pay taxes and also forcing them to pay a tax directly to the church.
A large part of our national heritage has to do with people not being required to give money to a church if they don't want to. So how did it come to pass that churches ended being able take in money and not have to pay anything in taxes.
I think you would be just as shocked as I was to find out.
Yes, churches are tax-exempt, the basis for this on one side is that the money that they are receiving has already been taxed once and due to the fact that they are not a "money-making" establishment this money should not be taxed again, they are put in the same group as charities as far as that goes. Churches, (at least the ones I know of personally) are required to use the money received from parishioner for charitable causes, such as feeding the sick, homeless, etc. If I am correct (and I am not positive as far as this goes,) churches are audited intermittently to be sure that a certain percentage of money received in going toward charitable acts or charities so that they may keep their tax-exempt status. This is the basis, also as far as the catholic church goes (unlike some) basic priests and people on the basic level of serving in the church are not wealthy fortune 500 types, these people honestly live a meager existence, with mostly the necessities and little as far as true luxuries go. As with anything else there is always the exception, but in general this is how the catholic church goes as far as the true in the trenches types go.
I don't think the money has been already taxed once since contributions are allowed to be deducted (or used to calculate if the standard deduction should be used).
I have given up on this.
There are too many precedents.
There have been several movements in the past to remove churches from the Tax Exempt portion of the tax code. But they have all failed.
There is just too much money in churches to ignore what they demand.
You are not likely to remove the tax-exempt status from churches unless you completely remove everyone's tax-exempt status across the board.
Hey man, there's good money in religion. I remember driving through the back woods in Jacksonville, where most house were held together with plywood and duct tape. But look, there on the hill is a HUGE new church with a phat new Cadillac Escalade parked at the preachers HUGE house next to the church. I'm going to start Darcy's Church of Ever Lovin' Grace and Flo'. We 3 ladies meet Friday nights at Foghorns. Cheers, I mean Amen.
ROFLMAO!
Awesome!
You have to pass a credit score test to become a member of the church. That would be the best.