Why did Reagan Administration grant tax-free religious status to Scientology?

[Too Tall]

It was reported at the time that the meeting between administration officials and Scientology officials lasted as little as 10 minutes.

Why would Reagan grant tax-free status to a bunch of kooks?

Cause he and his Nancy were as crazy as the dicredited scientbollockists...that's why.theliq

The tax exempt status was granted in 1993. Now, I want you to say the same thing about the then sitting President named Bill Clinton.

 

[Too Tall]

I agree that who was president isn't nearly as important as making sure as many people as possible recognize Scientology as a dangerous mind-control cult.

Understanding Scientology / Preface

The only reason I commented was because the intent of the OP was to smear President Reagan.

I agree with your analysis of the Scientology cult if you are interested. However, the underlying reason for the uproar, IMO, is the fact that California needs the tax revenue. What better way than having the Scientology cults tax exempt status revoked.

And, that has happened before. Remember that dangerous organization named the Christian Coalition? I believe they lost their tax exemption because they were handing out pamphlets that named their preference in elections. The horror!

There's a big difference between a technical election violation and the kind of criminality CoS engages in. Taxing them really wouldn't go far enough, IMO. I think a RICO prosecution would be more to the point.

I was being a bit sarcastic about the Christian Coalition. Only pointing out that tax exempt status can has has been taken away.

 

[Too Tall]

it may have seemed that way Willow.....but those guys signed a paper just like i did.....if you strike,you just may lose your job....well they struck and they lost their jobs.......they knew the probable consequences.....

If I remember correctly, air traffic controllers are government employees. Government employees are barred by law from going on strike. I know way back when I worked for the Post Office, the APWU was quite clear on that being absolutely out of the question in any contract negotiation.

Which begs the question of why the fuck do they need a union anyway since they cant strike????

They don't and they shouldn't have one. NO public employees have any NEED to have a union. Democrat politicians need them to have one so they can get millions from their dues paying members.

 

[Too Tall]

I thought I made a point of saying 'administration'. I didn't claim that presidents decide these things all by their lonesome.

That said, I think I made a mistake: the battles with the IRS occurred throughout the Reagan administration, but the actual IRS decision was made during an impromptu meeting between Scientology dictator David Miscavige and IRS Commissioner Goldberg during the Bush administration, in 1991:

Scientology made the initial gesture toward a cease-fire when Miscavige, the church leader, paid an unscheduled visit to the IRS commissioner, Goldberg.

The first full account of that meeting and the events that followed inside the IRS was assembled from interviews, Scientology's own internal account, IRS documents and records in a pending suit brought by Tax Analysts, a nonprofit trade publisher, seeking the release of IRS agreements with Scientology and other tax-exempt organizations.

Feffer, a church lawyer since 1984, said he approached officials at the Justice Department and the IRS in 1991 with an offer to sit down and negotiate an end to the dispute.

The church's version of what followed is quite remarkable. Miscavige and Marty Rathbun, another church official, were walking past the IRS building in Washington with a few hours to spare one afternoon in late October 1991 when they decided to talk to Goldberg.

After signing the visitors' log at the imposing building on Constitution Avenue, the two men asked to see the commissioner. They told the security guard that they did not have an appointment but were certain Goldberg would want to see them. And, according to the church account, he did.

Goldberg said he could not discuss the meeting, although a former senior official confirmed that it occurred. An IRS spokesman said it would be unusual for someone to meet with the commissioner without an appointment.

Miscavige does not grant interviews, church officials said, but Rathbun said the Goldberg meeting was an opportunity for the church to offer to end its long dispute with the agency, including the dozens of suits brought against the IRS, in exchange for the exemptions that Scientology believed it deserved.

"Let's resolve everything," Rathbun recalled saying. "This is insane. It's reached insane levels."

Goldberg's response was also out of the ordinary. He created a special five-member working group to resolve the dispute, bypassing the agency's exempt organizations division, which normally handles those matters. Howard M. Schoenfeld, the IRS official picked as the committee's chairman in 1991, said later in a deposition in the Tax Analysts case that he recalled only one similar committee in 30 years at the agency.


​

I apologize for the error. But my main point is why are these kooks granted tax-exempt status?

Apology accepted, but nothing in this article indicates that a tax exempt status was granted. Merely that a five-member working group was created. Working groups do NOT grant tax exempt status. That happened in 1993 on Clinton's watch. He was busy getting blow jobs from his intern at that time and probably had nothing to do with the decision.

 

[konradv]

Just what I thought you are pathetic.

Your posts are no more than an overt attempt to create static on the board. You need to confront your prejudices and achieve a tone where you're not constantly trying to suppress others. Review your own thinking process. It's definitely downscale.

Amazing how pathetic you are ....Cant back up anything you say so all you do is attack like a child....Bigots like you just wallow in ignorance.

Why do you love evil? Trying to "handle" me?

 

[konradv]

I am wondering why OP is so stupid he cant realize the whole thread was invalidated when it was proven it was a lie.....Seeing as it was Clinton who seemed to have given the church its tax status.

Of course that never stopped bigoted progressives from spreading a lie before.

The thread was hi-jacked long ago. Please try and keep up, we've moved on to why you're shilling for a criminal organization?

 

[Inthemiddle]

Then explain it, instead of just being a douche bag.

No, I cannot explain it to you. Because your entire deranged perception is being shot to shit with your mindless hatred and bigotry.

*FORUM FAIL*

If you cannot explain your argument or your position, why the fuck are you here?

You seem to misunderstand. I can explain my positions and arguments perfectly well. I can't explain them to him because no amount of logic and facts will get through to him.

 

[Synthaholic]

No, I cannot explain it to you. Because your entire deranged perception is being shot to shit with your mindless hatred and bigotry.

*FORUM FAIL*

If you cannot explain your argument or your position, why the fuck are you here?

You seem to misunderstand. I can explain my positions and arguments perfectly well. I can't explain them to him because no amount of logic and facts will get through to him.

But he has asked you pointed questions that you have evaded, so I guess I don't understand.

 

[konradv]

No, I cannot explain it to you. Because your entire deranged perception is being shot to shit with your mindless hatred and bigotry.

*FORUM FAIL*

If you cannot explain your argument or your position, why the fuck are you here?

You seem to misunderstand. I can explain my positions and arguments perfectly well. I can't explain them to him because no amount of logic and facts will get through to him.

You never made any such attempt. All that's happened is that I've been called a bigot with no explanation of why or indication that you've tried to educate yourself.

 

[konradv]

More evidence about life inside the "Church". Parents refused access to their children in life and death.

This Email From An Ex-Scientologist On The Death Of Her Son Describes Miserable Life Inside The Church - Business Insider

 

[Harry Dresden]

So Buddhism isn't a religion, and shouldn't have tax-exempt status?

to me no.....it seems more like a philosophy.....my opinion is a "religion" has to have something you worship,like a god or gods.....not just following some guys way of life.....if you dont pray to someone,to me,its no religion......no tax-exempt status....

You are aware that the world around you is not defined by "your opinion" or "what it is to me", right?

Religion does not require a deity just because you, in your infinite wisdom, decided that it did, and tax-exempt status doesn't require a deity, either, whether you personally think it should or not.

Please feel free to avail yourself of the same website I keep recommending to Synthaholic, IRS.gov, to bone up on what the government came up with for tax-exempt requirements in the absence of your mandate on the subject, and you might also pay a visit to one of the many free online dictionaries to clarify the whole "definition of religion" thing.

hey YOU asked for my opinion ....i gave it to you....if you dont like it.....oh well.....

 

[Harry Dresden]

it may have seemed that way Willow.....but those guys signed a paper just like i did.....if you strike,you just may lose your job....well they struck and they lost their jobs.......they knew the probable consequences.....

If I remember correctly, air traffic controllers are government employees. Government employees are barred by law from going on strike. I know way back when I worked for the Post Office, the APWU was quite clear on that being absolutely out of the question in any contract negotiation.

Which begs the question of why the fuck do they need a union anyway since they cant strike????

not all Unions are like the Teamsters......where i work we cant strike.....if they cant come to an agreement.....it just goes into binding arbitration....

 

[Harry Dresden]

If I remember correctly, air traffic controllers are government employees. Government employees are barred by law from going on strike. I know way back when I worked for the Post Office, the APWU was quite clear on that being absolutely out of the question in any contract negotiation.

Which begs the question of why the fuck do they need a union anyway since they cant strike????

They don't and they shouldn't have one. NO public employees have any NEED to have a union. Democrat politicians need them to have one so they can get millions from their dues paying members.

why?......do public employees get treated so good they are dying to get to work everyday?.....they dont get treated like shit?......they have working conditions that are upheld willingly by management?.....and do not private Unions give to the Democrats as well?....and please dont tell me we have OSHA and the Dept of Labor to turn to....cause i just might start laughing....

 

[konradv]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EN9LablMcw]Scientology Exposed - The Violence of Leader David Miscavige - YouTube[/ame]

 

[thanatos144]

Your posts are no more than an overt attempt to create static on the board. You need to confront your prejudices and achieve a tone where you're not constantly trying to suppress others. Review your own thinking process. It's definitely downscale.

Amazing how pathetic you are ....Cant back up anything you say so all you do is attack like a child....Bigots like you just wallow in ignorance.

Why do you love evil? Trying to "handle" me?

Stop trying to divert the subject with childish attacks and prove you accusations!

 

[thanatos144]

I am wondering why OP is so stupid he cant realize the whole thread was invalidated when it was proven it was a lie.....Seeing as it was Clinton who seemed to have given the church its tax status.

Of course that never stopped bigoted progressives from spreading a lie before.

The thread was hi-jacked long ago. Please try and keep up, we've moved on to why you're shilling for a criminal organization?

What was hijacked? You mean it wasn't a giant lie made just to make baseless bigoted accusations like the one you keep perpetrating?

 

[konradv]

I am wondering why OP is so stupid he cant realize the whole thread was invalidated when it was proven it was a lie.....Seeing as it was Clinton who seemed to have given the church its tax status.

Of course that never stopped bigoted progressives from spreading a lie before.

The thread was hi-jacked long ago. Please try and keep up, we've moved on to why you're shilling for a criminal organization?

What was hijacked? You mean it wasn't a giant lie made just to make baseless bigoted accusations like the one you keep perpetrating?

I'm not making the accusations, I'm just reporting them. Those that really know, ex-Scientologists, will tell you all you need to understand what I'm talking about.

Why does the "Church" keep parents away from their children in life and death?

This Email From An Ex-Scientologist On The Death Of Her Son Describes Miserable Life Inside The Church - Business Insider

 

[Inthemiddle]

*FORUM FAIL*

If you cannot explain your argument or your position, why the fuck are you here?

You seem to misunderstand. I can explain my positions and arguments perfectly well. I can't explain them to him because no amount of logic and facts will get through to him.

But he has asked you pointed questions that you have evaded, so I guess I don't understand.

His "questions" are based on nothing more than a deranged perception. He wants to complain about the celebrity centre, as if that somehow makes the church fall outside of the requirements for tax exempt status. I'm sure he never thought to challenge the tax exempt status of the Catholic church. I mean, they pay their ministers. They run soup kitchens for the poor. It's no different.

 

[konradv]

You seem to misunderstand. I can explain my positions and arguments perfectly well. I can't explain them to him because no amount of logic and facts will get through to him.

But he has asked you pointed questions that you have evaded, so I guess I don't understand.

His "questions" are based on nothing more than a deranged perception. He wants to complain about the celebrity centre, as if that somehow makes the church fall outside of the requirements for tax exempt status. I'm sure he never thought to challenge the tax exempt status of the Catholic church. I mean, they pay their ministers. They run soup kitchens for the poor. It's no different.

This isn't about tax exemption. How many times do you need to be told? Are you being purposely obtuse or what? It's not about the Celebrity Center either, except tangentially, since celebrities are the lure that gets the regular people interested that they criminally abuse for their money and labor.

 

[Inthemiddle]

This isn't about tax exemption.

Actually, it is. Look at the title of the thread, look at the OP, look at my post that you quoted when you asked your question. THIS THREAD is about the tax exempt status of the Church of Scientology. YOU, on the other hand, only want to talk about how much you hate that church.