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

[Quantum Windbag]

Why would he discriminate against a religion? That's in the liberal playbook, not the conservative playbook.

isn't it ODD how Liberals play the First Amendment?

Not as odd as the Conservatives here that recognize Scientology as a legitimate religion.

I think Scientology is a scam, that doesn't mean I want the government telling people what religion is.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Not as odd as the Conservatives here that recognize Scientology as a legitimate religion.

Legally; it is a legitimate religion. Do you have anything to say otherwise?

Yes, it's a crock of shit money making scam created by a science fiction writer that once commented on how starting a religion was a great scam for making money.

He didn't make the comment.

 

[Political Junky]

Yeah we should just let Liberals tell us what a Legitimate Religion Is and Is not.

We would be left with Environmentalism and Islam as our 2 Choices.
lol

You feel Scientology is legitimate? That's what it sounds like.

As far as I know, if two friends and I formed a set of beliefs about a robot-god from Saturn, it would be a "religion".

To be legally considered one, and thus be tax-exempt, one simply needs to create a non-profit organization and apply to the IRS for status as a religion.

And thus our place of worship would be considered tax-exempt as long as we held services there on a regular basis, and it wasn't also being used for other purposes.

Sounds a lot like Scientology.

 

[bobcollum]

Legally; it is a legitimate religion. Do you have anything to say otherwise?

Yes, it's a crock of shit money making scam created by a science fiction writer that once commented on how starting a religion was a great scam for making money.

He didn't make the comment.

What comment?

He asked me if I had anything to say, and I did, nothing wrong with that. No offense was taken.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

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?

Why would he discriminate against a religion? That's in the liberal playbook, not the conservative playbook.

Bush Administration excludes pagans from faith-based initiatives program.

Great editing job, here is the actual link you just posted.

Bush aide ignites ire of pagans - Chicago Tribune

Not only does the article not say they are excluded, the headline doesn't either. That makes you something worse than a liar.

 

[Peach]

Progressives hate the belief system.....Any religion that doesn't kill women or babies or refuses tobehead US soldiers are wrong to them.

And 'conservatives are akin to Nazis', and blah, blah, blah......

 

[Avatar4321]

Why wouldnt he?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

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?

They are kooks, but it isn't the governments job to decide if a belief system is real or not.

 

[Peach]

Mmm__ There are "Christian" preachers that do that as well. So, I wouldn't be surprised if your assertion is correct. I think your argument is more against the tax exemption laws than scientology per se. Or were you just that desperate to get a dig in on Reagan?

I really just think Scientology is an absolute joke. I'm not a fan of any religion to be honest, but Scientology takes the cake for a multitude of reasons.

I've mostly heard only bad things about scientology. For now, I have to respect their religious freedom though.

Another unique issue, I agree with you 100%.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Not as odd as the Conservatives here that recognize Scientology as a legitimate religion.

Yeah we should just let Liberals tell us what a Legitimate Religion Is and Is not.

We would be left with Environmentalism and Islam as our 2 Choices.
lol

George Republican demands end to Wiccan services on military posts.

Gov. George Bush states that Wicca is "not a real religion."

Bob Barr Isn't Bewitched By Military Wiccans - Chicago Tribune

Bush is an idiot, and you are a liar.

 

[Lakhota]

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?

I also wonder how much input/influence Nancy Reagan had on this decision.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Yes, it's a crock of shit money making scam created by a science fiction writer that once commented on how starting a religion was a great scam for making money.

He didn't make the comment.

What comment?

He asked me if I had anything to say, and I did, nothing wrong with that. No offense was taken.

Hubbard was not the one to make the comment about starting a religion, it was Heinlein.

Just correcting the facts.

 

[Lakhota]

Run, Katie, run...

 

[Quantum Windbag]

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?

I also wonder how much input/influence Nancy Reagan had on this decision.

Wonder away.

 

[bobcollum]

He didn't make the comment.

What comment?

He asked me if I had anything to say, and I did, nothing wrong with that. No offense was taken.

Hubbard was not the one to make the comment about starting a religion, it was Heinlein.

I stand corrected, though I didn't even check to confirm it. Whatever...

He was a shyster nonetheless.

 

[Richard-H]

I hate to bring up this painful point but....

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"

Why in hell do they give tax exempt status to any religion? It's blatantly unconstitutional!

Oh yeah, shit, I forgot...political cronyism....

 

[Peach]

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?

I also wonder how much input/influence Nancy Reagan had on this decision.

Wonder away.

Mommy was too busy promoting the US fashion 'industry' to bother.

 

[Avatar4321]

I hate to bring up this painful point but....

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"

Why in hell do they give tax exempt status to any religion? It's blatantly unconstitutional!

Oh yeah, shit, I forgot...political cronyism....

Religions are given tax exempt status specifically because of the First amendment. Any attempt by Congress to pass a law taxing a religion would violate the "Congress shall make no law" part of the amendment.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I hate to bring up this painful point but....

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"

Why in hell do they give tax exempt status to any religion? It's blatantly unconstitutional!

Oh yeah, shit, I forgot...political cronyism....

Non taxable status for religions is the easiest way to build a wall between church and state.

 

[Vast LWC]

Yes, it's a crock of shit money making scam created by a science fiction writer that once commented on how starting a religion was a great scam for making money.

Actually, his good friend Robert Heinlein wrote a whole book about it.

Stranger in a Strange Land.

But of course, religion has ALWAYS been a great scam for making money, just ask the Catholics, they've been doing it for centuries.