Taxation of churches is religious persecution

[Syriusly]

"...April 1933 Nazi delegates began negotiations with Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the Vatican’s delegate to Germany and the future Pope Pius XII. As these negotiations unfolded the Nazis launched a wave of anti-Catholic intimidation, shutting down Catholic publications, breaking up meetings of the Catholic-based Centre Party and throwing outspoken Catholics into concentration camps." See more at: Religion in Nazi Germany

Well if anyone knows about nazi's it is our resident Nazi- koshergrl.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Churches are social organizations that require infrastructure and services from local government, and should pay their fair share.

Churches are businesses nothing more ad should be treated as such

Wrong.

"
In this real world, churches often operate on extremely tight margins, receiving the bulk of their income from voluntary donations, paying their pastors and staff a modest salary for endless hours of emotionally grueling and sometimes tedious work, and all the while performing a wide range of charitable acts within and often beyond the parish community. These churches benefit considerably, in many cases crucially, from tax exemptions for their income and property, and from the tax deductions permitted to those who contribute to their income through donations.
The removal of these exemptions would be an enormously heavy burden for many, and a catastrophic burden for some. And because this harsh, painful penalty would be imposed on churches almost entirely in response to their theologically and historically founded opposition to same-sex marriage, it would be a form of state-sponsored persecution. Religious persecution."

Taxing churches is a form of religious persecution and liberals need to stand against it

Sorry but no.

Religion is big business churches are the same.

They use the public domain as much as anyone else that pays taxes. Not taxing them is giving them special treatment.

Taxing them like everyone else is not persecution.

I'm afraid it is.

So then I can say I am being persecuted because I pay taxes right?

Cut the crap

 

[guno]

At least the Christians do a lot of charity work, which would offset taxes if this oppressive administration decided to go after them.

Mosques would be a different story as they only care about their own.

The charity work they do are mostly for their own members on taxpayer dime , lets cut them out as the middle man

Let's not, and instead cut you out, like a cancer.

tax the churches and use the money to build mental institutions for the delusional

 

[amrchaos]

How about we verify this claim of yours and ask for the accounting of these churches.

We would put them on a progressive tax scale with those barely getting by are allowed to go tax free....

How does that sound, KG.

 

[koshergrl]

Churches are social organizations that require infrastructure and services from local government, and should pay their fair share.

Churches are businesses nothing more ad should be treated as such

Wrong.

"
In this real world, churches often operate on extremely tight margins, receiving the bulk of their income from voluntary donations, paying their pastors and staff a modest salary for endless hours of emotionally grueling and sometimes tedious work, and all the while performing a wide range of charitable acts within and often beyond the parish community. These churches benefit considerably, in many cases crucially, from tax exemptions for their income and property, and from the tax deductions permitted to those who contribute to their income through donations.
The removal of these exemptions would be an enormously heavy burden for many, and a catastrophic burden for some. And because this harsh, painful penalty would be imposed on churches almost entirely in response to their theologically and historically founded opposition to same-sex marriage, it would be a form of state-sponsored persecution. Religious persecution."

Taxing churches is a form of religious persecution and liberals need to stand against it

Sorry but no.

Religion is big business churches are the same.

They use the public domain as much as anyone else that pays taxes. Not taxing them is giving them special treatment.

Taxing them like everyone else is not persecution.

I'm afraid it is.

So then I can say I am being persecuted because I pay taxes right?

Cut the crap

Are you a church? I find your incoherent nonsense boring.

 

[Seawytch]

Interesting take on ending tax exemption for religious institutions.

Gay Marriage Decision Is Right Time to End Religious Tax Exemptions

The federal revenue acts of 1909, 1913, and 1917 exempted nonprofits from the corporate excise and income taxes at the same time that they allowed people to deduct charitable contributions from their incomes. In other words, they gave tax-free status to the income of, and to the income donated to, nonprofits. Since then, state and local laws nearly everywhere have exempted nonprofits from all, or most, property tax and state income tax. This system of tax exemptions and deductions took shape partly during World War I, when it was feared that the new income tax, with top rates as high as 77%, might choke off charitable giving. But whatever its intentions, today it’s a mess, for several reasons.

First, the religious exemption has forced the IRS to decide what’s a religion, and thus has entangled church and state in the worst way. Since the world’s great religion scholars can’t agree on what a religion is, it’s absurd to ask a bunch of accountants, no matter how well-meaning. You can read part of the IRS’s guidelines for what’s a bona fide religion here; suffice it to say that it has an easier time saying what’s not a religion. The site gives the example of the rejection of an application from an “outgrowth of a supper club … whose primary activities were holding meetings before supper, sponsoring the supper club, and publishing a newsletter” but which professed a religious doctrine of “ethical egoism.”​

 

[turzovka]

Here' a clue. When someone starts their article with, "How long will it be until we begin to see...", they are making shit up! Fearmongering. You Pavlovian dumbasses shit your pants every time some dipshit rings a bell...

How long will it be until the filth in movies, TV and music turns our kids into wanton lustful thoughtless denizens? Oh, wait, it’s already happened.

How long will it be before godless liberalism overtakes moral restraints and our nation, schools etc. celebrates abortion and homosexuality and treats the word God as a four letter word to be banned from any mention in most institutions? Oh, wait, it’s already happened.

How long will it be before the media and political parties turn on each other so badly that no respectable person will dare run for office? Where it will then turn our political leaders into self-centered cowards thinking only of their careers and doing nothing to stand up for the common good and the security of our nation? I guess we are already there.

How long will it be before this hedonistic secular world figures out God does exist, there is a purpose for their lives beyond pleasure and money and when they die it will be a scary awakening? That, may never happen --- because they think we are nothing but fearmongers.

 

[BlindBoo]

Here' a clue. When someone starts their article with, "How long will it be until we begin to see...", they are making shit up! Fearmongering. You Pavlovian dumbasses shit your pants every time some dipshit rings a bell...

How long will it be until the filth in movies, TV and music turns our kids into wanton lustful thoughtless denizens? Oh, wait, it’s already happened.

How long will it be before godless liberalism overtakes moral restraints and our nation, schools etc. celebrates abortion and homosexuality and treats the word God as a four letter word to be banned from any mention in most institutions? Oh, wait, it’s already happened.

How long will it be before the media and political parties turn on each other so badly that no respectable person will dare run for office? Where it will then turn our political leaders into self-centered cowards thinking only of their careers and doing nothing to stand up for the common good and the security of our nation? I guess we are already there.

How long will it be before this hedonistic secular world figures out God does exist, there is a purpose for their lives beyond pleasure and money and when they die it will be a scary awakening? That, may never happen --- because they think we are nothing but fearmongers.

How long before this Truthiness scares your panties into twisting.......it's already happened

 

[turzovka]

Here' a clue. When someone starts their article with, "How long will it be until we begin to see...", they are making shit up! Fearmongering. You Pavlovian dumbasses shit your pants every time some dipshit rings a bell...

How long will it be until the filth in movies, TV and music turns our kids into wanton lustful thoughtless denizens? Oh, wait, it’s already happened.

How long will it be before godless liberalism overtakes moral restraints and our nation, schools etc. celebrates abortion and homosexuality and treats the word God as a four letter word to be banned from any mention in most institutions? Oh, wait, it’s already happened.

How long will it be before the media and political parties turn on each other so badly that no respectable person will dare run for office? Where it will then turn our political leaders into self-centered cowards thinking only of their careers and doing nothing to stand up for the common good and the security of our nation? I guess we are already there.

How long will it be before this hedonistic secular world figures out God does exist, there is a purpose for their lives beyond pleasure and money and when they die it will be a scary awakening? That, may never happen --- because they think we are nothing but fearmongers.

How long before this Truthiness scares your panties into twisting.......it's already happened

Impress me with something important about life. But I will not expect it.

 

[turzovka]

Interesting take on ending tax exemption for religious institutions.

Gay Marriage Decision Is Right Time to End Religious Tax Exemptions

The federal revenue acts of 1909, 1913, and 1917 exempted nonprofits from the corporate excise and income taxes at the same time that they allowed people to deduct charitable contributions from their incomes. In other words, they gave tax-free status to the income of, and to the income donated to, nonprofits. Since then, state and local laws nearly everywhere have exempted nonprofits from all, or most, property tax and state income tax. This system of tax exemptions and deductions took shape partly during World War I, when it was feared that the new income tax, with top rates as high as 77%, might choke off charitable giving. But whatever its intentions, today it’s a mess, for several reasons.

First, the religious exemption has forced the IRS to decide what’s a religion, and thus has entangled church and state in the worst way. Since the world’s great religion scholars can’t agree on what a religion is, it’s absurd to ask a bunch of accountants, no matter how well-meaning. You can read part of the IRS’s guidelines for what’s a bona fide religion here; suffice it to say that it has an easier time saying what’s not a religion. The site gives the example of the rejection of an application from an “outgrowth of a supper club … whose primary activities were holding meetings before supper, sponsoring the supper club, and publishing a newsletter” but which professed a religious doctrine of “ethical egoism.”​

I fail to see the connection between gay marriage and ending tax exemptions for religious institutions, at least, from your excerpts? Here is another excerpt addressing that issue ---

The government has a mandate to educate youth, and some public schools in well-off suburbs perform spectacularly; in other areas, not so well. However, in meeting its obligation, the government gets huge help from the Catholic Church, to the tune of about $23 billion dollars a year. That is what the government does not have to pay because Catholic schools educate about two million U.S. students annually. Catholic schools provide a realistic choice in education. Given this $23 billion, you could argue it’s the church subsidizing the government (or “bankrolling” it, if you wish to use The Economist’s hyperbole), not vice versa.

In many nations, the government subsidizes Catholic schools, but in the U.S., government aid to non-public schools is minimal. In fact, no U.S. government programs fund non-public schools. In some school districts, government pays for textbooks and transportation, but even that aid is for students, not schools. It does not pay for heat, light, building repair or the principal’s salary, for example. In some impoverished areas, students receive remedial help, whether they go to a public school or parochial school. Again, such aid is for students, not schools. Who benefits from the Catholic schools? The nation.

· Catholic schools help more than Catholics. Non-Catholic enrollment is 15.4 percent. In the urban/inner-city, the percentage of non-Catholic students soars to 42 percent.
· Minority enrollment is 30.2 percent.
· The average per pupil tuition in parish elementary schools is $3,673. That is approximately 62.4 percent of actual costs per pupil of $5,367. About 93.9 percent of elementary schools provide some form of tuition assistance.
· The mean freshman tuition in a Catholic secondary school is $8,182. That is approximately 80 percent of actual costs per pupil of $10,228. About 97 percent of secondary schools provide some form of tuition assistance.
· An estimated 99 percent of Catholic secondary school students graduate, and 84 percent go on to college, compared to 44.1 percent of public school students.

How do Catholic schools meet the shortfall between actual cost and what families pay? Primarily through direct subsidy from parishes, dioceses, religious orders, development programs and fund-raising activities.http://usccbmedia.blogspot.com/2012/08/catholic-schools-give-america-more-than.html

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In addition: There are over one million students in Catholic colleges and universities.

In addition: 20% of all hospital admissions in the U.S. are to Catholic hospitals and medical centers.

I did not bother researching how many homeless shelters, orphanages, food shelves, domestic abuse homes, etc. the Catholic Church sponsors.

Tell your author his opinion is lacking.