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

[The T]

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?

Why does obama grant tax free status to media matters? hhhmmm?

Because he GAINS money from them as he does Unions?

 

[Inthemiddle]

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.

 

[The T]

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

And did YOU have a point?

As much as you did.

Not at all. Still? Did you have a point?

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

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?

First off... RIP Mr. Griffith... I like your avatar.

More to the point... there's a lot of kooks outthere with tax free status. Look at Al Sharpton.

 

[bobcollum]

And did YOU have a point?

As much as you did.

Not at all. Still? Did you have a point?

No, I found yours to be equally pointless.

 

[thanatos144]

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

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

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.

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?

 

[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.

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.

 

[Charles_Main]

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

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

 

[Vast LWC]

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?

i would think a "religion" has to have a God or Gods to worship....who do these guys worship.....L.Ron Hubbard?....hey just askin....

There is not a requirement for a God or Gods to be a religion.

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.

Daoism is a good example of a Godless religion.

 

[bobcollum]

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

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

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

 

[thanatos144]

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.

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.

Amazing how jealous you must be of people with faith that you look down on them as if your pathetic life is somehow better.

 

[Vast LWC]

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

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.

 

[Synthaholic]

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?

 

[Inthemiddle]

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

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."

 

[bobcollum]

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.

Amazing how jealous you must be of people with faith that you look down on them as if your pathetic life is somehow better.

Quite a story you've conceived.

Let me guess, you're religious and butt-hurt.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

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.

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.

 

[bobcollum]

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.

I unfortunately have to do the same.

 

[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?

Because they met the Legal Requirements.

Besides Since when does the President himself decide which new Churches get Exempt Status?

lol

Good point. It is a religion, though I find it very, very strange; certainly Reagan himself did not investigate or condone anything in reference to this church.

 

[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?

Because the constitution does not give the federal government the power to define religion?

Even by your standards this is a failure, you should ask the mods to delete it.