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If someone is making a living from the church then yes, if the church uses the money for the help of others and not themselves other than expensives then no.
If they do then every tax exempt group needs to be eliminated.because the churches were specifically in the founders moind when limitng stae establishing a church. It was protecting religion not the stae that they had in their moinds seeing what happened in europe. Then of course the churches should be on equal footing with any non-profit for government funding. Its a two way street there really.Of course politcal parties'groups need to be taxed on their income also from donations of all types.
I am no Church basher. I don't bash them or rant about them. Most the time I don't even think about churches, that is until one makes the headlines.Many churches rack in serious money. TV avangelists and such. Riding around in their Limo's, Rolex watches and thousand dollar suits etc.
They then use their platform to try and impact elections. Rev. Wright for example. He is not alone. Preachers on both sides of the aisle do it all the time. So much for seperation of church and state.
Lets talk about some things churches will spend money on.
Sending missionaries over to the Filipines to convert Catholics to Baptists?? And this is money well spent? Sure they will build a nice orphanage as long as they are allowed to convert a few souls.
Using a church as a sanctuary for illegals. Using Church money to shelter illegals from the law. I would say that this crosses the seperation from state boundary.
Now not all churches engage in headline stealing antics. But those who do should also lose that exempt status.
Churches and other religious institutions are run more like businesses, often bilking members of their money. Is it not high time they pay taxes like the rest of the country? Why should they be tax exempt?
Churches sold their souls to the government for tax exempt status.
By staying silent about the crimes of government, they themselves are guilty of sins of omission. They are as crooked as the government.
If a church runs a for profit business they are taxed. The way property taxes are handled probably varies by state. I know in CA churches still have to pay part of the property taxes, but they do qualify for exemptions just like other non-profit organizations. Its the person donating to a church that gains from the tax exempt status. I imagine that most churches have zero income other than donations. If a church loses its tax exempt status then it just means that people donating can't claim a charitable deduction.
If someone is making a living from the church then yes, if the church uses the money for the help of others and not themselves other than expensives then no.
The problem with churches is that they claim to provide help to others, yet somehow find enough money in their budgets to thrust and infiltrate their religious views into our government that is supposed to regulate equality. If the churches REALLY were interested in promoting goodwill, why don't they donate their leftover $$ to locally strapped governments instead of promoting hatred and indifference?
Churches sold their souls to the government for tax exempt status.
By staying silent about the crimes of government, they themselves are guilty of sins of omission. They are as crooked as the government.
How are they silent with gov't? They butt into political inititatives and candidates with every opportunity that they get.
Any monies that a Church receives that goes to increase Church assets should be taxed. There is no reason that a church has unimproved property that they can sell and make 100 fold. How ever if that property goes to help the community such as recreation areas, teen centers, or homeless shelters, as an example. Should receive tax exemption until the property is sold.
It dose not matter if a religion is seen as a business or not. Assets that are not going to the community or the outreach are simply cash cows. I hear allot of the Religious right say that if a company has to take government funds to sat in business, via bankruptcy or bailout, the government should let them fall. However when it is pointed out that churches receive government funding via not having a tax debt, they list a hundred of reasons why churches are not businesses.
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