toldailytopic: Should churches be tax-exempt?

Nathon Detroit

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The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for January 24th, 2013 06:00 AM


toldailytopic: Should churches be tax-exempt?






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Granite

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Absolutely not. And to be fair, I don't think any house of worship should be exempt, either. So synagogues, temples, mosques, whatever the world Scientologists call their buildings...
 
Lighthouse

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Knight said:

toldailytopic: Should churches be tax-exempt?

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If they are going to make non-profits exempt they can't exempt churches from that. The issue is the rules they impose for tax exemption in telling them they can't support a politician from any position of authority within the church, or church activities. I assume they say the same for other non-profits as well, of course. I can't see any viable reason for that rule to exist.
 
Buzzword

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Lighthouse said:
If they are going to make non-profits exempt they can't exempt churches from that. The issue is the rules they impose for tax exemption in telling them they can't support a politician from any position of authority within the church, or church activities. I assume they say the same for other non-profits as well, of course. I can't see any viable reason for that rule to exist.
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Seriously?

If the church leadership is advancing a particular politician or political party, they are essentially acting as an advertising agency and/or campaigning for that politician/party.

Advertising and campaign funds get taxed.

If it could be enforced, I'd take it a step further and resend tax-exempt status for any church (or religious body of any kind) which advocates a political position of ANY kind.

For example:
"The government should outlaw homosexuality because the Bible says it's an abomination."
Boom. There goes your tax exemption, because you are campaigning for legislation.
 
Rusha

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Lighthouse said:
If they are going to make non-profits exempt they can't exempt churches from that. The issue is the rules they impose for tax exemption in telling them they can't support a politician from any position of authority within the church, or church activities. I assume they say the same for other non-profits as well, of course. I can't see any viable reason for that rule to exist.
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^ This ...
 
Lighthouse

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Buzzword said:
Seriously?

If the church leadership is advancing a particular politician or political party, they are essentially acting as an advertising agency and/or campaigning for that politician/party.

Advertising and campaign funds get taxed.

If it could be enforced, I'd take it a step further and resend tax-exempt status for any church (or religious body of any kind) which advocates a political position of ANY kind.

For example:
"The government should outlaw homosexuality because the Bible says it's an abomination."
Boom. There goes your tax exemption, because you are campaigning for legislation.
Click to expand...
Do yo call yourself "Buzzword" because that's the sound you hear when you think?
 
rocketman

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Granite said:
Absolutely not. And to be fair, I don't think any house of worship should be exempt, either. So synagogues, temples, mosques, whatever the world Scientologists call their buildings...
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O.K., I'll buy that when all groups such as the ACLU, Media Matters, Greenpeace, or any politically active group gets the same treatment, in fact if you are going to end tax-free status for churches than all groups should be dropped from tax-free status, nobody gets a free ride, tax them all.
 
Stripe

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Knight said:

toldailytopic: Should churches be tax-exempt?

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Yes.

And so should every non-person.

Tax should only be levied on personal income at a flat rate.

Simple. Fair. Easy to police. Keeps the politicians to a strict budget.

I don't know why that wasn't in your constitution. :plain:
 
Sherman

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Knight said:
The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for January 24th, 2013 06:00 AM


toldailytopic: Should churches be tax-exempt?

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Yes. So should every other entity that is not a human. Flat tax on humans. That mean no corporate tax either. Basically what Stripe said.
 
Granite

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rocketman said:
O.K., I'll buy that when all groups such as the ACLU, Media Matters, Greenpeace, or any politically active group gets the same treatment, in fact if you are going to end tax-free status for churches than all groups should be dropped from tax-free status, nobody gets a free ride, tax them all.
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Well, I'm having a hard time coming up with a reason to disagree with you.
 
rocketman

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Christ's Word said:
Many churches are big business, they pay their preachers six figure salaries, and no, they should not be exempt from taxes.
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Does the preacher not pay taxes on that salary? It is the church organization that is tax-exempt not it's employees. It has to do with how the money is used to get this status, no?
 
aCultureWarrior

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If atheists and pagans don't like it (and a few uninformed Christians), then it must be good.

The Founding Fathers (as shown in this article) had a reason for it, and it goes back even further:

"The tax exemption for churches can be traced back to the Roman Empire, when Constantine, Emperor of Rome from 306-337, granted the Christian church a complete exemption from all forms of taxation following his conversion to Christianity circa 312. [2] [3] [4] Church property used for religious purposes was also tax-exempt in medieval England, based on the rationale that the church relieved the state of some governmental functions, and therefore deserved a benefit in return. [2] The English Statute of Charitable Uses of 1601, which included churches along with all other charitable institutions, formed the basis of America's modern tax exemption for charities. [45]

By the time of the American Revolution, nine of the 13 original colonies were giving some kind of tax relief to churches. [2] In 1777, Virginia officially enacted an exemption from paying property tax to "houses for divine worship." [5] New York followed in 1799, and Congress exempted all churches in the District of Columbia from paying property tax in 1870."...
http://churchesandtaxes.procon.org/#background
 
rocketman

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Christ's Word said:
You missed the point, once you claim exemption, then the Feds have their hooks in you and the manipulation of the 1st amendment starts.


http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/mega church
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So far it has not been used this way other than not allowing political rhetoric from the pulpit, endorsing candidates, and so on. If the govt. attempts to control what is being said, or fashion the message, I know our pastor said they would go non-exempt and be more outspoken. I think that too will come, the homo crowd does not like being spoken against from the pulpit and has been trying to undermine tax-exempt status of churches for some time on that premise.
 
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