Why are churches tax exempt?

I once saw a crippled emaciated cambodian boy give what was probably his only money to a passing monk so that he would pray for him. That money could have purchased a sandwich, but I guess he thought it was better to spend his money on a hope and a prayer.

That's why the poorest people are the most religious people. Lord knows the cambodian government wasn't going to come to the rescue.

 

Exactly.

Those who are in most need tend to be prey for Religions as they seek donations.

AboveAlpha

 

Let me revisit this now that dinner is done.

The Catholic Church's power and growth over other denominations was a direct result of regulatory capture, wouldn't you agree? If not for the preferential treatment the Pope's would have had real competition for the hearts and minds. So it was the absence of separation that created the monster?

Just a thought.

Cheers
Labour

 

Do you think the state is any different?

 

Laughing..... If I thought it would work I'd be buying indulgences daily!

Cheers
Labour

 

Yes, it would.

 

so maybe you might want to put a bit of distance between your house and the church. After all, that building is outside the jurisdiction of the fire department.

 

1) Churches do good in the community through charity work. Tax them, and that all goes away.

2) The power to tax is the power to destroy. We don't need government wiping out churches with excessive taxation.

 

Yes, if you are building a new house that would make sense; existing structures wouldn't have that luxury.

 

To tell the truth, I wouldn't miss the "good" that churches do. They define good as bringing religion to people, and to my mind, that's like the devil saying there is good in a pitchfork up the ol' tailpipe.

We'd be better off without both governments and churches. Both belong in the (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)bag hall of fame.

 

They are tax exempt for the same reason other entities are tax exempt. Non profit, a benefit to society. Why are our insurance premiums tax exempt? Why are our interest from morgages and school loans deducted from our gross income putting us in a lower tax bracket. Why is a family issued a tax credit for each child they have? Why do 40% of households not pay any tax at all. Why are some householdd given more money by the government then taxes they paid? Why, why why.

 

The government does not tax religious organizations as long as those organizations do not influence their patrons to go against our corrupt government.

 

Kinda like how when the government builds one of their welfare shacks next to your house? Doesn't do much for the ol' property value, does it?

 

Sure, but don't the poor actually GET money back in taxes? So what I hear you saying is that the poor should have to pay far more taxes than they do, because they benefit...


Look, it isn't that complicated. There are people in our society who are too poor for us to reasonably tax them - loosely speaking, churches fall into that category. Now I do agree, however, that for churches to maintain tax exempt status the pay of their head should not exceed that of the President, and the pay of any other employee not marked as a contractor should not exceed that of a Senator. Basically, mega churches that are actually money makers shouldn't be treated like churchea, because in the traditional sense, they're really not. But the vast majority, over 99% of churchea, are good organizations that aren't about making money, and we shouldn't tax them, just like we shouldn't tax Habitat for Humanity, or the homeless.

 

Other than having their noses up somebody ass, I don't know either.

 

Honestly I couldn't tell you; where I live my nearest neighbor is about a 1/4 mile away. But I have a police barracks almost across the road from me.

 

I don't think the 46% of Americans not paying taxes should get away with that, how about you?

 

If it keeps Church out of State affairs then so be it. Sadly Church and State are intertwined and need to be better separated.

 

I used to own a house right next door to a 8 unit government apartment complex filled entirely with welfare mothers, and their daughters who were also welfare mothers.

It sure didn't do much for resale values, but they were all very good neighbors. Certainly much more interesting and colorful than the neighbors I have now. The first and fifteenth of every month was like a government sponsored block party!!

I'm a bit too old for that stuff now, but I certainly loved having them as my neighbors.

 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

The current tax policy violates the first clause. The government chooses who is considered a religion for tax exempt purposes. Thus congress has made a law respecting what constitutes an established religion.

 

This is an argument that can be applied to any number of things that are taxed, what makes churches stand out?

 

Agreed

The church is very much in state affairs, a good chunk of our laws are based in Christian beliefs. For example polygamy, we let two guys marry but I can't marry two women?

 

Churches are not supposed to be for profit entities or to have anything to do with commerce. This could be argued in the modern world, and probably should, but if a church can prove that all their money goes to upkeep and charity it essentially makes them a non-profit organization.

Lots of things have nothing to do with commerce that some people object to churches doing. Spending money to sponsor political protest or to influence voters and political candidates seems to cut both ways. Right now it is irksome to liberals, but historically it has plagued conservatives just as much.

I think individual churches should be stringently judged as to how they operate. If they are funneling a majority of their money to a relatively few individuals who then use it for personal gain it fails the non-profit standard. Likewise if its funding comes primarily from one or two sources and is entirely used for political influence it then constitutes more of a political advertisement agency than a church.

As a side note incomes of church employees (including the preacher) are taxed just like any other income.

 

I don't think Churches should be tax exempt.

 

As a blanket statement this doesn't make a lot of sense. I think there are some that should lose their tax exempt status and others that qualify as non-profit organizations.

Non-profit community efforts should equally qualify for tax exempt status, even if run by atheist who teach secular humanism and ethics.

Otherwise we will all have to start paying charity tax every time we contribute to a non-profit.