The United States government has a long history of subsidizing churches, indirectly, for benefits that churches and other ostensibly non-profit organizations are perceived to provide to communities.
Churches are subsidized primarily in the form of public services for which they are exempted from tax collection. Churches’ neighbors, on the other hand, pay for air and surface transportation infrastructure and regulation; clean air, water, and food; schools; national defense; Social Security, and more.
Until President Bush’s White House popularized “faith-based initiatives” costing taxpayers billions of dollars that have been funneled to churches with little accountability, churches were required not to channel the free services that they receive into the pockets and campaigns of corrupt political partisans.
“Faith-based initiatives,” while well-intentioned, became a revolving door for billions of federal taxpayer dollars to be channeled from the pockets of taxpayers into thinly disguised projects that support Republican political causes.
In 2008, shameless church leaders abandoned even the pretense if non-partisanship, as they used generously taxpayer-aided pulpits to declare the Christian Barack Obama an antichrist and to crown the nominally agnostic John McCain and other Republicans as their anointed leaders. These religious leaders knew, of course, that the politicians receiving their support would send additional billions of taxpayer dollars into church employees’ pockets. The churches, in turn, become pawns of politicians who gain effective control of churches’ annual budgets.
Various petitions such as this one are now circulating, seeking to revoke the tax-exempt status of churches that channel taxpayer support into partisan political bribery and racketeering.
Advocates of a more libertarian or fair-tax approach seek instead to revoke the tax-exempt status of all churches.
Do churches provide services that justify tax-exempt status?
Should some or all churches be required to pay taxes like everyone else?
Discuss.
“Should some or all churches be required to pay taxes like everyone else?”
Yes, Yes, and YES!!!!!!
Okay, but how about liberal churches that are de facto fronts for the Democratic party and have Jesse Jackson, Hillary Clinton et al. as speakers? No double standards.
Douglas,
I believe Obama has said that he may continue federal “faith-based initiatives,” so I think we may continue to see truckloads of fresh green cash being trucked from the U.S. Mint to
Democratic recruiting stationschurches.I agree that there should be no double standards — and no government subsidies or tax breaks to sectarian religious institutions. If church charity work is truly vital to a community, then I’m confident that the community’s private individuals will donate.
“Do churches provide services that justify tax-exempt status?
Should some or all churches be required to pay taxes like everyone else?”
No, and yes.
For example, on my street alone (about 1 mile), there’s 7 churches that I know of – with one of them being Haitian in a rented building, and one being split Chinese/English.
None of them “give back to the community” – unless you’re talking about standing on the street on Friday’s, and shoving fliers into your vehicle at stoplights, without even asking permission.
And yes, revoke tax-exempt status; not just the mormon church, but ALL of them. And that’s including “ex-gay ministries”. I find it appalling that Exodus is tax-exempt, yet links to Scott Lively’s holocaust revisionist website.
Indeed. Tax them like the businesses they are. If they actually do any charity work then give them an exemption for that–and only that. Otherwise let them pay taxes just like the rest of us do.