Churches to lose tax free status?
Glenn talked about the issue today regarding churches and their tax status - which may be in jeopardy if they engage in any political talk whatsoever. Glenn wouldn't necessarily attend a political church one way or the other - but being the voice of the 1st revolution, the pulpit should always have freedom of speech. Ref. Source 1
Religious organizations make a lot of money and they should be taxed just like anyone else. Just because they say god told them something doesn't mean they can't contribute their equal share to the public from the money they make.
Almost 1,600 Pastors Defy IRS, Preach Politics From Pulpit
A record number of pastors this past Sunday defied IRS rules and regulations and preached politics from their pulpits as a way to protest the restrictive guidelines placed on churches.
A total of 1,586 pastors participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This is the fifth annual event sponsored by Alliance Defending Freedom, a pro-life legal group. Ref. Source 8
Remove "Advancement of religion" From the valid exempt purposes under Section 501©3 of the Internal Revenue Code:
Religious organizations that cannot prove they contribute to their local, regional, or national communities should immediately lose their tax-exempt status. Ref. Source 6
I came across this and thought I would post it here. Religion is a huge money collector. It will be nice if money collected would be used strictly for building maintenance and then the rest to be given to help those in need, but it is far from that! I should point out that although this image focuses on a Christian religion it goes for all religions.
Religion & Taxes (Hover)
Supreme Court declares churches eligible for some public funds. The Supreme Court ruled 7-2, with two liberal judges dissenting, to allow state money to be used by churches and religious groups for non-religious uses. At issue was a Missouri church school's playground and whether it was eligible for state grants even though it was a religious institution. The court's ruling will allow taxpayer money to be used for such purposes. It was written by Chief Justice John Roberts. Ref. USAToday.
Wow, this went 7-2 for the Church. That is a quite huge win for the church considering two of the usual liberal Justices sided with all of the conservative Justices on this issue. Only Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg ended up dissenting. This may bode well for the cake shop and flower shop cases before the Court.