Is it godly to avoid paying your taxes?
But of course. It must be – for did not Jesus himself invite the moneylenders into the temple? Or do I misremember? It seems all you have to do in the US is call yourself a religion, slap on a dogcollar and presto change-o you’re exempt from the law of the land.
No wonder so many dodgy characters become ‘pastors’ and start their own churches. It’s a license to print money, with no oversight.
The New York Times lays out just how free from any sort of tax or regulation being a ‘religion’ can make you:
At any moment, state inspectors can step uninvited into one of the three child care centers that Ethel White runs in Auburn, Ala., to make sure they meet state requirements intended to ensure that the children are safe. There must be continuing training for the staff. Her nurseries must have two sinks, one exclusively for food preparation. All cabinets must have safety locks. Medications for the children must be kept under lock and key, and refrigerated.
The Rev. Ray Fuson of the Harvest Temple Church of God in Montgomery, Ala., does not have to worry about unannounced state inspections at the day care center his church runs. Alabama exempts church day care programs from state licensing requirements, which were tightened after almost a dozen children died in licensed and unlicensed day care centers in the state in two years.
[…]
An analysis by The New York Times of laws passed since 1989 shows that more than 200 special arrangements, protections or exemptions for religious groups or their adherents were tucked into Congressional legislation, covering topics ranging from pensions to immigration to land use. New breaks have also been provided by a host of pivotal court decisions at the state and federal level, and by numerous rule changes in almost every department and agency of the executive branch.
The special breaks amount to “a sort of religious affirmative action program,” said John Witte Jr., director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at the Emory University law school.
Professor Witte added: “Separation of church and state was certainly part of American law when many of today’s public opinion makers were in school. But separation of church and state is no longer the law of the land.”
The changes reflect, in part, the growing political influence of religious groups and the growing presence of conservatives in the courts and regulatory agencies. But these tax and regulatory breaks have been endorsed by politicians of both major political parties, by judges around the country, and at all levels of government.
“The religious community has a lot of pull, and senators are very deferential to this kind of legislation,” said Richard R. Hammar, the editor of Church Law & Tax Report and an accountant with law and divinity degrees from Harvard.
As a result of these special breaks, religious organizations of all faiths stand in a position that American businesses and the thousands of nonprofit groups without that ‘religious’ label can only envy. And the new breaks come at a time when many religious organizations are expanding into activities, from day care centers to funeral homes, from ice cream parlors to fitness clubs, from bookstores to broadcasters, that compete with these same businesses and nonprofit organizations.
Religious organizations are exempt from many federal, state and local laws and regulations covering social services, including addiction treatment centers and child care, like those in Alabama.
Federal law gives religious congregations unique tools to challenge government restrictions on the way they use their land. Consequently, land-use restrictions that are a result of longstanding public demands for open space or historic preservation may be trumped by a religious ministry’s construction plans, as in a current dispute in Boulder County, Colo.
Exemptions in the civil rights laws protect religious employers from all legal complaints about faith-based preferences in hiring. The courts have shielded them from many complaints about other forms of discrimination, whether based on race, nationality, age, gender, medical condition or sexual orientation. And most religious organizations have been exempted from federal laws meant to protect pensions and to provide unemployment benefits.
Governments have been as generous with tax breaks as with regulatory exemptions. Congress has imposed limits on the I.R.S.’s ability to audit churches, synagogues and other religious congregations. And beyond the federal income tax exemption they share with all nonprofit groups, houses of worship have long been granted an exemption from local property taxes in every state.
As religious activities expand far beyond weekly worship, that venerable tax break is expanding, too. In recent years, a church-run fitness center with a tanning bed and video arcade in Minnesota, a biblical theme park in Florida, a ministry’s 1,800-acre training retreat and conference center in Michigan, religious broadcasters’ transmission towers in Washington State, and housing for teachers at church-run schools in Alaska have all been granted tax breaks by local officials or, when they balked, by the courts or state legislators.
These organizations and their leaders still rely on public services, police and fire protection, street lights and storm drains, highway and bridge maintenance, food and drug inspections, national defense. But their tax exemptions shift the cost of providing those benefits onto other citizens. The total cost nationwide is not known, because no one keeps track.
Do read the whole thing if you can ( registration required). The way that the Christian Right has pushed its moneymaking agenda disguised as the practice of religious freedom, all the while bleating that they’re being victimised by those mean ol’ atheist liberals boohoo, ( you know, those atheist liberals who actually pay their taxes) is quite shocking even to a confirmed cynic like me.
This isn’t religious freedom, it’s rampant capitalism disguised as religious freedom – and doing what capitalism does best, making a fast buck. It’s also theft from the taxpayer.
Who do you think is paying for all these ‘pastors’ tax breaks and the public services they use? It’s surely not them.
Read more: US politics, Taxation, Tax breaks,Religion, Fundamentalism,. Evangelism, Christianity
