http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/11/14/tax_the_church Comments On: Tax the Church by Dan Savage en-us Copyright 2009 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:01 -0800 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:30:00 -0800 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by bobby]]> Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:47:23 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Jocelyn]]> Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:23:27 -0800 The Stranger
the reason i like the tension is that i can understand both sides of the problem. on one one hand, i don't want a political group masquerading as a church. on the other hand, i don't see the problem with a church making occasional political suggestions.

i find that it is usually the anti-religion who want to tax churches. this makes sense, of course, coming from that perspective. this is because that usually when someone falls into the anti-religion mindset, they see the negatives of religion. without getting into that debate, the majority of our country still sees positives to religion. and people often base their vote on principles learned at their church, if not outright recommendations.

finally, regarding contributions to political candidates or initiatives. it makes sense that a church would want to play a role in determining the laws of the land. (that doesn't mean they have to forces their morality on others - a mistake they make all the time.) but our laws are often a reflection of our cultural morality, for better or for worse. perhaps a balance can be found that isn't simply in taxing the churches. perhaps any money put toward political groups, candidates, or causes should be taxed as income first? the downside is, of course, if you actually agreed with the position, such as those (few) churches against prop 8.
Posted by infrequent]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:57:20 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Andy Niable]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:32:21 -0800 The Stranger
Of course... churches try and take part in governance anyway... I didn't say it works, but it's at least a symbolic improvement over the contrary.
Posted by Parsnip]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:11:17 -0800 The Stranger
Do priests have access to a different Bible than I do?
Posted by Feed my lambs]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:08:41 -0800 The Stranger
To encourage charitable giving by churches, there's the rest of the tax code: they can deduct charity expenses like any other taxpayer, or they can form a non-profit charity that follows all the rules of any other non-profit charity.

This is simple and fair, gets the government out of the business of determining what's a real church, and lets churches that want to get political be as political as they want. And it raises a shit-ton of revenue, while still rewarding churches that actually do good charity work.

Unfortunately, it will never happen, because the big churches like their handout and are rich enough to protect it.
Posted by Cascadian]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:49:58 -0800 The Stranger
The Church believes that a well-formed conscience will always lead believers to the same stance that they are teaching. Of course, they are wrong. I can't tell you how many people I know whose consciences led them to use artificial birth control, for example. My conscience led me right out the door of the Church, and into one that doesn't dictate what I do in the privacy of my own bedroom.
Posted by Sheryl]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:33:03 -0800 The Stranger
Of course, this is also the parish that fired me because I wanted to bring more community service and spiritual activities into the youth ministry and because my background (working class and northern) "didn't mesh with the background of the congregation" (wealthy, privledged, and southern). I guess they were afraid I was going to challenge the young people to do something worthwhile with the trust funds they were set to inherit.
Posted by Sheryl]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:29:14 -0800 The Stranger Posted by keshmeshi]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:25:53 -0800 The Stranger Posted by ellarosa]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:14:43 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Westside forever]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:09:45 -0800 The Stranger
Nice double standard.
Posted by Lavode]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:57:18 -0800 The Stranger
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/…
Posted by Julie in Chicago]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:52:19 -0800 The Stranger
The current pope was a Nazi. The previous pope fought against the Nazis.

Much of the jihad movement is fueled by revenge over the Crusades - papal sponsored killing sprees over 700 years ago.

An organization that has more blood on its hands, from around the world, than any other now has the gall to call itself "pro-life".


Would it be too much to ask for earthquakes to simultaneously level Mecca, Jerusalem & Rome? (preferably during the Haj, Passover & Easter)
Posted by Sir Vic]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:47:11 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Carollani]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:34:13 -0800 The Stranger Posted by tomasyalba]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:18:56 -0800 The Stranger
To the priest, I can only say, This is MY body, EAT IT. Hunhh.
Posted by Andy Niable]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:12:41 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Gordon Werner]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:00:49 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Sirkowski]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:55:22 -0800 The Stranger Posted by PDX_Paulie]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:55:19 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Sheryl]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:43:10 -0800 The Stranger Posted by flamingbanjo]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:40:00 -0800 The Stranger
http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_1…

Remember when Rome sent a "guardian bishop" to Seattle to keep Hunthausen in line for in what in essence was being too liberal?
Posted by jf]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:39:10 -0800 The Stranger Posted by flamingbanjo]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:34:49 -0800 The Stranger