8: The Mormon Proposition Opens Today

I really don't see the point to keeping religious institutions tax-free at all. Well, I see why the members of such institutions want it to stay that way and how the politicians see it as beneficial if they give the groups such a status, but from an objective perspective there really is no purpose to it.

 

wow, that ladies saying that the gays hinder the 'mormon plan for heaven'

technically, jesus christ himself denounced the mormon plan for heaven when he was alive. "false prophets shell come in my absence, and lead you astray."

They call their leaders prophets...

can't be a conicedence that christ spoke out against these people before one man, nearly two thousand years later, decided to create a cult so he could have multiple (underage) wives.

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Well, not every church is a organized hate group...

 

I understand that some churches probably wouldn't be able to handle taxes in more remote areas, but with churches doing this sort of thing, building giant Jesus statues (*cough*idolatry*cough*), and paying for more church upgrades, I wouldn't be against taxing them.

 

I know that, but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be taxed.

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Rural churches in Canada and Europe seem to be doing fine.

 

This is just random musings and most likely is completly wrong, but my initial thoughts would be that there could have been concern in violating seperation of church and state with religious instituions. Unless taxed perfectly equally (something impossible in practice) it could easily be spun as the state sanctioning particular religions, a huge constitutional no-no.

 

Hm, so making them exempt from taxes and thereby placing them above other commercial institutions (community centres are commercial in nature) is secular? That's an interesting stance.

 

My Mormon family members in Florida and Idaho sent money to organizations in California in support of Prop 8. Even though I don't care that they openly bash me and try to endanger my future, I have a problem with them sending money to another state in an effort to influence voters in a place that they don't live.

 

I'm getting it on demand tomorrow

 

I added it to netflix. too bad they didnt put it on instant stream. I suspect that the cable companies required that they alone get it on-demand.

 

will never like the morons

 

From what I understand, churches aren't taxed because they provide many social services and generally do it better than the state does. At least in Canada that's the case.

 

Which social services do they provide? What are the means by which they give such services? What do they do that makes those services function better than the state's programmes?

 

examples are: food banks, shelters, community children outreach programs (meals, activities such as sports leagues, etc.), Disaster relief work, etc...

These are things the state can do, but sometimes, it is more effective when it is based on the charity of others, because the state tends to regulate more, which can complicate the process.

religion is not evil... what people do with it, can and many times inhereintly is.

 

I'm not saying that it is evil, I'm saying that it doesn't deserve the special status of exemption from taxes. Can you provide any specific examples or statistics which support the assertion that church-led food banks, shelters, sports programmes, relief work programmes, etc. tend to work better than state-led programmes or secular organisations which do such work and which are taxed? I'm afraid that anecdotes won't cut it.

 

If religions refuse to seperate church from state (funding support for certain bills, propositions, and politicians) then I do not think they should be left untaxed. If they can't seperate church from state why should the government?

 

Taxing churches is not mingling the church and the state. It's pulling them closer, if anything.

 

i say raise the taxes TRIPLE THE TAXES ! squeeze every drop from them ! ...so says prince John the phony king of England.

 

exactly.

I belong to a non political church. We dont adovcate political policy. We shouldnt be taxed.

if those fundementalist mega churches had to pay their taxes, they would either cut their charity, or their preacher's paycheck... me thinks the preachers dont want to lose their multi-million dollar a month paychecks.