h a l f b a k e r yAlas, poor spelling!
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Church Tax
A penalty tax triggered by certain actions. | |
I understand that when a priest molestation a child, or even several
children, that might well be the action of a single, individual person
not representative of the church as a whole. But when it is
discovered that one or more church leaders ABOVE that priest
covered it up, that is something
different.
My idea to help our struggling economy is simple: remove the tax
exemptions from any church whose leaders are found guilty of
covering up abuse scandals. The whole church, ie, all Roman
Catholic churches, in either the state or the nation, depending on
how many churches the highest-ranking figure involved in the
cover-up was involved with.
Charitable status, public benefit and “closed” congregations
http://www.lawandre...osed-congregations/
Here's an example of how the UK law deals with the slippery issue of providing tax-breaks to religious organisations - the answer, use the legal definition of a "charity" and provide tax-breaks to organisations running on charitable grounds, be they religious or otherwise. That way, you can give or withold the practical benefits of tax-cuts based on measurable facts, rather than be forced to discuss tricky religious and philosophical concepts in the courts. [zen_tom, Nov 05 2012]
[link]
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I believe it is possible to declare a church to be a cult
or other type inappropriate organization. But there
would certainly be a Constitutional challenge.
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How about we add a <pick your percentage> directly
to the tax rate of fellons, per offense? Instead of 3
strikes and your out, your tax rate is 10% higher.
That seems like a pretty good idea, and would
definitely be effective as a deterrent against white
color crime. |
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This would bring up the long-slumbering conflict over
separation of church and state; full tax exemption was sort
of the recompense given to organized religion for agreeing
to stay out of government business. |
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//it is possible to declare a church to be a cult or other type inappropriate organization// Is it possible to declare the opposite though? |
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Sure, if the cult in question fills out the proper forms and
pays some mandatory administrative fees. |
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Alterother, they haven't been doing that though. The news has
been full of stories lately about church leaders urging the
members of their congregations to vote a certain way on every
issue from abortion to gay marriage, as well as trying to pass
Christian legislation like the Defense of Marriage Act. How's that
staying out of the government's business? I personally think
that alone should be grounds to yank their tax exemption.
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TC, if they're going to pay higher tax rates, you have to give
back the right to vote, which felons currently don't have. |
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Ah yes, well, there you've stumbled onto a horrid little
thing called a 'loophole'. To quote the Great Grogged One,
"It's
within the realm of possibility I(*) might not have thought
this through."
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*the narrative avatar in this context alluding to a collective
formed of this country's founding fathers |
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Hey, don't try to lay that one on us … |
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Stand up and with a straight face tell me the Borg had
nothing whatsoever to do with the Magna Carta. |
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[marked-for-deletion] Punish all people who do X
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Also... that's a pretty hefty incentive to find some leader
guilty. Although you're talking about proving state of mind
of a third party concerning an event to which he or she
was not an eye-witness, nor were there likely any eye-
witnesses, I'm sure a deal could be cut with the accused
where they could be paid appropriately for their
testimony if it implicated the right leaders. Or maybe a
lighter sentence in plea bargaining...
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This is so wrong on so many levels that it's mind-boggling.
Even sadder is the fact that so few will understand why.
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Go ahead and post an idea "Torture killings for all
adherents of belief X, because they <insert trait you don't
like>."
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Let me know when you've got the stake ready for me. |
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I'm referring to instances such as when the Pope sent out a
letter to all his bishops instructing them, on pain of
excommunication, to withhold information from the police who
were investigating abuse allegations made against the church,
and the bishops obeying these directives. Or instances where a
Bishop relocates a known child molester to another parish
without telling the people on the receiving end what they're
being handed. A normal business, like a bank, is penalized for
the actions of it's management staff, so why shouldn't a church
that's run in every way like any other business? |
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//I'm referring to . . .//
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sp. "alluding to" since, barring cites, you're obviously not "referring to" anything. |
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Why don't we just go ahead and remove the tax exemption of all religous groups? Said groups can then create sub-entities which follow all of the same rules as charitable organisations - including complete transperency of funding allocation.
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Followers can then choose to donate to the church, or the charity - but donations to the church are taxed. It would also mean that church finances come under scruitiny by law.
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It solves my main issue of resenting the bias given to religious organisations, whilst allowing the charitable activities to continue unfettered by tax. |
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I like it. I think it's ridiculous that our Constitution says 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion', yet we give established religions a huge tax cut. |
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