I should admit that I have a double negative bias on this issue. As a libertarian, I hate taxes. As an Atheist, I find some religious organization tedious. Take my local "feed the poor" church a mile down the road from my house. The pastor is famous for feeding any person who is hungry. He does a good job too. I even donate to the cause when I have the opportunity. Do I want to see this vital community based program taxed? Hell no.
On the other hand, The Brothers of the Holy Cross senior villas in Notre Dame cater to the rich while taking advantage of the rest of their community. Do I want to see this church based community service taxed? - Hell yes.
It gets worse...
In June, for example, the Florida Legislature passed, and Gov. Jeb Bush signed, a law that ended a five-year effort by Orange County tax authorities in Orlando to collect about $300,000 a year in property taxes from Holy Land Experience, a biblical museum and theme park that had sought exemption as a religious ministry but had been repeatedly turned down by the county.
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Should we allow an theme park to hide it's profits from the tax man? Did brother Jeb do the same thing for Disney World? The Holy Land Experience is Disney World for fundamentalists. Should the average tax payer foot the bill?
or, how about a church gym funded by tax exempt bonds?
At a price of roughly $2.5 million, the facility will contain a “middle-school-sized” gymnasium, he said, as well as a kitchen, meeting areas and classroom space. It will ease crowding at the 57-year-old church and open possibilities for new athletic ministries and outreach...
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Tax payers footing the bill for a church gym expansion? This does not sound right to me. Is a church gym a public work? Will it be open for all?
The NYT article I've been linking to for this post is chilling for a libertarian, and just plain disturbing for an Atheist. I'm ok with tax breaks for charity work, but when churches become businesses, the tax breaks should end.
3 comments:
"Tax payers footing the bill for a church gym expansion? This does not sound right to me."
That's not quite an accurate summation of what is occurring. The taxpayers are footing the tax on the interest of the bond that was issued, not footing the bill on the gym expansion. It is still wrong, just not the same magnitude of wrong that you are describing.
ever hear of the term "splitting hairs"?
Another reason for opposing religious tax exemptions is that it puts the government in the business of deciding what organizations are "real" churches, something I think is quite dangerous, and a violation of the establishment clause of the first amendment.
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