America needs to start taxing Churches, synagogues, Temples and Mosques , NOW!

Like I said I don't mind. It won't help for various reasons. But it says right in the Bible we should pay taxes if we are asked.

But they just don't realize it won't fix the problem like they think it will.

[edit on 23-6-2009 by tinfoilman]

The bible has been used to justify numerous atrocities by governments and people working to achieve a political objectives.

Overtaxing is one of the things that the bible can be used to help one rationalize away.

Jesus didn't write the Bible we read - it is translations of translations of translations...

For example the King James Authorized version of the bible was not authored by him; It was the only version you were authorized to own and having another version could result in death, torture etc...

It is obvious why his version told the peasants to pay taxes and obey his authority - he was the government.

If the government decided to tax you at 85 percent - would you still use your version of the bible to justify those taxes?

Imagine if the government decided to do that...


*You should read what god has to say about taxes and interest rates in the Koran (the latest version, obviously )

[edit on 23-6-2009 by Exuberant1]

"Christian North America"?

Maybe you should come out of your cave.

Christians no longer have ownership of America and are now the slowest growing religion in the world. By the end of this century, there might not even be a Christian church in America. I hope there is but I wouldn’t put money on it.

read the Koran, well that explains your last post where your were acting like a crazy fire and brimstone Christian but you are a Moslem.

Nice trick, and congratulation, Islam is growing very rapidly here in America, I guess winner takes all.

They don't tax Mosques in Iran do they? But then they don't have to the Ayatollahs own the whole country.


[edit on 23-6-2009 by gdeed]

You have deduced that based on what? The recommendation to read opinions on taxation and interest from a book originating with another culture?

If I recommend that you read Ludwig Von Mises - will you call me an Austrian...



I don't share personal information on ATS - my beliefs are private.
-I could be a Free Mason for all you know... Or Shinto


So, Do you feel that the Bible justifies the taxing of churches?

If your Priest asked for donations under the table because he felt that the hypothetical tax law we are discussing here was unjust, would you turn him in?

[edit on 23-6-2009 by Exuberant1]

This sounds like the ranting of a rabid Christian. But it comes from someone who recommends reading the Koran.

Talk about your wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Well I’m an atheist mostly because I’m aware of all the hell that has taken place on this planet because of religious fanatics on both sides of the fence.

But I’m also aware that I have always lived in a Christian country and I don’t have to become a Christian to prosper. That would not be the case if I lived in a Muslim controlled country.

Heck, you are ready to put me in FEMA camp for sharing my ideas. Or would that be an Ayatollah camp?

I have a feeling "now" that all the FEMA scare may have originated somewhere in the Middle East by people like you in sheep clothing.

Click here for more information.

Hard to say if they should be taxed or not, ones that run soup kitchens and operate on a tight budget are one thing, but these guys on television raking in the money are something else. I'd say after legitimate expenses are paid to run the church, taxed what's left over. If it's below a certain amount, leave it alone. There's no reason to have a lot at the end of the year anyway if it's going to the poor as intended.

I completely understand, you would prefer that everyone believe that your are a Christian that refer people to read the Karan?

Nice, I wonder how many people have fallen for that.

Churches, Mosques, Synagogues and many Temples control huge amounts of money. They also own billions of dollars in real estate. Most of them pretend that they don't have money because if people knew how much they had, they would not donate money to them.

A regular business has overhead, employees, and product cost. On top of that, they have to pay real estate taxes, and somehow make a profit or go out of business.

Churches are a cash business with little expense compared to ordinary businesses.

Anyone can claim religious status, even you. So if you want to get out of paying taxes set up your own religion, even out of your house. Have a few friends over and play Nintendo and drink beer.

Religion is one segment of the economy that keeps growing even in bad economic times. Drive out to any suburb in America and see how many of them religious institutions are popping up all over the place.

The many thousands of "home made" religions remain out of sight and out of mind, but reaping millions if not billions of tax benefits too.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm saying they should pay their fair share on the money they take in, like the rest of us.

This is why drug legalization doesn't work:

www.washingtonpost.com...

www.justthinktwice.com...



www.sdnn.com...

The religions may be tax free, but the participants fund the churches. And what they do with their money is their decision.

I am not a fan of organized religion, I believe religion should be personal and conducted by the people, so I am not an all out supporter.

What I will say, is that I have bought cheap clothes and presents from the church. When my husband and I had a tradjedy, the mormon church quickly set us up with counselors at a reduced cost, free if we couldn't pay. And they didn't care that we were not mormon.

When we visited the UU church, being lonely and new to a city and lookign for people to meet, they quickly set us up with other couples our age.

When I was methodist, some of the happiest times I had was the youth groups(methodists are also the least preachy of the groups i think) who fed us and gave us snacks and constructive time together. volunteers came in to cook for us. We would have plays.

Churches are the ones who run the charity programs, the soup kitchens, the thrift stores. As far as I am concerned, they deserve the tax break.







[edit on 23-6-2009 by nixie_nox]

That's is making the assumption that drug use is not going on because it is against the law.

The fact is people that want to do or abuse drugs are doing it regardless of the laws. Billions of dollars worth of drugs are being consumed by Americans every single day. All those things you mentioned have been happing for decades and will continue to happen. The drug laws have not stopped any of it.

Drugs are easy to get, anyone can get them. The drug laws are a farce and have not even dented drug use.

It's safe to say that everyone knows someone or many someone’s that abuse drugs.

Right now the drug lords are making a fortune, why shouldn't the government get that money instead?

Sure, the Government will only waste that money as they do with most of the money they collect. But it's better than letting the criminals get rich. Or do you disagree?

Some people believe that I'm attacking the Christian churches. The fact is Christian churches are a small part of all the religious institutions we have in America.

Like I mentioned earlier anyone can set up a church, even in your basement, and instantly become a non-profit business. There are hundreds of thousands such churches in America. They don't do any charitable work for anyone but themselves.

Other religious institutions are set up here to collect money from their members all over America and sent to countries that don't like America, but they love America's money.

There are good churches, but there are many that are not good at all, and they are the ones that are making most of the money and taking out of the country every single day.

Since we can't discriminate again individual religious entities we have to treat them all the same.