That is why churches should have to make public who the money they take in comes from and where it all goes. If you are exempt from taxes, you should have to account for every penny.
Ummm, like other non-profits do? Like, say, the Freedom From Religion Foundation? Oh, but churches are, er, special! They'd *never* do anything nefarious like those horrible atheists! Would they? Which is why FFRF and others disclose who gives them money, down to the penny, and churches/religious "non-profits" don't. Tax them. Every last penny should be accounted for.
American Atheists filed suit to force religions to fill out an IRS Form 990, like other not-for-profit organizations. SCOTUS said no because ... reasons. 😝
Perhaps concealing the pedo-pastors and other perverted church leaders who are all pedophiles, too. Perhaps some of them came from Russia, the Trump Crime Family, Epstein's island, etc.
The NSGOP wants churches to pour obscene amounts of money into opposing this so they can maintain their control of women. It would not surprise me if they manage to defeat this, that their next step is to make it a crime to cross state lines to get an abortion where it is legal.
It's quite revealing that these paragons of moral virtue want to keep their activities hidden from public view. Personally, I would never vote for a candidate who had been endorsed by an evangelical preacher. If churches want to engage in secular politics, then they need to pay the price of admission and start paying taxes.
Ooooo, so they can fund opposition to abortion in a SECRET way, eh? Of course they do. Heaven forfend they should do it out in the open, where they might get criticized for it, never mind violating State / Church separation! This kind of surreptitious, behind-the-back BS just floors me, every time I hear about it. And we've been hearing about it entirely too often.
I fully expect the Freedom From Religion Foundation to fall of this with both feet.
They believe in a biblical God...the one who could be fooled and have things hidden from Him. And, of course, they believe that lying for Jesus is God-approved.
That was my main issue as a teen, and the reason I left soon after being "SAVED". Exactly what is the point of prayer? Double-blind confirmation?
(But not leaving the church "post-SAVE-ure" the way MAGA is doing. I still prefer Jesus over Trump, but then the word "hate" was LITERALLY dis-allowed in our home. (As was the word, "ain't".))
(when you reach the site, scroll down until you come to said tract. click on it once to capture it in its thin form and then click on it again to blow up the tract to readable size)
The shame is that the Johnson Amendment as it currently stands hasn't been enforced in over a decade. Worse, the Republicans seem to be determined not only to not see it funded but to have it repealed.
Heck, why bother with an existing church that you don’t even control. Establish a church on paper, have your friends be on the board, and give your millions to the General Fund.
Modern American Christianity: Millions for political campaigns, not one dollar for helping the poor, as Jesus taught.
Oh, and don’t forget the mansions, private jets, and expensive cars for the leaders of the wealthy megachurches. The rich are more holy than you, so shut up and sacrifice on their behalf.
They ignore their savior's teachings. Particularly the one where he told followers NOT to store away treasures on Earth because they will either be stolen or rot away.
And then those mongers for mammon will find themselves on the express elevator down to the other place for choosing the wrong master to serve.
... 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒, 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦.
That makes you wonder just what, exactly, these churches are trying to conceal.
They want to hide whose spending money to be political.
That is why churches should have to make public who the money they take in comes from and where it all goes. If you are exempt from taxes, you should have to account for every penny.
Ummm, like other non-profits do? Like, say, the Freedom From Religion Foundation? Oh, but churches are, er, special! They'd *never* do anything nefarious like those horrible atheists! Would they? Which is why FFRF and others disclose who gives them money, down to the penny, and churches/religious "non-profits" don't. Tax them. Every last penny should be accounted for.
American Atheists filed suit to force religions to fill out an IRS Form 990, like other not-for-profit organizations. SCOTUS said no because ... reasons. 😝
Perhaps concealing the pedo-pastors and other perverted church leaders who are all pedophiles, too. Perhaps some of them came from Russia, the Trump Crime Family, Epstein's island, etc.
My first thought.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑛-𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 1, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑐𝑦 𝐴𝑐𝑡. 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑖𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ “𝑌𝑒𝑠” 𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠, 𝐼𝑑𝑎ℎ𝑜𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑐𝑦 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠.
The NSGOP wants churches to pour obscene amounts of money into opposing this so they can maintain their control of women. It would not surprise me if they manage to defeat this, that their next step is to make it a crime to cross state lines to get an abortion where it is legal.
It's quite revealing that these paragons of moral virtue want to keep their activities hidden from public view. Personally, I would never vote for a candidate who had been endorsed by an evangelical preacher. If churches want to engage in secular politics, then they need to pay the price of admission and start paying taxes.
Ooooo, so they can fund opposition to abortion in a SECRET way, eh? Of course they do. Heaven forfend they should do it out in the open, where they might get criticized for it, never mind violating State / Church separation! This kind of surreptitious, behind-the-back BS just floors me, every time I hear about it. And we've been hearing about it entirely too often.
I fully expect the Freedom From Religion Foundation to fall of this with both feet.
TS,
If this shields them from being "found out" by their Gawd, then I guess they just need to...
"PREY(sic) ON IT".
Which makes me wonder if they believe in an omniscient god!
They believe in a biblical God...the one who could be fooled and have things hidden from Him. And, of course, they believe that lying for Jesus is God-approved.
They believe in a god that is convenient for their purposes.
That was my main issue as a teen, and the reason I left soon after being "SAVED". Exactly what is the point of prayer? Double-blind confirmation?
(But not leaving the church "post-SAVE-ure" the way MAGA is doing. I still prefer Jesus over Trump, but then the word "hate" was LITERALLY dis-allowed in our home. (As was the word, "ain't".))
If churches want to get rid of their tax exempt status, then they can sown money how they want.
The tax exemption implies your organization will NOT be political.
TL;DR: If you love jesus, the laws don't apply to you! Nothing to see here, folks.
OR......
If you are the US President.
And if there is someone with BOTH criteria?
A true Christmas Miracle! (WELL, it's Christmas already for the Hallmark Channel.)
October surprise?
I'd call Labrador a dirty dog, but that would be an insult to real dogs.
Why are xtian Rethuglikkkans so damned deceitful? It's not like they have to hide what they do, given who's holding power in the US these days.
I'm tempted to make an atheist version of a Chick tract.
Rejoice! Some enterprising sort did that very thing
knowyourmeme.com/photos/1185044-jack-chick-tracts
(when you reach the site, scroll down until you come to said tract. click on it once to capture it in its thin form and then click on it again to blow up the tract to readable size)
Only Losers need to cheat to win.
Tax empt status implies an organization will not be political.
More that they will make some small effort to be a little less OBVIOUS about it, Dash.
After the 2024 election, I literally saw electronic church signs (here in the deep south) congratulating MAGA for the win.
Puke.
I think I may have thrown up in my car a little bit...
Time to enact a much stronger version of the Johnson amendment, with actual enforcement. Not going to happen, but one can dream.
The shame is that the Johnson Amendment as it currently stands hasn't been enforced in over a decade. Worse, the Republicans seem to be determined not only to not see it funded but to have it repealed.
Heck, why bother with an existing church that you don’t even control. Establish a church on paper, have your friends be on the board, and give your millions to the General Fund.
Like Scientology.
"𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑢𝑦𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 $2 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐼𝑑𝑎ℎ𝑜𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦..."
That IS the story they are chasing. The fact that you know who gave that money but you don't want to disclose who gave money to your side.
Modern American Christianity: Millions for political campaigns, not one dollar for helping the poor, as Jesus taught.
Oh, and don’t forget the mansions, private jets, and expensive cars for the leaders of the wealthy megachurches. The rich are more holy than you, so shut up and sacrifice on their behalf.
They ignore their savior's teachings. Particularly the one where he told followers NOT to store away treasures on Earth because they will either be stolen or rot away.
And then those mongers for mammon will find themselves on the express elevator down to the other place for choosing the wrong master to serve.
Panama papers the seuqel?
My DEAR friends....
I'm OFF to church! (Yeah, I know....)
The people are nice and care about the physical me, and with ZERO MAGA. And that's GOOD ENOUGH for me!
Stay safe, all! And always stay open for the joy that just may return someday.
If Jesus does return someday, I hope it's like this
youtu.be/APMu32sC2nM