Should churches be forced to pay taxes?
145001
Absolutely, just look at some of those frauds out there.  The guy that sells that little piece of green cloth?  Don Stewart is a total fraud.  How about the Bakers, they stole millions!  In Texas there is The Tiltons that are stealing from our more gullible fellow Americans.  My brother's church recently added on a huge indoor basketball court.  It's only used by their school that has all of 20 kids between 1st and 10th grade.
1095149
the church doesnt need my contributions. it needs to be destroyed.
1102676
Taxes dont work like that..a government/public service is not a choice which benefits just yourself, it benefits the community. You cant say ' i dont want to pay such and such' because someday, you will us that service, and whing when you have to pay! Its a duty we all have to pay , wether we like it or not
633135
Think of it this way-\nIf a Christian church is the body of Christ, then someone has to be the butt hole.
1088547
According to the US State Dept. website's write-up on Argentina, the government does give the Catholic Church in the country (not the Vatican directly) subsidies.  \n\nIt didn't say anything about people being made to directly pay a "church tax;" presumably this means that the subsidy to the Church comes out of the general taxes that people would pay to the government anyway.\n\nI guess to those of us of an American persuasion, the idea of a government subsidizing a church is odd -- but Argentina is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, so in light of that, it's not a strange thing.\n\nThe State Dept. report on Argentina also said that there is freedom of religion in Argentina -- other faiths, the report said, "are practiced freely."  \n\nAgain, it didn't say anything about a direct "church tax," so I doubt that the percentage of a taxpayer's money going to the Church isn't more than a slight one.\n\nBesides, in overwhelminglly Catholic countries, the Church is by far the primary provider of education, health care, social services, and so on -- so in that sense, it's no different than an American taxpayer's money going toward these services as provided by government agencies.
423637
I don't think separation of church and state said anything about being tax free. If a minister teaches bible, that's one thing, but pastor's like Rod Parsley, who for years has flaunted his political view's, and allows candidates to speak from his pulpit, should lose his tax exempt status forthwith. Not to mention he's a millionaire many times over.
737486
I don't think it's legally binding...that would be a violation of the treasured separation between church and state, wouldn't it?
315154
Most ministers will just ask for a simple donation to the church. Us ministers should never seek personal payment for such a job!
422606
Hmmm, I think they all do.  I could be wrong, but as far as I have ever seen, all the religion organizations are tax exempt.  This is because the government cannot be paid by a religion, a church, or whatever, because it would be a conflict of interest and a mixing of church and state.
155077
Anna, I'm sorry that makes too much sense.  Besides you wouldn't won't those crazy catholics, christians, & Jews to get all that tax money (which is ours to begin with) to spend as they see fit.  Don't you understand that big gov't & liberals can spend your money better than you can.  In addition, that would mean a lot of low income peolpe would actulally have to try and better themselves by working with churches & charities, instead of waiting on that monthly gov't check.
460050
Nope, too many people with too much influence don't want it and lobby hard against it.  Why would they want to pay a flat tax if they currently pay little or no tax to begin with?
260270
I think that the Unied States government should not spend money on churches- being that the church and state are supposed to be unconnected... i think the money should go to the children that are hungry on the streets of the inner cities.... or maybe some of it should go to feeeding dieing children elsewhere in the world, there are starving people everywhere and yet millions of dollars go into the building of extravagent churches around the world....
286518
No we would be completely screwed, Taxes that are to high and to many government programs, But somebody has to pay for well fare, Ha
471326
Not in state-funded schools--separation of church and state should be strictly enforced.  In religious-run institutions, they should do whatever they want.  If a student didn't want the religious instruction, they could go somewhere else.  In my perfect world.
1027554
Good questions!\n\nHowever, the same argument could be posed by the SAME people who have the different religious ideogy that you oppose. For example a muslim living in America and paying taxes could be thinking "why do my tax dollars have to support christian-related issues".\n\nI guess the answer lies in the politcal system, join it and try to get enough support to change what you don't like about it - of course no change is possible without a majority of people willing to vote for your point of view.\n\nthanks
346575
Generally, church taxes have always been referred to as "tithes", equal to 10% of a person's wages.  \n\nThere also were items that could be purchased called "indulgences" whereby a person could basically buy the right to sin, to cancel out that sin.  They were really able to indulge in that wrongful behavior.  This was particularly tied to the Medieval Catholics, and thought by most to be a creative method of raising funds.
982230
I don't know which church told you that you were unimportant and a sinner because of your poverty, but neither my church (Lutheran) nor I say that!  I'm sorry you had that experience.  Those folks are not walking in the way of Christ; He told His disciples that the poor would be with us always.  And James says that God chose the poor to be rich in faith.\nAs to your question about why churches don't pay taxes...well, that's something I wonder myself.  I think we might be better off if we did, really.  And the overtaxation of the poor/middle class and the loan sharks...honey, the blame for that falls on our elected officials who live in the back pockets of corporations, giving them huge tax breaks and letting everyone else shoulder the burden...while they vote big pay raises for themselves! (Must be nice, huh?)\nAnd lastly:  welfare is not a sin!  We were poor when I was a kid, and if it hadn't been for food stamps, free lunches at school, and surplus government commodities, us kids would have starved!  And later, when my mom developed heart problems so she couldn't work and had to go on full AFDC, we were just thankful those services were there for us.  The only time welfare -might- be considered a sin would be if someone were just lazy and refused to work.  But I don't think that's you...believe me, I know how hard it is to find a job that will support a family, or to get affordable training to help get a better job.\nPlease don't let that church get you down.  I'll be praying for you, OK?