They can't do this! Let's fight Back!

[TheSkepticChristian]

Religious Freedom is once again under attack by liberal secularists.  We cannot allow them to make our country an Atheist dictatorship! 

Change.org petition seeks to Revoke the LDS Church's Tax Exemption.  

https://www.change.org/p/irs-revoke-the-lds-church-s-tax-exemption?recruiter=196158&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-lg-share_petition-no_msg&fb_ref=Default

The second coming is imminent! We must not allow liberal secularists to have it their way! Let's be soldiers of God! 

Edited February 24, 2016 by TheSkepticChristian

[rpn]

I didn't fully appreciate how laughable Utahns' concern about the involvement of the LDS church in state and local government decisions is until I discovered that many communities in the United States and abroad have a prominent religious faith that does the same thing, or more.    Utahns think this is about the LDS church, when it is really about the numbers to have an institutional presence and the wherewithal of the leaders of that institution to use their power to improve the community as they see it.

 

[Jeanne]

41 minutes ago, TheSkepticChristian said:

Religious Freedom is once again under attack by liberal secularists.  We cannot allow them to make our country an Atheist dictatorship! 

Change.org petition seeks to Revoke the LDS Church's Tax Exemption.  

https://www.change.org/p/irs-revoke-the-lds-church-s-tax-exemption?recruiter=196158&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-lg-share_petition-no_msg&fb_ref=Default

The second coming is imminent! We must not allow liberal secularists to have it their way! Let's be soldiers of God! 

Thanks for the link...I signed it because it is about time.

[bluebell]

30 minutes ago, Jeanne said:

Thanks for the link...I signed it because it is about time.

It's about time that churches are no longer allowed to be tax exempt?

[Jeanne]

3 minutes ago, bluebell said:

It's about time that churches are no longer allowed to be tax exempt?

 A lot of churches IMO (LDS/Catholic) are more like corporations anymore. 

[Ahab]

1 hour ago, TheSkepticChristian said:

Religious Freedom is once again under attack by liberal secularists.  We cannot allow them to make our country an Atheist dictatorship! 

Change.org petition seeks to Revoke the LDS Church's Tax Exemption.  

https://www.change.org/p/irs-revoke-the-lds-church-s-tax-exemption?recruiter=196158&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-lg-share_petition-no_msg&fb_ref=Default

The second coming is imminent! We must not allow liberal secularists to have it their way! Let's be soldiers of God! 

You need something more than just text to raise a ruckus.  The exclamation points help a little bit though.

Maybe you'd have more success if you used smiley emoticons waving pom poms or something like that.

And some noise too. Something with noise. 

I have to say I'm just not excited by your presentation. 

[thesometimesaint]

24 minutes ago, Jeanne said:

 A lot of churches IMO (LDS/Catholic) are more like corporations anymore. 

So are all non-profits. Should we eliminate the tax exempt status for all of them, or just the ones you don't like?

[Jeanne]

1 hour ago, thesometimesaint said:

So are all non-profits. Should we eliminate the tax exempt status for all of them, or just the ones you don't like?

Of course, I really don't like that..I realize that in my feelings that it can't work both ways. 

[Buckeye]

So what's your plan to fight back? I know, let's make a change.org petition to have change.org remove the offensive petition. That'll show 'em! Well ... that and buying Chick-fil-A. Liberals hate it when you buy Chick-fil-A.

[BlueDreams]

2 minutes ago, Buckeye said:

So what's your plan to fight back? I know, let's make a change.org petition to have change.org remove the offensive petition. That'll show 'em! Well ... that and buying Chick-fil-A. Liberals hate it when you buy Chick-fil-A.

I do?....:::quickly reads liberal mantra more carefully, subsection vegetarian mandates with tie-ins to LGBT boycotts:::...Oh yeah! I do!! Grrrr!

Seriously though, what a waste of signature time. 

 

With luv,

BD

[Guest]

3 hours ago, TheSkepticChristian said:

Religious Freedom is once again under attack by liberal secularists.  We cannot allow them to make our country an Atheist dictatorship! 

Change.org petition seeks to Revoke the LDS Church's Tax Exemption.  

https://www.change.org/p/irs-revoke-the-lds-church-s-tax-exemption?recruiter=196158&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-lg-share_petition-no_msg&fb_ref=Default

The second coming is imminent! We must not allow liberal secularists to have it their way! Let's be soldiers of God! 

These types of things happen all the time, with differing groups who feel slighted when any Church expresses an opinion that does lot align with there own. Our Church has not and will not violate the laws governing tax exempt 501c organizations. You are right about the who or the type individuals who bring these lawsuits. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Jeanne said:

 A lot of churches IMO (LDS/Catholic) are more like corporations anymore. 

Just noting the two you mention, you are correct to a degree. Our Church has corporation holdings as does the Catholic Church. Both are global Faiths with massive holding that allow the Church to use the monies  given and use it as good stewards. This allows them to use these resources to grow the Church over the earth as is our calling and mandate. 

[Ahab]

6 minutes ago, Pa Pa said:

Just noting the two you mention, you are correct to a degree. Our Church has corporation holdings as does the Catholic Church. Both are global Faiths with massive holding that allow the Church to use the monies  given and use it as good stewards. This allows them to use these resources to grow the Church over the earth as is our calling and mandate. 

Yes, and the secular government also tries to be good stewards of our money based on what they think is the best use of our money.

Those liberal secularists are just being cheerleaders for their own preferred government, secular vs. the kingdom of God.

 

[Jeanne]

25 minutes ago, Pa Pa said:

Just noting the two you mention, you are correct to a degree. Our Church has corporation holdings as does the Catholic Church. Both are global Faiths with massive holding that allow the Church to use the monies  given and use it as good stewards. This allows them to use these resources to grow the Church over the earth as is our calling and mandate. 

I realize the church's goals..but if other organizations or you and I personally want to do good things with our money..we have to pay taxes first. 

[Ahab]

4 minutes ago, Jeanne said:

I realize the church's goals..but if other organizations or you and I personally want to do good things with our money..we have to pay taxes first. 

No, you and I both can also set up our own not-for-profit organizations. 

The goal of the organization just needs to be something other than just to make money or profit. And it's okay to make money as long as that isn't your goal.

See a real lawyer for more information. 

[Russell C McGregor]

3 hours ago, Jeanne said:

 A lot of churches IMO (LDS/Catholic) are more like corporations anymore. 

Well, opinions are like elbows. Everyone has them, but sometimes it's polite not to stick yours into the other fellow's ribs.

The Catholic Church is actually organised a lot like a medieval country, with the Pope as king and the bishops as dukes. It might benefit from modernising its institutional governance.

But apart from that, I have to wonder what you mean when you say that a given church is more like a corporation. More like that than what, exactly?

 

Edited February 25, 2016 by Russell C McGregor

[ERayR]

1 hour ago, Jeanne said:

I realize the church's goals..but if other organizations or you and I personally want to do good things with our money..we have to pay taxes first. 

Not if they organize as a non-profit.

Edited February 25, 2016 by ERayR

[Jeanne]

18 minutes ago, Russell C McGregor said:

Well, opinions are like elbows. Everyone has them, but sometimes it's polite not to stick yours into the other fellow's ribs.

The Catholic Church is actually organised a lot like a medieval country, with the Pope as king and the bishops as dukes. It might benefit from modernising its institutional governance.

But apart from that, I have to wonder what you mean when you say that a given church is more like a corporation. More like that than what, exactly?

 

I think what I meant to put across was "just like a corporation"..and they pay taxes.  The church owns lands and properties..earn interest and has a monetary cell that allows them to invest in a mall, farms..everything.  It wouldn't hurt them a bit to pay taxes.  Their members do and that is the core of their monies.  IMO.  It is a circle of investments. 

Edited February 25, 2016 by Jeanne

[Judd]

People keep wanting churches, particularly the LDS church, to be taxed because it gets involved in political matters. This same sounding trump isn't applied to all of the other non-profits that are getting involved in politics. For instance, Planned Parenthood, as an example. Not only is it assumed that they would never lose their tax-exempt status, but the argument is that it would be unjust to even consider taking away funding, let alone tax-exempt status.

[Russell C McGregor]

13 minutes ago, Jeanne said:

I think what I meant to put across was "just like a corporation"..and they pay taxes.  The church owns lands and properties..earn interest and has a monetary cell that allows them to invest in a mall, farms..everything.

You are aware, are you not, that its for-profit investments are managed by arm's-length entities that are taxed in the ordinary way?

13 minutes ago, Jeanne said:

  It wouldn't hurt them a bit to pay taxes.  Their members do and that is the core of their monies.  IMO.  It is a circle of investments. 

You mean, to pay taxes over and above the taxes they pay on their investment income?

 

[Teancum]

1 hour ago, Russell C McGregor said:

You are aware, are you not, that its for-profit investments are managed by arm's-length entities that are taxed in the ordinary way?

You mean, to pay taxes over and above the taxes they pay on their investment income?

 

 

1 hour ago, Russell C McGregor said:

You are aware, are you not, that its for-profit investments are managed by arm's-length entities that are taxed in the ordinary way?

You mean, to pay taxes over and above the taxes they pay on their investment income?

 

NFPs in the USA do not pay taxes on investment income that they use to meet the purposes of their NFP charter.   They do pay tax on what is called Unrelated Business Income.   The Church owns a number of for profit entities and those do pay tax.   But excess money the church has from donations that it invests and that generates  interest or other income is generally not subject to income tax.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Teancum

[Russell C McGregor]

4 hours ago, Buckeye said:

So what's your plan to fight back? I know, let's make a change.org petition to have change.org remove the offensive petition. That'll show 'em! Well ... that and buying Chick-fil-A. Liberals hate it when you buy Chick-fil-A.

The most important thing to understand about the OP is that the feigned outrage is really a cover. He's actually promoting this thing.

The biggest problem with online petitions is not that they might get any traction; it's that they are largely a waste of time. They're frequently, or usually, demanding something dumb, and legislative bodies don't take them seriously. They're an idiots' referendum, and nobody with any brains actually bothers with them.

[carbon dioxide]

I bet the vast majority of people who sign this thing don't have a clue on the rules regarding tax exempt status of organizations and what they can and can't do.  The IRS does not decide things on petitions but on the law.  People who would sign this probably would sign the petition that featured by Penn and Teller to ban dihydrogen monoxide. 

They sign these things simply on emotion and forget facts.

[The Nehor]

Well, can we start by dealing with the churches that directly endorse candidates first and then work our way down to those that just speak out of issues. The biggest offenders in this are undoubtedly the small black churches that could possibly be destroyed by taxation. CHARGE!

[thesometimesaint]

10 hours ago, Ahab said:

Yes, and the secular government also tries to be good stewards of our money based on what they think is the best use of our money.

Those liberal secularists are just being cheerleaders for their own preferred government, secular vs. the kingdom of God.

The difference my dear Ahab is that in the US we vote for our political leaders, and I have no say in another man's religion.

When a Religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support, so that its Professors are oblig'd to call for the help of the Civil Power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one.

Benjamin Franklin