Posted by Anthony on November 16, 2009
The keyword in the title is consider.
I don’t want anyone thinking that I believe in every case it would be desirable or necessary. I do think, however, that accepting the status quo without persistent reflection is dangerous in general. Just because it has ‘always’ been this way doesn’t mean it should continue to be that way. After all, the whole notion of the 501(c)3 didn’t come until the 1950’s. There were many centuries prior to that when things were not ‘always done this way.’
For the record, the ministry of this website, Athanatos Christian Ministries, is a registered non-profit but is not tax exempt. I envision it always being that way but would not rule out obtaining that status in the future: more evidence I am not categorically condemning tax exemption.
There are two general reasons why I think organizations should consider giving up their tax exemption. The first is the most obvious. Tax exemption currently comes with some strings attached. Essentially, while you can speak about issues, your organization is supposed to refrain from overt endorsements of specific individuals. Failure to abide by this means the lifting of your tax exemption status.
It is true that this is very rare, but that is only because many churches try to abide by the law on this point. The Government helps by keeping the financial carrot close by; the stick is rarely necessary. Read the rest of the entry… »
Posted by Anthony on May 30, 2009
In 1954 the US passed tax exemption legislation that prohibited tax exempt entities to engage in certain kinds of political activities.
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From a speech by Adolf Hitler, 1935. National-Socialist Party Conference:
The Party never had the intention, and it has not the intention now, of engaging in any kind of hostilities against Christianity in Germany. Our aim has been quite the opposite. We have sought to unite the various regional Prostestant churches, whose conditions of existence were impossible, and create one great Evangelical Church throughout the Reich, without interfering in the slightest with questions of religious belief or practice.
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But under no condition whatsoever will the National Socialist State permit religious denominations to engage in political activities, whether these activities be a continuance of the old tradition or something started afresh. And here I should like to issue a definite warning against the entertaining of any illusions whatsoever in regard to the fixed determination of the Movement and the State. We have already fought the clerical politicans and forced them to leave Parliament. It was a long struggle during which we held no public power whatsoever, whereas the others held all the power in their hands.
Posted by Anthony on September 8, 2008
This morning I woke up to a fascinating news report describing out the ADF is seeking churches to make political statements so that the IRS can penalize the churches, giving the ADF a vehicle to challenge the tax exemption requirement that such entities refrain from making political statements.
This is the sort of ‘fighting fire with fire’ approach that we need today. The ACLU and the FFRF have been going bonkers trying to create court cases that further their cause. It is high time Christians and religious people did the same.
One of the reasons why I have not made my own ministry tax exempt is precisely for the reasons described in this article. I did not want to be muzzled on political affairs. Moreover, one of the underlying themes of my apologetics ministry is that beliefs and actions are intertwined. One’s politics are not in a separate box that never touch the ‘religion’ box. A person who says he has no such box certainly does. He might just call it something a little different, like an ‘inferred metaphysical statement.’ So, we all have this box, whatever we call it.
Despite the close connection between beliefs and actions in reality, we like to pretend that connection isn’t so clear. It must be confessed, too, that in today’s day and age it is much easier to believe one thing and act another way. With the all out assault on the idea that there is an objective truth and reality out there, many people have their beliefs but are timid about expressing them in action. But this isn’t really a case where beliefs don’t lead to actions, it is really the exact opposite. The timidity itself arise from a belief, expressed in a question like this: “Who am I to say what is true?” Read the rest of the entry… »
