Keep The IRS Out of The Pulpit
Posted by JasonS on April 6, 2010
Erik Stanley of the Alliance Defense Fund writes a brief, but compelling argument on the issue of churches losing the tax exempt status due to political involvement.
Hint: He argues from the Constitution. How sad that our government ignores it.
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This entry was posted on April 6, 2010 at 12:03 pm and is filed under church issues, political, Preaching, Social. Tagged: constitution, constitutional rights, first ammendment, IRS, separation of church and state. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
lucky said
First of all, Stanley is wrong that taxing churches is prohibited by the Constitution. Find me article and section for that, please! He bases this phony argument on a flawed non sequitur stemming from the First Amendment to a phrase (power to tax is power to destroy) in the case of McCullough versus Maryland, which wasn’t even about church taxation (it was about whether states could tax the federal government). Taxing a church or any other group isn’t a prohibitive exercise, nor is it inherently destructive. Not a compelling argument!
Do you really want the IRS out of your pulpit? You welcome them in the pulpit as soon as you file for tax exempt status. If you don’t do that you can say whatever the bleep you want. It’s that easy. But if you want or demand tax exempt status, you have to play by the rules — and those are constitutional rules and Biblical ones, too: render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s. See also Romans 13:1-7 and submit to authority rather than resist it. Etc.
JasonS said
Lucky,
If a church is taxed there is a certain power that the one taxing has over the church. The First Amendment gives us the freedom of worship. That means the government should not be involved in anything that would abridge that freedom. Taxation would do that.
The constitutional and Biblical rules do not demand that a church in the US pay taxes. Perhaps that is your view of the issue, but that is all that it boils down to. The Constitution was written to limit the government’s infringing upon our liberties, and one of those is that of worshiping without interference. Seeing this is so, it is not unreasonable for us to demand that the government stay out and abide by the rules that are there to protect the citizens of this nation.
I’m not sure why this is a problem for you, but I can assure you that it saddens me that one who quotes the Bible would appear to have a desire to bring the church under the power of the government.
lucky said
The first amendment’s protections aren’t just about religion, they also encompass freedom of the press and right to assembly. Now be consistent and tell me that you also think the NY Times, CNN, The Nation, and other liberal media organizations shouldn’t be taxed because their rights are infringed when government taxes them. Then do the same when it comes to other associations and organizations protected under the assembly clause, many of which can’t qualify for tax exemption — that includes many which form expressly to redress grievances against the government, which is an enumerated right in that amendment. After all, taxation limits the resources of what news organizations and assemblies of citizens can do. Then maybe you’ll extend it to gun manufacturers and private and/or public militias to sanctify the second amendment liberties government infringes on when they tax Winchester, Ruger, and Glock. And on and on.
Your right to worship is in no way infringed if your church is taxed. If you don’t want to live according to the rules set up to allow churches and other groups to avoid paying taxes, you shouldn’t apply for the exemption. You’re the one putting yourself under the thumb of government when you want the exemption; you agree to abide by sets of rules. It’s that simple. Also, it’s not a “problem” for me — I know exactly where you’re coming from: you want to have your cake and eat it too. Those verses apply to you.
JasonS said
Lucky,
1. I have no problem with a totally free press.
2. I have not applied for tax exempt status. Churches have it by default.
3. You don’t know where I’m coming from. You have missed the point of the whole post. Your “you want to have your cake…” is an ad hominem and has no place on this blog.
4. Yes, it is a problem, otherwise you wouldn’t be on the attack.