Global Breaking News - Sunday, December 22, 2024

Should Churches Get Tax Breaks?

The Trinity Broadcasting Network has always been proud of its extravagant profits, but rarely mentions the extravagant tax breaks that fueled them. According to a recent lawsuit, the company provides mansions for executives and calls them “parsonages” to avoid property taxes, and it ordains TBN chauffeurs and sound engineers and performers at the Holy Land Experience theme park, meaning their pay is tax-free. Religious exemptions from taxes and regulations are often thought of as separating church and state, but are they having the opposite effect — serving as a state subsidy for religious organizations? Should religious entities be subject to taxes and rules like labor and civil rights laws?

 종교단체도 노동법과 인권법과 같은 원칙과 세금에 대상이 되어야 하나요?

1) Good for Religion, Good for America
Churches are exempt from taxes and regulations for a reason: they provide a 'critical buffer' against the power of government.
 
2) Government Is Endorsing Religion
Special tax breaks for religious organizations are an endorsement of religion over nonreligion.
 
3) Sustaining Progressive Faith
Religious exemptions allow progressive churches to survive and thrive, and to shape our nation's political culture.
 
4) Don’t Play Favorites
Exemptions for noble work, but no extra exemptions just because it is done in the name of God.
 
5) Equal Protection vs. ‘Religious Freedom’
The fight over contraception highlights a galling exemption: for faith-based groups, government money often comes with no strings attached.