Take away the tax exemptions for the Fundies

[DainBramaged]

I say take away their tax exempt status if they want to wrap the flag around themselves and get involved in politics. They want to dictate the mis Administration's appointments to us, remove their non-profit status, THAT will shut their pie holes up in a hurry.

[deacon]

1. this subject needs to be brought to the table

they don't want seperation of church and state, then pay taxes!

This should be in the general discussion forum i think. They want a theocracy, well let them pay for it.

This needs to start being circulated on the blogs now too.

Thanks for bringing this up.

[Maraya1969]

2. How do you do it?

[Starfury]

3. You really want to shut them up....

...start talking about government regulation of religion. That's the ultimate result if there's no separation of church and state, right?

[DesEtoiles]

4. see this:

http://www.irs.gov/charities/churches/index.html

[Starfury]

5. Seems crystal clear to me

http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=96099,00.html

"To be tax-exempt as an organization described in IRC Section 501(c)(3) of the Code, an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for one or more of the purposes set forth in IRC Section 501(c)(3) and none of the earnings of the organization may inure to any private shareholder or individual. In addition, it may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate at all in campaign activity for or against political candidates."

Not a lot of wiggle room there...

[BR_Parkway]

6. Considering the flack that NAACP was catching over just this same issue

they should be happy to jump on the bandwagon.

[Igel]

8. The flak wasn't over legislation, but over what appeared a covert

endorsement of a political candidate.

Some churches tend to be very cautious about this, others much less so. Bush I, *, Clinton, Gore all visited churches as part of their campaign stops and as backdrops for legislative preaching.

Dems do it, little uproar from dems, but an outcry from repubs.
Repubs do it, little uproar from dems, but an outcry from repubs.

It's equally suspect in both cases.

[magellan]

7. Enough wiggle room for Radical Christian leaders to play with

And of course they can also borrow the Rethug fall-back position: "I knew nothing about our substantial participation in legislation and campaign activity." And next thing you know the vintage '78 kool-aid will be flowing from the organization water cooler....

[DainBramaged]

9. If the discussion is begun in the MSM and our blogs

It will be a shot across the bow, and could devastate their claim to the moralistic viewpoint.