The Wall Street church with a $6 billion portfolio, Trinity Church Episcopal parish Lower Manhattan

[yortsed snacilbuper]

Trinity has been able to do all this because it’s been a savvy manager of its resources. It is also, as a church, exempt from taxes.

But some wonder about the ethics of a religious institution being such a power player in the world of New York real estate.

“What is the fundamental economic issue going on that churches deserve tax exemption and can build up a lot of wealth?” asked Rachel M. McCleary, a lecturer in the economics department at Harvard University and co-author of the coming book “The Wealth of Religions: The Political Economy of Believing and Belonging.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/the-wall-street-church-with-a-dollar6-billion-portfolio/ar-BBTk0yJ?ocid=spartandhp

tax these bastards!

[TheBlackAdder]

1. Kind of makes you wonder what they're saving it for?

[regnaD kciN]

2. Just for the record, they're one of the biggest donors...

...to charitable efforts, both nationally and worldwide. And, as these are Episcopal charitable programs, they don’t come with a “Christians only” or “first listen to this sermon before we give you food” condition.

Incidentally, it’s no surprise why the parish is that wealthy, and it’s purely an accident of history: back when they were founded, before the revolution, the King of England deeded them a large chunk of land at the tip of Manhattan. By chance, that’s where the NYSE wound up. The parish never sold the land, instead, they leased it to be built on, and all of the major financial institutions needing to be based right next to the NYSE pay them hefty rent for the right to keep their skyscrapers on that property.

[DURHAM D]

3. Trinity is on land once owned by and

stolen from one of my Dutch ancestors.

Not a fan.

[wryter2000]

4. How about the people who were already there?

The land didn't belong to the Dutch any more than it did to the English.

[DURHAM D]

5. I assume you are referring to the native population.

They traded with them. They developed a friendly co-existence and NEVER tried to convert them to some European religion.

[Mr. Quackers]

7. Should be: "How about the people your ancestors stole it from?"

[wryter2000]

8. Remove

I don't think you were addressing me

[Mr. Quackers]

11. I was saying what your subject line

should have been.

[Mr. Quackers]

6. Was never your ancestors' land to begin with

[DURHAM D]

9. That would be true of all land in the US... Yes? nt

[Mr. Quackers]

10. Roger roger on that.

[DURHAM D]

12. Is there any land anywhere in the world that has not

changed hands over the centuries due to population changes, migration, and war?

[Mr. Quackers]

13. Is there any kind of rationalization that doesn't gloss over that this country was founded

on racism, slavery, genocide, and theft?

We're not talking about centuries and centuries of world history. We're talking about something specific.