abb3w: Some churches appear to be trying to altar the deal.

abb3w: GhostFish: Because it's supposed to keep them out of politics, to a degree. They get tax exempt status, and in return they don't explicitly use the power of the church to tell people to vote one way or the other.

That was part of the original understanding. Some churches appear to be trying to altar the deal.

That was a terrible pun and you should feel terrible.

Dancin_In_Anson: HakunaMatata: shine a big bright light on all of them.

ALL of them?

Yes. Now, can you please explain why were you expecting a different answer?

what a bunch of maroons. it would not take very long for a crapload of churches and houses of worship across america to have to close their doors because they could not afford a new-found tax on their properties. then what do you have?

you have a crapload of pissed-off Ned Flanders that no longer have a place to re-inflate their world-weary souls every seven days. they won't put up with it and neither would you.

so you will have every little American Legion and V.F.W. and Firemen's Hall being rented for services. school auditoriums too if they can swing it. that means you'll have a crapload of people without a Hall to rent for their weddings, graduations and class reunions.

now you have a crapload of angry Ned Flanders along with a crapload of angry folks who can't get married, celebrate graduation, etcetera. surely you can see where this leads. it just gets uglier and uglier.

meanwhile most of these people are taxpayers whether or not they attend services on Sunday. they will rally together and protest the politicians who made the changes. cats will be living with dogs, ketchup will taste like mustard and all hell will reign down upon us.

people will worship in an open field, they don't care. if you want a country full of old churches that are empty and will eventually fail to the elements of weather and time then tax the crap out of them. just don't expect those taxes to be collected. peoples paychecks are not unlimited, the buck does stop somewhere. sooner or later we will all be paying higher property taxes as the townships have to absorb the costs of demolishing old churches and putting up protective fencing to keep children out.

as interest in religion slowly wanes you will have what you want: children raised in a faith-free environment. where they are not taught the importance of charity and acts of kindness. society will slowly decay, leaving us with a country filled with self-important greedy people that care for nothing more than making sure they get theirs.

then you can go after someone else you don't like, such as people over 6' tall, left handed people, those who stutter - you name it. no need to tolerate those that are different from you, why should you. slap a tax on them until they starve to death homeless. morans.

relcec: you people want limits on speech simply because you think you might disagree with it.
what a bunch of petty, tyrannical, and dogmatic losers.
go kill yourselves.

LOL

I alone am best: Good job guys, shut those churches down! As many as you can. You should probably start before the election just to be sure every knows what a good job you're doing.

Either you didn't read the article, or you don't understand tax-exempt status. Let me quote from IRS publication 1828:
All IRC section 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches and religious organizations, must abide by certain rules:
■ their net earnings may not inure to any private shareholder or individual,
■ they must not provide a substantial benefit to private interests,
■ they must not devote a substantial part of their activities to attempting to influence legislation,
■ they must not participate in, or intervene in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office, and
■ the organization's purposes and activities may not be illegal or violate fundamental public policy.

cato113: Dancin_In_Anson: HakunaMatata: shine a big bright light on all of them.

ALL of them?

Yes. Now, can you please explain why were you expecting a different answer?

Don't hold your breath.

As someone who engages in political activity at a church, but does so in a comparatively neutral way: I'm OK with that.

/We fight for marriage equality. We never, ever say "this is the way God wants you to vote". We do say "This is what we believe - that God made us all equal."
//Fine line, I know.

relcec: you people want limits on speech simply because you think you might disagree with it.
what a bunch of petty, tyrannical, and dogmatic losers.
go kill yourselves.

Who left the back door open...?