Pay Your Damn Taxes
So there’s this movement in Texas, mostly among Baptists, to go right ahead and preach politics in the pulpit just daring the IRS to do anything about it.
Hell, they even send their sermons to the IRS, taunting them.
Then, if the IRS says anything, they will holler about how persecuted they are. What is it about fundamentalist rightwing Super DeLux Brand Christians that makes them want to be martyrs? I mean, those people ain’t happy unless they are playing victim.
They want to be persecuted. When nobody is persecuting them, they do things to beg someone to say, “Hey, you’re messing in what falls into the category of MY business. Quit it.” Then they just go wacko with delight that they are victims because they are Christians.
I just don’t think they like Jesus very much.
And I know they don’t like America because they don’t want to pay their taxes.
I seem to recall a complaint against an Episcopalian church that one of the parishioners deemed too liberal. He complained to the IRS and if I recall they came down on that church. That was some years ago. And of course, the Right is always complaining about Black churches.
There’s no doubt in my mind that these people want to challenge the establishment clause that has served us so well through the years, and that this is the start of something that they hope will go all the way to the Supremes.
1If they really want to feel persecuted, they should feed one of them to the lions before every high school football game.
2They don’t like the Bible, either. 1 Peter 2:13 tells them to submit themselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake. They’re not exactly obeying that, are they?
3Have these folks actually ever heard of Jesus?
4I am with Mike on this one~feed one to the lions at EVERY high school football game – Friday Nite Rites.
5I don’t think they actually want to be martyrs since martyrs tend to get hurt in the process. They just want to cast themselves as victims, while actually profiting from the “persecution.”
6You know even if they did pay taxes they could deduct: operating costs, Charitable contributions you know just like the rest of us, BTW we don’t get to deduct Political Contributions in either money or effort, Oh wait, they want a special dispensation.
7Now if the Church was really just spending their money on Charitable activites and operational costs they really wouldn’t be spending much on taxes. Oh, wait…..
Most Christians who feel good about being tested often quote James 1:2-3 “2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”
Ironically, the last verse of that same chapter reads, “27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
The Bible is chock-full o’ verses like this. That’s why I can’t understand for the life of me how this jives with the Republican mentality in any way, shape or form.
8When you apply for a non-profit status from the IRS, you agree to certain conditions. Breaking those conditions, like the churches are doing, is the same as lying. These are not trustworthy people.
Time for churches to start paying property taxes like the rest of us. Think that might cut down on the monuments to excess that places like Second Baptist build?
9I don’t want to see even the foot washing, preaching politics from the pulpit, Baptists, persecuted.
What I would like to see, is that they be “prosecuted” for breaking the law. And, that they have to pay taxes like any other business.
When you jump out of the “business of religion” which is for some unholy reason (Render under Cesar what is Cesar’s and render unto God, what is God’s. ) and they get into the “business of politics”……. they need to pay taxes like any most businesses have to do.
10A constant reminder of the huge number of dollars spent on education and the waste of tax expenditures on people that can’t think for themselves.
11As Sam in Kyle pointed out, a church makes an agreement with the IRS to be granted non-profit status. All they need to do is ask the IRS to remove that tax free status, and they can talk about politics all they want. Any takers?
12Well, the Puritans came here so THEY could practice their form of religion, not so everyone could. Remember the founding of Rhode Island? Those folk got kicked out of Massachusets because they weren’t pure enough…….
13I’m 69yrs old. My 25yr.old daughter is in my s— about why I don’t go to church on Sunday.
14Like most Texas kids, I spent every Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday (youth day) in my Southern Baptist Church.
I know virtually every verse of the Bible by heart. I can sing the hymnal without assistance and often piss off my coworkers doing so.
There is no Christianancy in the Christian religion today!
A couple of years ago the Methodist church that we formerly attended had Mitt Rmoney speak in the Sanctuary on his “No Apologies” book tour. That was the end for me.
We attended during the Clinton years and listened to Clinton bashing weekly in our Sunday School class, then listened to all the Dubya praising. Fortunately, we quit before having to sit through what must be happening in that class today. This was in Plano, so you must know what is being said there today.
This all reminds me of a quote from A River Runs Through It:
“They were Methodists, a denomination my father referred to as Baptists who could read.” I always loved that quote.
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