Exempting churches was a terrible, terrible mistake.
especially from a country with clear "separation of church and state" rules, except "in god we trust" on the money.
No surprise they granted the churches the exemption, and stronly agree they should NOT have gotten the exemption given their own well documented corruption.
I hope they do it, if only to start a debate about religion's implicitly "above the law" status. Next lets look at the fiscal privileges (especially of obviously commercial megachurches that rake in tens, if not hundreds, of millions).
Better to just get rid of the tax exempt status for religious organizations altogether. They can operate like any other non-profit and be subject to that set of rules, or they can be a regular corporation and be subject to a different set of rules. The religious exemption is a big regulatory gap that doesn't need to exist.
Why are religious gatherings exempt? That seems utterly irrational. Surely now of all times is a time for the government to say to religious people “sorry, but we can’t pretend to respect your fantasies right now”.
Congress is authority-exempt from making laws that can apply taxes to them in the first place.
It's not like we tax everyone, then exempt religious organizations; the "everyone" that is able to be taxed does not include establishments of religion in the first place, thanks to the wording of 1A.
The difference is that, in the US, the Constitution specifically calls out the separation of Church and State. Every single one of these churches should lose their tax exempt status.
If you read about the religious sect, it has huge services where people have to sit on the floor because they are 'packed in like sardines'. Not quite the same as your typical church.
So, maybe this could be an argument against the massive mega churches. But, not a blanket ban on all religious gatherings, period.
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