Playing by the tax rules.I have just read the April issue of Church & State and feel somewhat uneasy by the tone and emphasis of your article "Render Unto un·to prep. 1. To. 2. Until: a fast unto death. 3. By: a place unto itself, quite unlike its surroundings. Caesar Caesar (sē`zər), ancient Roman patrician family of the Julian gens. There are separate articles on its two most distinguished members, Julius Caesar and Augustus. ..." about I.R.S. Commissioner Mark Everson's warning to non-profit organizations A non-profit organization (abbreviated "NPO", also "non-profit" or "not-for-profit") is a legally constituted organization whose primary objective is to support or to actively engage in activities of public or private interest without any commercial or monetary profit purposes. regarding electioneering. Your article so focuses on churches as to give credence to evangelical claims that you are anti-religious. The problem is that churches are abusing their 501(c)(3) status, not that they are violating separation of church and state
This is not mentioned once in your article. It should be one of your main arguments. If donations to a church (or other organization) are not tax-deductible, then taxpayers are not subsidizing them and they should be governed by the same laws as everyone else. Church-state separation is totally irrelevant here. Including it only serves to convince right-wing religious loonies that we are out to get them. As a long-time supporter of AU, I am disappointed. Our purpose should be to convince these people to behave properly, not demonize de·mon·ize tr.v. de·mon·ized, de·mon·iz·ing, de·mon·iz·es 1. To turn into or as if into a demon. 2. To possess by or as if by a demon. 3. them (even if they may deserve it). John A. Hussey Delhi, N.Y. |
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