Here's the bottom line: churches get tax exemption on money donated to them and on their assets. To then use those donations and assets for explicit political purposes gives such donations a favored status over ordinary political donations (which are not tax deductible) and church a favored status over other non-profits, tax-exempt organizations (which follow the same sorts of rules).
That's wrong, and wrapping a cloak of religion around it doesn't make it right. If we want the pulpits as candidate advocacy groups, then let's remove all tax exemptions from churches.
But congratulations to the Religious Right for cowing the IRS into not pursuing these violations of the law for fear of causing a huge political stink. Yay for freedom!
Originally shared by +Les Jenkins:
This is annoying. Part of the price churches pay for their tax exempt status is not endorsing candidates. If you want to endorse candidates from the pulpit then pay taxes like the rest of us. The longer the IRS ignores this issue the more of them that are going to flaunt the rules.
Rogue pastors endorse candidates, but IRS looks away
A record number of rogue Christian pastors are endorsing candidates from the pulpit this election cycle, using Sunday sermons to defiantly flout tax rules. Their message to the IRS: Sue me. But the tax agency is doing anything but. Although the IRS was sued itself for not enforcing the law and admitted about 100 churches may be breaking the rules,…
Well, if the IRS is ignoring it for fear of causing a political stink, then they need to know that the act of ignoring it also causes political stink. How do we do that?
+Kingsley Lintz Raise a bigger stink than the "IRS IS VIOLATING MY RELIGION AND TARGETING THE PATRIOTS ON OBAMA'S ENEMY LIST FREEDOM FREEDOM FREEDOM!" folk.