CBS DC: IRS Getting Pressured To Crack Down On Televangelists Following John Oliver’s Segment

[nonniey]

Seeing the empire and stranglehold that Pat Robertson built in Virginia Beach when I lived there...makes me disagree with every tax exemption given to religion (and any religion). 

Power to tax is the Power to destroy. Bottomline you propose the end Freedom of Religion.

[TradeTheBeal!]

Power to tax is the Power to destroy. Bottomline you propose the end Freedom of Religion.

Hogwash. Taxation of televangelists does equate to the end of religious freedom...at all.

[twa]

Power to tax is the Power to destroy. Bottomline you propose the end Freedom of Religion.

 

I agree,but a cap might be nice...it would at least spread it out a bit.

 

of course I'm from the local,independent, body line.

[Springfield]

Catholic priests take a vow of poverty. Should they be allowed to receive government aid like medicaid and food stamps? Should the Little Sisters of the Poor receive free government housing?

Most of the priests I've ever met drive fairly nice cars and dress very nicely.

I know, don't judge a book by its cover, but most people I know that live in poverty can't afford new cars or fancy things like suits.

[nonniey]

Hogwash. Taxation of televangelists does equate to the end of religious freedom...at all.

Learn to read.  He is proposing the power to tax all religions besides just taxing evangelists. And there is no disputing what I said about the power to tax. Any organization, business, etc that is taxed  operates by sufferance of the State.

[PeterMP]

Catholic priests take a vow of poverty.  Should they be allowed to receive government aid like medicaid and food stamps?  Should the Little Sisters of the Poor receive free government housing?

 

This isn't true.  I'm not sure of the numbers, but I'd even be willing to hazard a guess that more than 1/2 of priests don't take a vow of poverty.

 

I've known some very wealthy priests.

 

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=46343

http://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2008/11/20/the-priesthood-and-the-vow-of-poverty/

 

Count me as one that is for getting rid of tax exemption for non-profits in general including and especially religious institutions.

Most of the priests I've ever met drive fairly nice cars and dress very nicely.

I know, don't judge a book by its cover, but most people I know that live in poverty can't afford new cars or fancy things like suits.

 

Most of the priests I've known drive cars owned by the parish.  I've known very few priest that own their own car, and most parishes I've been associated with have owned fewer cars than priests (so the priest have to share).

 

That's one way you end up with wealthy priests.  They actually have pretty few expenses (no kids, no housing costs, no car, etc.)

 

Now, they don't make much either in general, but for example if you inherit money and you're aren't overly extravagant, you can end up pretty wealthy.

[visionary]

This isn't true.  I'm not sure of the numbers, but I'd even be willing to hazard a guess that more than 1/2 of priests don't take a vow of poverty.

 

I've known some very wealthy priests.

 

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=46343

http://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2008/11/20/the-priesthood-and-the-vow-of-poverty/

 

Count me as one that is for getting rid of tax exemption for non-profits in general including and especially religious institutions.

I never really noticed any wealthy priests around here. Seemed like they usually wore the same outfits and lived in their rectories.

[Springfield]

This isn't true. I'm not sure of the numbers, but I'd even be willing to hazard a guess that more than 1/2 of priests don't take a vow of poverty.

I've known some very wealthy priests.

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=46343

http://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2008/11/20/the-priesthood-and-the-vow-of-poverty/

Count me as one that is for getting rid of tax exemption for non-profits in general including and especially religious institutions.

Most of the priest I've known drive cars owned by the parish. I've known very few priest that own their own car, and most parishes I've been associated with have owned fewer cars than priest (so the priest have to share).

That's one way you end up with wealthy priest. They actually have pretty few expenses (no kids, no housing costs, no car, etc.)

Now, they don't make much either in general, but for example if you inherit money and you're aren't overly extravagant, you can end up pretty wealthy.

That's probably more accurate Peter. Not many expenses, especially the ones that are a boon on most common folk (rent/mortgage, car loan/repairs, kids, child care, etc). Seems like all the major expenses are paid.

[PeterMP]

I never really noticed any wealthy priests around here. Seemed like they usually wore the same outfits and lived in their rectories.

 

The vast majority of priests I've known weren't wealthy.  

 

I've known a few that were.  

 

I've never known a priest that didn't live in the rectory.

[Zguy28]

The vast majority of priests I've known weren't wealthy.  

 

I've known a few that were.  

 

I've never known a priest that didn't live in the rectory.

I'm not Catholic obviously, but this doesn't apply to Protestant ministers wholly. Many live in parsonages, and many of those are falling down junk piles, but many do not either (they have mortgages like everybody else). Most pastors can barely pay their bills and have nobody to take care of them and their spouse when they are old. Its why churches like mine support a "Adopt and Annuitant" program which is sort of like a Social Security for ministers.

[Elessar78]

Most of the priests I've ever met drive fairly nice cars and dress very nicely.

I know, don't judge a book by its cover, but most people I know that live in poverty can't afford new cars or fancy things like suits.

We had a parish priest once roll up in a nice, shiny black new SUV. It drew looks from the congregants for sure. But the truth was that his parents bought it for him. 

 

How do they "dress very nicely"? I just ask because I've never NEVER seen a Catholic priest not wearing his black shirt, black pants and collar. 

[Slateman]

Does this mean the IRS will also crack down on other charities that seem to not spend a lot of money on their charitable causes?

[MEANDWARF]

MASS SHOOTINGS, TERRORISM, POLITICAL CORRUPTION, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, HOMELESSNESS, FINANCIAL TURMOIL, FULL HOUSE REUNION, DISEASE, FAMINE.......

But yes, yes, yes let's start by ridding tax exempt status to all religious organizations.

[TradeTheBeal!]

Yes...let's absolutely do that. Our country would benefit greatly from the church enjoying equal participation in American society. The church would also benefit from a new policy of transparency and accountability. It's a win-win.

[Springfield]

We had a parish priest once roll up in a nice, shiny black new SUV. It drew looks from the congregants for sure. But the truth was that his parents bought it for him.

How do they "dress very nicely"? I just ask because I've never NEVER seen a Catholic priest not wearing his black shirt, black pants and collar.

That's nicer than cargo shorts and a tee shirt.

[Zguy28]

Yes...let's absolutely do that. Our country would benefit greatly from the church enjoying equal participation in American society. The church would also benefit from a new policy of transparency and accountability? It's a win-win.

Churches publish their budgets and treasurers reports with expenses etc. They also get audited by the IRS. We just went through one. It was very expensive to prepare for, but we came through fine. Is that not transparent and accountable or do you really want a version of Sarbanes-Oxley for religion?

[TradeTheBeal!]

Churches publish their budgets and treasurers reports with expenses etc. They also get audited by the IRS. We just went through one. It was very expensive to prepare for, but we came through fine. Is that not transparent and accountable or do you really want a version of Sarbanes-Oxley for religion?

That's exactly what we need, or.....end all organized political advocacy. If you can't respect the Separation of Church and State, then you will pay your share. It's kinda like when a child learns to tie his shoes....If you wanna go run and play with the big boys, you gotta learn to put your own shoes on.

[MEANDWARF]

Getting off topic.

What about Labor Unions? They receive tax-exemptions and are always involved in political activites. Isn't that a conflict of interest?

[The Evil Genius]

It's really not just churches as I would purge most of the list of 501c that have tax exemptions. 

 

But since this thread was about televangelists...to me, by giving religious institutions some type of tax exempt status, the government (through the IRS) is promoting religion. To me (again), freedom of religion also covers freedom from religion. 

 

If people want a church. Then they can pay for it directly. We all should not have to pay indirectly for churches/temples/mosques. 

[MEANDWARF]

This is 4 years old, so therefore those receiving tax exceptions may have changed.

 

For an organization to qualify under a 501©(3) exemption, it must be organized for one or more of the following purposes:

Charitable
Religious
Educational
Scientific
Literary
Testing for public safety
Fostering national or international amateur sports competition
The prevention of cruelty to children or animals
Additional tax exemptions exist under separate sections of the IRC for groups including: labor unions, chambers of commerce, social and recreational clubs, fraternal societies, civic leagues, credit unions, farmers’ coops and mutual insurance companies, and legal service organizations.

 

Find it interesting that both Religious and Scientic Organizations are listed together.

[Bang]

MASS SHOOTINGS, TERRORISM, POLITICAL CORRUPTION, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, HOMELESSNESS, FINANCIAL TURMOIL, FULL HOUSE REUNION, DISEASE, FAMINE.......

But yes, yes, yes let's start by ridding tax exempt status to all religious organizations.

 

Mass shootings : no movement, never any movement, and factions of our government are advocating guns in church.

 

Terrorism; being addressed with a tremendous amount of money and military deployment, lives and blood. A huge chunk of our annual expenditure is under the heading of fighting terrorism.

 

Political corruption: Wait,, we expect government to do something about how corrupt they are? May as well wait for the cows to not only come home, but learn to drive themselves home.

Domestic Violence..  well, what is it you want to do about that that is not being done? Shall we put monitors in people's homes?

 

Homelessness: well,   there is one side of the aisle that claims all sorts of exclusiveness when it comes to following the will o' God, and they always seem to vote against any measures that will help homeless people.. so...  

 

Financial turmoil,,, lol. What supports this continually happening? why do we live in a society where thievery is sold to suckers as 'free market' ? Some try to get results, and are quickly stopped by those in the pockets of the financial institutions that bleed us dry.

 

Financial turmoil could also fall under the heading of massive and major fraud committed in the name of the Lawd on people who live on fixed incomes and public assistance.

 

Full House reunion,,  yes, i am in full agreement here. this is clearly a sign of the apocalypse.

 

Disease..  well,,   again,,  why do our pharma companies fght tooth and nail against health reforms? Because we're a cash cow, and there is no money in curing anything. treatment can keep a wallet alive until it's empty.

and again, we have factions in our government that make damn sure we are bled to the fullest. when you can buy the same medications in canada for 600% less than you can here, it's pretty obvious why "disease" is still a problem.

(We also have a group trying their best to bring back eradicated diseases by claiming to know better than all medical science has recorded up until this point.)

 

Famine..   see homelessness, and then consider who assists in keeping people poor and hungry

 

 

So now,, we're not wanting to START with examining tax fraud or tax exemption statuses..   

maybe we could do it while we do everything else that needs fixing due to misuse and abuse by those it was intended to benefit.

 

~Bang

[mcsluggo]

We had a parish priest once roll up in a nice, shiny black new SUV. It drew looks from the congregants for sure. But the truth was that his parents bought it for him. 

 

How do they "dress very nicely"? I just ask because I've never NEVER seen a Catholic priest not wearing his black shirt, black pants and collar. 

 

Clerical collars and vestments by Armani... when you really want to wow the crowds 

[MEANDWARF]

Thanks Bang but my post #88 was meant as a sarcastic joke(maybe a bad one). But appreciate the time spent in responding to it.

I especially agree with the last part in which the IRS should investigate all oraganiztions that misuse funds or abuse donations. Bravo!

[Bang]

And for the record, Mr. Dwarf, I am not one who wants to do away with tax exempt statuses for churches.

I would like to see the frauds and snake oil sellers taken down hard, and i think aside from the overall public good it would bring, it would also be tremendously beneficial to actual churches and religious organizations.

 

I'm a pretty obvious atheist, but i am not one who wants to ruin your belief or nail the doors of the churches shut. I think church as a community entity is a good thing, even if i don't believe the bottom principle.

 

I think the televangelists and frauds who use religion as their hook are among the lowest scumbags on earth, and i really feel for those who they prey upon.

 

~Bang
 

[PleaseBlitz]

Learn to read.  He is proposing the power to tax all religions besides just taxing evangelists. And there is no disputing what I said about the power to tax. Any organization, business, etc that is taxed  operates by sufferance of the State.

 

Seems to be working ok for EVERY OTHER BUSINESS (except college sports).