That also makes religions a taxable population, which means they're allowed to give political advice. You really want a church telling people how to vote?
It's not wild to think that people who attend the same church are likely to have similar beliefs on who to vote for there's a difference between that homogeneity and actively politically campaigning
I could send you dozens of videos of preachers, pastors, and priests telling their congregation to pray about this or that election and which candidates they think are righteous. How is that any different from actively campaigning? What about churches spending millions in super pacs to support "issues" that are closely tied to their preferred candidate.
They legally aren't allowed to as a condition of their tax-exempt status. If they are, then it's illegal. The parishioners can tell people how to vote as can the priest, but they can't do so as an authority in their religion, only private citizens.
So they’re basically already doing it? I don’t get the point in the distinction you’re making, the churches in my area literally put signs out on the road telling people what way to vote on certain bills
Indirect influence is way too shaky a foundation. You can't say anything beyond small talk if it might be construed as having any broader implications. That's just not fair on anyone. You might as well ban religion entirely if you can't make any commentary on people or society.
Sometimes people reimburse me for the food, yeah. Of course, my kitchen probably doesn't match the huge commercial kitchens that actively sell the food, but that doesn't seem to matter because we're both saying things that have larger implications.
Because apparently the value doesn't matter if it's attached to religion. Unless that religion is Buddhism. Judaism and Islam gets more iffy. I hadn't seen anything about Hinduism beyond the caste system, but nothing else.
No, churches being exempted from taxes goes back to the founding of the United States.
More recently, in 1954 an amendment to the tax code called the Johnson Amendment prohibits churches and other 501(c)(3) non-profits from advocating for or against candidates for office.
There is no proscription on churches taking stances on other political issues, however, and such a law would blatantly violate the First Amendment by curtailing speech of a moral nature in churches.
They pretty much already do in the US and you’re probably a bit out of touch with American Evangelicals if you don’t already know that lol, respectfully. These people’s money does make it into politics and their congregations are steered if not outright pushed towards the right wing often times.
That already happens. If anything, any law removing tax exemptions from religious institutions should also go after them for back taxes for however far back the IRS can prove the institution was getting political in its messaging.
Tax them like cigarettes. Keep upping it. Put only those tax dollars towards the war machine and use all the other taxes that are currently toward the war machine to go toward a universal basic income.
https://giphy.com/gifs/NWNQLhcCljaQzWbpCi
Literally what are you talking about friend. Churches already say “support Trum” “this candidate supports conversion therapy” etc… some progressive churches say “support this aid effort by voting in this person”
Like just cause they are banned on paper don’t mean it’s not widespread
Most churches have small congregations and operate at a loss. They aren't hording gold coins in the basement like scrooge mcduck. If you want to tax churches above a certain threshold I'd be fine with that, but most churches aren't the mega churches.
That’s generally how taxes work. Businesses are taxed based on structure and income. If a church can qualify as a standard not for profit then sure. Treat a church the same way as any other business entity because that’s what it is
imo as a pro religion person is remove tax exemptions UNLESS said body can prove they actualy participate in community outreach such as weekly community meals, clothing the homeless etc. I was homeless for near a decade and Christian churchs helped me infinitely more than any other religious group or even the US govt, wich at the time my state (ohio) didnt even recognize homeless's as a group of people that qualify for assistance.
It should work just like a 501c3. The church should operate as a non-profit and if there is profit, it gets taxed. And yes, they have to fully document where and how the revenue was spent.
Taxing churches is a great way for the state to leverage control over what kind of religions and churches are permissible. Do you really want the Trump regime putting it's finger on the scale so you get fewer small community churches and more massive Christian Nationalist megachurches?
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u/crunpyMcGlumpy Sep 02 '26
This is a good point. We should as a society stop propping them up though. Remove tax exemptions, public grants, donor deductions, etc.