Church forcing State involvement?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

You don't think religious people should have access to your court system?  This is the equivalent of saying the laws don't apply to religious people. That's kind of stupid.

Boru

Seems to me that if they want the benefit of the courts they should have to pay their fair share of taxes to help support the justice system.

Just a thought.

In a sense, by not paying taxes, churches are indeed paying their 'fair share' - they are paying what the law requires.  Atheists may not like it (I certainly don't), but they aren't doing anything illegal or unfair: they are paying what the law requires.  That it happens to be nothing (in most cases) doesn't make it unfair.

Would you extend that restriction to people who don't make enough money to pay taxes in the first place?  If you get a tax refund, should that curtail your legal rights?

Boru

[onlinebiker]

Seems to me that if they want the benefit of the courts they should have to pay their fair share of taxes to help support the justice system.

Just a thought.

In a sense, by not paying taxes, churches are indeed paying their 'fair share' - they are paying what the law requires.  Atheists may not like it (I certainly don't), but they aren't doing anything illegal or unfair: they are paying what the law requires.  That it happens to be nothing (in most cases) doesn't make it unfair.

Would you extend that restriction to people who don't make enough money to pay taxes in the first place?  If you get a tax refund, should that curtail your legal rights?

Boru

How old are you?

A tax refund isn' t a gift. It' s you getting back what you overpaid in taxes.

So did you not know that or was that simply the worst comparrison you' ve ever made?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

In a sense, by not paying taxes, churches are indeed paying their 'fair share' - they are paying what the law requires.  Atheists may not like it (I certainly don't), but they aren't doing anything illegal or unfair: they are paying what the law requires.  That it happens to be nothing (in most cases) doesn't make it unfair.

Would you extend that restriction to people who don't make enough money to pay taxes in the first place?  If you get a tax refund, should that curtail your legal rights?

Boru

How old are you?

A tax refund isn' t a gift. It' s you getting back what you overpaid in taxes.

So did you not know that or was that simply the worst comparrison you' ve ever made?

I'm 49.

Who said it was a gift?

I've made worse comparrisons [sic].

But you miss the point entirely.  Should access to justice be determined by how much or how little one pays in taxes?  You seemed to think it was a good idea when applied to churches, how about to people?  If we lived in the same country and I paid more tax than you, should I get better access to the court system?

Boru

[Lemon Curry]

Religtardology is a business and it's fuckin' BIG business.

Those at the top of the respective religtard food chains sell salvation for which the recipient pays.

The cat licker crutch, er church, is the richest entity on the planet.  The church of England isn't far behind.  The dumb twat, justin welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, once castigated pay day lenders in the UK for charging such excessive fees and for causing borrowers to end up in spiralling debt.  It transpired, a few days later, that the church of England was a major shareholder in the holding company of a major UK pay day lender (Wonga).  

peter popoff, the televangalist, was collecting almost $4 million per year in the late 1980s, according to James Randi.  In 2003, his ministry received over $9.6 million, and in 2005, over $23 million. In that year, he and his wife were paid a combined salary of nearly $1 million, while two of his children received over $180,000 each. Financial data is not available for Popoff's ministry after 2005 because Peter Popoff Ministries changed from a for-profit business to a religious organization, making it tax-exempt. Popoff purchased a home in Bradbury, California, for $4.5 million in 2007. He drives a Porsche and a .

Tax the churches,  They are businesses regardless of their claims otherwise.

[The Grand Nudger]

In a sense, by not paying taxes, churches are indeed paying their 'fair share' - they are paying what the law requires.  Atheists may not like it (I certainly don't), but they aren't doing anything illegal or unfair: they are paying what the law requires.  That it happens to be nothing (in most cases) doesn't make it unfair.

Would you extend that restriction to people who don't make enough money to pay taxes in the first place?  If you get a tax refund, should that curtail your legal rights?

Boru

Not quite the case in the US.  That tax status comes with strings attached, and american churches routinely break their end of the agreement. As the majority of churches operate, they disqualify themselves. It's just not something that there's any political will to push.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

In a sense, by not paying taxes, churches are indeed paying their 'fair share' - they are paying what the law requires.  Atheists may not like it (I certainly don't), but they aren't doing anything illegal or unfair: they are paying what the law requires.  That it happens to be nothing (in most cases) doesn't make it unfair.

Would you extend that restriction to people who don't make enough money to pay taxes in the first place?  If you get a tax refund, should that curtail your legal rights?

Boru

Not quite the case in the US.  That tax status comes with strings attached, and american churches routinely break their end of the agreement.  As the majority of churches operate, they disqualify themselves.  It's just not something that there's any political will to push.

Fair enough.  If I use tax dodges to avoid paying my fair share of taxes, should I have fewer legal rights than someone else?

Boru

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Religtardology is a business and it's fuckin' BIG business.

Those at the top of the respective religtard food chains sell salvation for which the recipient pays.

The cat licker crutch, er church, is the richest entity on the planet.  The church of England isn't far behind.  The dumb twat, justin welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, once castigated pay day lenders in the UK for charging such excessive fees and for causing borrowers to end up in spiralling debt.  It transpired, a few days later, that the church of England was a major shareholder in the holding company of a major UK pay day lender (Wonga).  

peter popoff, the televangalist, was collecting almost $4 million per year in the late 1980s, according to James Randi.  In 2003, his ministry received over $9.6 million, and in 2005, over $23 million. In that year, he and his wife were paid a combined salary of nearly $1 million, while two of his children received over $180,000 each. Financial data is not available for Popoff's ministry after 2005 because Peter Popoff Ministries changed from a for-profit business to a religious organization, making it tax-exempt. Popoff purchased a home in Bradbury, California, for $4.5 million in 2007. He drives a Porsche and a .[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Popoff#cite_note-44][/url]

Tax the churches,  They are businesses regardless of their claims otherwise.

Not really the point.  The argument isn't about whether churches should be taxed (and I agree that they should) but whether not paying tax limits their access to the justice system.

Boru

[The Grand Nudger]

No. ofc not..but I will say this-  For most of us..if we were engaged in tax fraud, having the state involved in resolving our property disputes would be the very last thing we wanted, lol.

I don't think that Biker was making any argument about whether or not they pay taxes or that not paying taxes means they can't go to court, only that they may be looking for the state to adjudicate a sectarian squabble.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

No. ofc not..but I will say this-  For most of us..if we were engaged in tax fraud, having the state involved in resolving our property disputes would be the very last thing we wanted, lol.

Sorry, trouble with the language.  'Tax dodge' isn't the same as 'tax fraud'.  The term means more taking advantage of loopholes. 

It's not a sectarian squabble.  It's a real estate squabble.  The fact that one religious group is taking another religious group to court doesn't matter.

Boru

[The Grand Nudger]

The loopholes comes with strings attached, american churches commonly break their end of that bargain. Its fraud.