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mrfish: I think there are some religious leaders who are sincere in their beliefs and do not abuse the privilege of tax exemption, but there are too many corrupt individuals who are just in it for the money as you say. Although I lean towards doing away with tax exempt status for churches I don't mind that it exists for the sake of the good people who benefit from it.

If Trump really wanted to help out the middle class he'd end tax exempt status for churches. The amount of money that would come rolling into state and federal coffers would be incredible. We'd easily be able to afford socialized medicine with the money or he could build his stupid wall or whatever. On top of that he could seriously cut the tax rate paid by middle class workers!

I used to think that; but from what I've actually seen, churches help out those in need a lot more efficiently than the government. At least the ones around here do!

camel wrote:If Trump really wanted to help out the middle class he'd end tax exempt status for churches. The amount of money that would come rolling into state and federal coffers would be incredible. We'd easily be able to afford socialized medicine with the money or he could build his stupid wall or whatever. On top of that he could seriously cut the tax rate paid by middle class workers!

That's a practical argument for ending the tax exempt status of churches. But philosophically, the government should not enable irrational beliefs. I think that's why we have a separation of church and state. Some (not all) of the forefathers understood that irrational beliefs undermine the stability of society. Religion may be a comforting crutch to the feeble-minded, but ultimately it creates an unhealthy dependency that cripples the soul.

Tax exemption is not so much enabling as it is allowing the free market to exist unencumbered. What's the big deal? These people already paid taxes on the money they donated. I've been told by social workers that the cost of administering welfare far exceeds the benefits that are actually paid out to it's recipients.

If you want to save some money stop paying subsidies! What we pay farmers not to grow food pales in comparison to those who are getting rich producing fake energy from wind farms.