EducatedOwl
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Also the decade that added "In God We Trust" to currency, if I'm not mistaken.
"... under God"
- Thread starter BoyNextDoor
- Start date
Also the decade that added "In God We Trust" to currency, if I'm not mistaken.
Boxlicker101
Licker of Boxes
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Quote:
Originally Posted by richard_daily View Post
Or they'll just change the pledge back to it's original version, which didn't include the words "under god".
I can't say for sure about other schools but, in the elementary school I attended, everybody started the day with the pledge of allegiance. Public meetings were begun that way too. When those two words were added, everybody stumbled over it. Eventually, I suppose, people got used to the new version. We did not recite it in high school.
That was in the early 1950's, and I always thought the change was pointless. No students I know of ever complained, partly because to do so would have earned a whack on the side of the head. I mean that literally, by the way. To me it's no big deal, but I can't help thinking it is establishing a religion.
Originally Posted by richard_daily View Post
Or they'll just change the pledge back to it's original version, which didn't include the words "under god".
I can't say for sure about other schools but, in the elementary school I attended, everybody started the day with the pledge of allegiance. Public meetings were begun that way too. When those two words were added, everybody stumbled over it. Eventually, I suppose, people got used to the new version. We did not recite it in high school.
That was in the early 1950's, and I always thought the change was pointless. No students I know of ever complained, partly because to do so would have earned a whack on the side of the head. I mean that literally, by the way. To me it's no big deal, but I can't help thinking it is establishing a religion.
FGB
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What a bunch of cockroaches. The best part of you people ran down your daddy's leg.
No not Cockroaches...Vipers.
**************************************************************
http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/tax-exempt-status.html
Are churches automatically exempt from federal income tax?
Most of the time...yes. It should be clear that your organization is definitely a church.
Note: Although churches are exempt from filing 990 tax returns, ministries are NOT exempt.
If you have filed for tax exempt recognition from the IRS with a 1023 form and been approved, check your 501(c)(3) letter and see what the IRS classified you as.
"Look at the upper right hand corner where it says public charity status. Does it say "170(b)(1)(A)(i)", or does it say "170(b)(1)(A)(vi)? Now take a look below where it says "Form 990 required:" does yours say "yes" or "No?" If your letter says "170(b)(1)(A)(vi)" and "yes", then you have been classified as a ministry." Excerpt from Paul Riviera's article: Young Church Forgets to File Tax Return, IRS Penalties Pile Up!
What is a 501(c)(3)?
Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3)is the portion of the tax code that gives certain entities the right to receive tax deductible contributions.
What are the qualifications for tax exempt status?
An organization must meet the following requirements to qualify:
•The organization must be organized and operated exclusively for religious, educational, scientific, or other charitable purposes
•Net earnings may not inure to the benefit of any private individual or shareholder
•No substantial part of its activity may be attempting to influence legislation
•The organization may not intervene in political campaigns
•The organization’s purposes and activities may not be illegal or violate fundamental public policy
Churches that meet the requirements of IRC section 501(c)(3) are automatically considered tax exempt and are not required to apply for and obtain recognition of tax exempt status from the IRS.
Although there is no requirement to do so, many churches seek recognition of tax-exemption from the IRS.
One reason is that without the IRS's official recognition of tax exemption ... the burden of proof of tax deductible contributions is on your donors if ever audited.
To apply for recognition of tax exempt status from the IRS you will need to complete and file IRS Form 1023. This is a complicated form. I would strongly recommend doing some research and/or seeking a tax professional's advice if you decide to go that route.
Note: Although most churches are exempt from filing and paying federal income taxes, they may not be exempt from state taxes. Contact your state's tax agency to see what taxes your church is exempt from paying.
For more information on tax exempt staus and churches download this publication form the IRS site: Internal Revenue Service’s Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations
No not Cockroaches...Vipers.
**************************************************************
http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/tax-exempt-status.html
Are churches automatically exempt from federal income tax?
Most of the time...yes. It should be clear that your organization is definitely a church.
Note: Although churches are exempt from filing 990 tax returns, ministries are NOT exempt.
If you have filed for tax exempt recognition from the IRS with a 1023 form and been approved, check your 501(c)(3) letter and see what the IRS classified you as.
"Look at the upper right hand corner where it says public charity status. Does it say "170(b)(1)(A)(i)", or does it say "170(b)(1)(A)(vi)? Now take a look below where it says "Form 990 required:" does yours say "yes" or "No?" If your letter says "170(b)(1)(A)(vi)" and "yes", then you have been classified as a ministry." Excerpt from Paul Riviera's article: Young Church Forgets to File Tax Return, IRS Penalties Pile Up!
What is a 501(c)(3)?
Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3)is the portion of the tax code that gives certain entities the right to receive tax deductible contributions.
What are the qualifications for tax exempt status?
An organization must meet the following requirements to qualify:
•The organization must be organized and operated exclusively for religious, educational, scientific, or other charitable purposes
•Net earnings may not inure to the benefit of any private individual or shareholder
•No substantial part of its activity may be attempting to influence legislation
•The organization may not intervene in political campaigns
•The organization’s purposes and activities may not be illegal or violate fundamental public policy
Churches that meet the requirements of IRC section 501(c)(3) are automatically considered tax exempt and are not required to apply for and obtain recognition of tax exempt status from the IRS.
Although there is no requirement to do so, many churches seek recognition of tax-exemption from the IRS.
One reason is that without the IRS's official recognition of tax exemption ... the burden of proof of tax deductible contributions is on your donors if ever audited.
To apply for recognition of tax exempt status from the IRS you will need to complete and file IRS Form 1023. This is a complicated form. I would strongly recommend doing some research and/or seeking a tax professional's advice if you decide to go that route.
Note: Although most churches are exempt from filing and paying federal income taxes, they may not be exempt from state taxes. Contact your state's tax agency to see what taxes your church is exempt from paying.
For more information on tax exempt staus and churches download this publication form the IRS site: Internal Revenue Service’s Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations
Last edited:
renard_ruse
Break up Amazon
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In fact, anything that does NOT mention God discriminates against theists. Theists are constantly discriminated against when they enter a government building or school and see no reference to God. This violates their right to equal protection.
By requiring the removal of references to God this makes atheism the de facto favored state religion or religious philosophy. This MUST change and references to God expanded to a near constant basis in all aspects of the public life.
Liar
now with 17% more class
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In that case...
This sentence did not mention God. You are disctriminating against theists.
FGB
Literotica Guru
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http://townhall.com/news/religion/2012/03/12/firstperson_why_should_churches_be_taxexempt
FIRST-PERSON: Why should churches be tax-exempt?
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (BP) -- Why is your church tax exempt? Why should it continue to be tax exempt? If I were to sit down and ask you these questions, would you have a clear and coherent answer? I suspect this is something we seldom think about. After all, tax exemption for churches has always been given and we assume, because of its historical longevity, it always will be given.
The fact that many Americans cannot explain why churches are tax exempt indicates a forgotten history and is emblematic of a society that has systematically devalued the church as a beneficial societal institution.
Whenever I litigate a case about church tax exemption or speak about the Alliance Defense Fund's Pulpit Freedom Sunday, the inevitable media comments go something like this: "Churches should pay taxes just like everyone else! They have tons of money, so why can't they pay their fair share? Why should churches get a free ride? Make them pay!" Comments like these are more prevalent today than any other time I can remember.
Cases involving local governments attempting to tax churches are also becoming more prevalent. For example, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) recently litigated and won a case against the city of Mission, Kan., for attempting to impose a "driveway tax" on churches. Or consider the case of Liberty Assembly of God in New Hampshire which was slapped with a property tax bill simply because the local taxing authorities said some rooms were not being used for a religious purpose.
So why should churches be tax exempt? There are very sound and valid reasons for church tax exemption. First, there is the "social benefit" theory of tax exemption. This recognizes the fact that churches provide great benefits to society by their good works. Churches minister to the poor and needy in the community, provide numerous social services for the downtrodden among us, and reach out to the "least of these" in thousands of different ways. The social benefit theory justifies tax exemption for churches as a kind of bargain -- churches provide needed services, so they are entitled to tax exemption.
One corollary of the "social benefit" theory that is often overlooked is what I have termed the "intangible benefit" theory of tax exemption. This highlights the intangible and often unseen benefits provided by churches to the community. Things like reduced crime rates resulting from transformed lives, suicides prevented when people surrender to Christ, and people with destructive behavioral patterns that harm the community changing into hard-working and virtuous citizens who contribute to the well-being of the community. It is difficult to put a price tag on these types of intangible benefits provided by churches, but there is no question that they exist.
An interesting study conducted a few years ago attempted to put a value on the economic worth of one church. The study estimated that the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia provided over 6 million dollars of economic value to the community, a figure that is nearly 10 times the church's annual budget.
It is easy to see the benefits provided by churches. In fact, churches provide more social services and intangible benefits to the community than they would ever pay in taxes. It makes no sense to tax churches because the tax dollars taken from the church reduce the amount of benefits it can provide to the community. In a very real sense, taxing churches harms society.
But there is also a constitutional reason why churches are tax exempt. Our history is one of an unbroken practice of exempting churches from taxation. Churches were exempt from the very first time the tax code was passed at the federal level, and have remained exempt in every iteration of the tax code ever since. Every state in America also exempts churches from property taxes. When the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case regarding the property tax exemption of churches, called Walz v. Tax Commission, it stated that providing a tax exemption for churches was a less intrusive option under the Constitution than requiring churches to pay taxes.
That makes sense when you stop and think about it. As the Supreme Court said in a very early case, "The power to tax involves the power to control." Taxation is, in essence, a very strong assertion of control by a sovereign over its subjects. Exempting churches is a way to ensure that the state cannot control churches.
Overall, there are very good reasons why churches are tax exempt. We need to remember these reasons and proclaim them to others in society who reflexively shout that the church should pay its fair share. We should take up the cause of passionate defenders of church tax exemption like Kentucky state Rep. Whittaker of the 19th century. During the debates on the Kentucky Constitution in 1890, he loudly proclaimed, "Let an untaxed Gospel be preached, in an untaxed church-house, from an untaxed pulpit; let the emblem of a crucified, but risen Christ be administered from an untaxed altar, and, as the spire points heavenward, let it stand forever untaxed." Amen.
Erik Stanley is senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, online at telladf.org
Copyright (c) 2012 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press www.BPNews.net
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FIRST-PERSON: Why should churches be tax-exempt?
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (BP) -- Why is your church tax exempt? Why should it continue to be tax exempt? If I were to sit down and ask you these questions, would you have a clear and coherent answer? I suspect this is something we seldom think about. After all, tax exemption for churches has always been given and we assume, because of its historical longevity, it always will be given.
The fact that many Americans cannot explain why churches are tax exempt indicates a forgotten history and is emblematic of a society that has systematically devalued the church as a beneficial societal institution.
Whenever I litigate a case about church tax exemption or speak about the Alliance Defense Fund's Pulpit Freedom Sunday, the inevitable media comments go something like this: "Churches should pay taxes just like everyone else! They have tons of money, so why can't they pay their fair share? Why should churches get a free ride? Make them pay!" Comments like these are more prevalent today than any other time I can remember.
Cases involving local governments attempting to tax churches are also becoming more prevalent. For example, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) recently litigated and won a case against the city of Mission, Kan., for attempting to impose a "driveway tax" on churches. Or consider the case of Liberty Assembly of God in New Hampshire which was slapped with a property tax bill simply because the local taxing authorities said some rooms were not being used for a religious purpose.
So why should churches be tax exempt? There are very sound and valid reasons for church tax exemption. First, there is the "social benefit" theory of tax exemption. This recognizes the fact that churches provide great benefits to society by their good works. Churches minister to the poor and needy in the community, provide numerous social services for the downtrodden among us, and reach out to the "least of these" in thousands of different ways. The social benefit theory justifies tax exemption for churches as a kind of bargain -- churches provide needed services, so they are entitled to tax exemption.
One corollary of the "social benefit" theory that is often overlooked is what I have termed the "intangible benefit" theory of tax exemption. This highlights the intangible and often unseen benefits provided by churches to the community. Things like reduced crime rates resulting from transformed lives, suicides prevented when people surrender to Christ, and people with destructive behavioral patterns that harm the community changing into hard-working and virtuous citizens who contribute to the well-being of the community. It is difficult to put a price tag on these types of intangible benefits provided by churches, but there is no question that they exist.
An interesting study conducted a few years ago attempted to put a value on the economic worth of one church. The study estimated that the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia provided over 6 million dollars of economic value to the community, a figure that is nearly 10 times the church's annual budget.
It is easy to see the benefits provided by churches. In fact, churches provide more social services and intangible benefits to the community than they would ever pay in taxes. It makes no sense to tax churches because the tax dollars taken from the church reduce the amount of benefits it can provide to the community. In a very real sense, taxing churches harms society.
But there is also a constitutional reason why churches are tax exempt. Our history is one of an unbroken practice of exempting churches from taxation. Churches were exempt from the very first time the tax code was passed at the federal level, and have remained exempt in every iteration of the tax code ever since. Every state in America also exempts churches from property taxes. When the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case regarding the property tax exemption of churches, called Walz v. Tax Commission, it stated that providing a tax exemption for churches was a less intrusive option under the Constitution than requiring churches to pay taxes.
That makes sense when you stop and think about it. As the Supreme Court said in a very early case, "The power to tax involves the power to control." Taxation is, in essence, a very strong assertion of control by a sovereign over its subjects. Exempting churches is a way to ensure that the state cannot control churches.
Overall, there are very good reasons why churches are tax exempt. We need to remember these reasons and proclaim them to others in society who reflexively shout that the church should pay its fair share. We should take up the cause of passionate defenders of church tax exemption like Kentucky state Rep. Whittaker of the 19th century. During the debates on the Kentucky Constitution in 1890, he loudly proclaimed, "Let an untaxed Gospel be preached, in an untaxed church-house, from an untaxed pulpit; let the emblem of a crucified, but risen Christ be administered from an untaxed altar, and, as the spire points heavenward, let it stand forever untaxed." Amen.
Erik Stanley is senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, online at telladf.org
Copyright (c) 2012 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press www.BPNews.net
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mark197205
Sgt Cervix Basher
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When will you learn to multi-quote?
renard_ruse
Break up Amazon
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If I worked for the government, it very well might. Government letterhead or webpage might need to mention God to comply with equal protection.
BoyNextDoor
I hate liars
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Next ... someone is going to say that we are a "Christian nation founded on Christian principles" and then add a nice cut and past to prove it. Or maybe someone truly enlightened will say we are a "Judeo-Christian nation"
In McCulloch v. Maryland in 1819, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote:
The case weighed whether or not the federal government was constitutionally exempt from state (and, by inference, local government) taxation.
Marshall also wrote for the decision, that states...
Please further note that he specifically wrote...
...which has an entirely different meaning than laws enacted by Congress.
Actually, that America was blessed with innumerable founders and framers who devoutly feared God...
...there can be absolutely no question about (and feared, as intended, means revered).
Here's a thread created to underline that truth:
For God and my Country
Of course, they mostly could differentiate between God and religion, just as the Nazarene did...
...but, that's a crucial difference I've never read you being able to even come close to grasping.
You understand that to erect a "wall" that you approve of, Jefferson's "wall", represented so perfectly by the 1st, must be repealed first, right...
...because, that fact is (clearly represented by your posting on the subject on this Board), you do not favor "the free exercise thereof" clause of it at all.
Atheist amateur bozos like you remind me of the Christian "expert" bozo I heard on the radio a week or so ago...
...much like your kind arguing that Jefferson was anti-Christianity, this doofus was asserting that Jefferson was pro-Christian; his proof was a publication of the Gospels - today commonly referred to as The Jefferson Bible - which TJ had put together himself, literally. He put it together mostly by cutting out all the references of the miracles the Nazarene had reportedly performed, ie, all the supernatural credits attributed to him.
The Christian "expert" bozo didn't even realize that Jefferson, by completely dismissing Yahshua's supernatural abilities, was completely dismissing the very essentials religious Christians like him count totally on for their very faith...
...yet Jefferson, like the Nazarene, wasn't dependent on miracles for his faith in the Creator: both, like I imagine most believers, simply knew/know in their hearts that there is a God.
I know, I know: you wouldn't have any problem with believers in a "ghost" if they'd just limit their "religion" to what they believe and didn't bother anyone else...
...like you, right?
Which just goes to prove you don't honor the "free speech" part of the 1st, either...
...because, you see, speech which is approved by a majority needs no protection; it is speech which a majority finds distasteful that needs stout protection if speech is to remain free at all.
Our nation's foundational document, The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America...
...declares every individual's rights are inherent, naturally endowed by their Creator, and that the primary purpose of government is to secure these inalienable rights, first.
But, when men like you deny the existence of any power greater than man, then all individual rights are simply arbitrary...
...subject totally to whatever flavor of government might hold power at any given time.
That's Jefferson's "religious" take on the subject, boy, and those "truths" are so "self-evident" that they've garnered uncountable, die-hard adherents all over the world...
...and we are not fooled for a nanosecond by a bozo like you and your disingenuous, kindergarten stabs at "religion" (especially trying with such an irrelevant thread as this one).
Jefferson was the master of the uniquely American political doctrine of freedom of religion, for, to him, it really represented all humanity's natural freedom of thought, freedom of conscience...
...you are simply just another offended enemy of individual liberty.
EducatedOwl
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Umm... what?
badbabysitter
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america is built on jesus..and if you dont agree with eyer you're a statist socialist
EducatedOwl
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Does "slacker" become more scathing when you write it in italics? Is this a regional thing I don't know about?
It all depends on where your projection setting sits when you read it.
For me, emphasis was the only intent...
...bozo.
EducatedOwl
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Your insults are getting weaker. I haven't been called a bozo since third grade. Surely you can do better than that.
Colonel Hogan
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That will be the next shoe to drop.
"How dare the government extort a pledge of allegiance from a child who has no legal capability of entering into a valid verbal contract before attaining the age of legal responsibility."
neci
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every time i shit, i express a political view, does this mean i am no longer welcome in church? also, "undue influence?" what if jesus already paid your dues?
neci
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are you related to wings?
richard_daily
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I was just thinking the same thing.
Let's fuck. In pigs blood. Except that it should be made from soy.
richard_daily
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Express whatever religious views you see fit in your own private life, just keep your religion out of politics.
EducatedOwl
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I don't know who that is, so I suspect not. My grandpa had ten siblings I never met, though, so anything's possible.
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