We have an opportunity unique to our lifetimes, and action taken now by President Obama and the Dem majority Congress could pave the way to a better future for...the Church. What?
I have been working over this thought for awhile now, and, although it seems counter-intuitive, I think that the best thing which could happen for Christianity would be to do away with all tax free options for religious organizations, from churches to Churches to Evangelistic coalitions to the Billy Graham Crusade.
Revoke the tax free status from every media ministry: radio, TV and internet.
Every Christian college, from Bob Jones to Dallas Theo, every charity hospital maintained by a religious organization should pay taxes on their properties AND their profits.
Every Catholic Cathedral, every Lutheran college, every Baptist seminary.
To be fair, all non-Christian religious organizations should be in the same tax-paying boat.
Does this sound crazy? Read on.
If a church or ministry is only viable due to its tax free status...then it is a bad church or ministry.
Let's start on the local. If my church were to lose its tax free status, would it dissolve? Would it be destroyed? No-mine is a solid church, and I don't believe that we would lose a single member over the loss of tax tree status. It would hurt, of course. But we would survive.
Many ministries are becoming 'property-rich' when their treasure is supposed to be being laid up in Heaven.
Solution? Lose the properties. Lose whatever the world profits you with, captures/charms you with, sidelines you with. A building or a college can't "own you" if you don't own the building.
Another point for losing the tax free status is: all of the false "Christian" scammers and rip off artists who preach Prosperity would have to go out and earn an honest living. Or starve.
Think of the loss of tax free status as being the instrument by which the Church can be scourged, separated from the unrighteousness being perpetrated in the name of Christ which actually defames and denigrates that Name.
The Church began in persecution, has thrived throughout the centuries due to the Holy Spirit working in the lives of believers. I don't believe that the Church would be damaged at all by this loss of tax status. It is the loophole through which many bulls of Bashan have stampeded.
Like cockroaches, the cheating and lying false 'Christian' scammers would survive, pushing 'vitamins or other miracle cures' just as they always do. But they wouldn't be doing those things in the name of Christ.
They wouldn't be affiliated with any Christian ministry. The cost would be too high.
I believe that President Obama would be interested in this proposal-the taxes collected from the Catholic Church alone could go a long ways towards financing his larger Government initiative. And it would make him even a bigger hero for those on the Left. That's called a win-win.
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