Thomasson: "Civil War" May Be Necessary To Stop LGBT "Brainw

[jenny_islander]

I did like San Antonio,but damn Doug ruined that for me. How about we give them somewhere cold,Alaska? Palin can be their leader and they are far,far away from the rest of us...

YIKES NO. They'll end up like that poor stupid greenhorn in "To Build a Fire," or be so busy playing out their fantasies of being super independent Christian frontierspeople that they'll shoot the game my neighbors need to put in the freezer for this winter, plus their milk goats, dogs, and probably their 4-wheeler. Plus we've already had proseletyzing yahoos telling Natives that dressing, dancing, and doing art the traditional way are Satanic practices. :roll:

Even political conservatives I talk to around here don't like Palin much because she did That Thing You Do Not Do. If you are steering the ship, you do not leave the frigging pilothouse. Not even for a million dollars and a book deal.

[debrand]

Jenny islander, if your church is doing the type of charitable work that includes feeding the poor than it should be considered tax exempt.

[Guest Anonymous]

Marry me? I'm an awesome cook and I give great back massages! And I promise to never wear a frumper.

[thoughtful]

Marry me? I'm an awesome cook and I give great back massages! And I promise to never wear a frumper.

Aw, Lissar, you know how to make a silly person feel appreciated! :D

My mother has always claimed that her laughing at my father's jokes and her ability to give good back rubs is what kept their marriage going, so there's something to that!

The cooking part? Not so much. But even my fabulous mother can't be perfect!

[jenny_islander]

I think the headaches of taxing churches, even taxing them fairly, would far outweigh the financial gain.

Take my church for example. We make sandwiches for the men at the men's shelter to take with them during the day, while the shelter is locked. People buy whatever extra they can afford when they go shopping for themselves and bring the extra to the church. Sometimes they make bread or jam. How would we document all this to prove that our church was doing it? Could we? If there is too much of something that has been opened to use up making sandwiches before it spoils, somebody takes it home to avoid waste. Could that continue?

Does a certain proportion of church revenue have to go to charitable works in order to avoid the tax? How is this determined? If people buy supplies on their own nickel to use in church endeavors, as in the above example, does this count toward the exemption? Does their personal wealth have to be examined to determine whether they have given enough?

And on and on.

[valsa]

Jenny_Islander, why should churches be singled out for special tax breaks at all? There are many, many groups (atheist groups, student groups, mom groups, non-church-associated religious groups, etc) in my city who do charity work but are too small and don't have the expertise to deal with filling separately for all their charitable expenses. Why should churches be any different than those groups?

Also, as far as wearing your churches T-shirt while providing services- it doesn't have to be "bad" to just not qualify as being charitable. But nice attempt at creating a straw man opponent.

[valsa]

I think the headaches of taxing churches, even taxing them fairly, would far outweigh the financial gain.

Take my church for example. We make sandwiches for the men at the men's shelter to take with them during the day, while the shelter is locked. People buy whatever extra they can afford when they go shopping for themselves and bring the extra to the church. Sometimes they make bread or jam. How would we document all this to prove that our church was doing it? Could we? If there is too much of something that has been opened to use up making sandwiches before it spoils, somebody takes it home to avoid waste. Could that continue?

Does a certain proportion of church revenue have to go to charitable works in order to avoid the tax? How is this determined? If people buy supplies on their own nickel to use in church endeavors, as in the above example, does this count toward the exemption? Does their personal wealth have to be examined to determine whether they have given enough?

And on and on.

How should these questions have different answers for a church than any other charitable organization?