Churches, Non-profit Status and the GOP
There was a story that started out in a Daily Kos diary about a church that was kicking out people who voted for or were registered as Democrats. It sounded pretty messed up and it was just a DKos dairy entry. It's not that I thought it was made up, just that DKos dairies aren't my primary news source.
Now churches, and other non-profits like EFF, are exempt from lots of the tax code, but there are a few strings attached (PDF):
- 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, and
- the organization's purposes and activities may not be illegal or violate fundamental public policy.
It seems simple enough. Keep your nose out of government influence and you can not pay taxes. Now it looks like Pastor Chan Chandler's lawyer just told him that he was putting his church's tax exempt status at risk by being a political hack.
From the Washington Post article.
Chandler told WLOS-TV in Asheville on Friday that the actions were not politically motivated, but on Saturday he refused to comment, citing the advice of his attorney.
This will no doubt turn into a "liberals hate God" issue. This is funny to me because liberals are typically derided as "Godless" -- so what is there for us to hate? The simple matter is that there are rules and they need to apply to everybody for the system to be fair. Yes, fairness. It's the liberal fatal flaw.
Update" I wondered how long it would take before a law would be introduced to allow churches to do this and retain their tax exempt status. I give you H.R. 235. Wow.
