Montreal is taxing churches (2017)

Post by john4534243 » Sun, Jul 26, 2020, 10:27 AM UTC

wernercd wrote: post #128

ranman wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well I was raised by a famous “pastor” who traveled around and “preached” to both receptive and dismissive congregations across the US. I experienced more churches than most people. I’m telling you this whole Christianity thing is a scam. sudo apt-get remove religion It’s a mental cancer.

And you'll replace Christianity with what? Another religion? Atheism? Other religions have the same problems and Atheism is its own religion - requires faith to believe. Humans are religious beings... you won't get rid of it by only focusing on the negative aspects of your own experiences.

Post by paulie_a » Sun, Jul 26, 2020, 10:36 AM UTC

iso947 wrote: post #173

hypersoar wrote: post #41

Some commenters are pointing out that all nonprofits are tax-exempt in the United States. This is true, but religious organizations enjoy an extra benefit. Secular non-profits have to apply for 501(c)3 status and then file an annual return. Churches and the like are presumed to be 501(c)3 organizations and have no filing or disclosure requirements, and the IRS is loath to investigate them.

That’s sounds like corruption could easily happen, what’s the justification?

Post by CodeShmode » Sun, Jul 26, 2020, 10:39 AM UTC

dungdongdang wrote: post #185

onetimemanytime wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Don't you only tax profits? If a church isn't making any, then there'd be nothing to tax? Land and buildings for one could be taxed. Churches bought or were given land ages ago, before there was a Manhattan or Boston, as we today know it. Go ahead and pay property tax on land worth $250 Million when you barely make income to keep the lights on.

then they need to close down and move. if i buy a house for 20k and when I retire the property values are sky-high and the property taxes, which pay for things like roads and schools are too much for me to afford, i have to move. the people giving money to churches to attend that church, should pick up the cost of going to that church. which includes property taxes. if they are not willing to pay for that, it's their…

Post by randompwd » Sun, Jul 26, 2020, 10:50 AM UTC

ficklepickle wrote: post #91

randompwd wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's that bizarre. I find it quite subversive when a church group does 'community events' when there are other organisations which those church members could join to achieve the same result, without flying the banner of $ideology. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souperism for a more blatant historical take.

That article says the practice was actually very rare, even though it features very prominently in literature from the period. Maybe not the best example.

Post by Nullabillity » Sun, Jul 26, 2020, 10:57 AM UTC

juskrey wrote: post #119

cosmodisk wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You should see some Soviet community centers before thinking they can replace anything The concept was good and they did work. In many towns, it's usually the only place where you could run cultural evens,some more important community gatherings and so on. What did happen once the Soviet occupation ended, was the lack of funding of these places. The town I grew up in, 15k population and the culture center large enou…

Churches in USA are not nearly the same as in most other countries. They are funded bottom up and also have to survive by serving their community well. If you need to ask for some community center funded from some abstract government, you don't have the local community, at the first place.