191–200 of 232 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was meant to be a hyperbole.
Cool, my hyperbole is 99% of churches are charities. Now what? What is the point of commenting a hyperbole?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right, either way, I'm looking for an intuition about how much an infraction like this should cost. Presumably, the settlement also includes the LDS church's consent to start filing reliable 13F's. I'm not saying I think 5MM is the right number; I'm just saying I have no intuition for what the number should be, and the rationale I see on the thread seems to be "they're big". If I get pulled over in a Bentley with an…
> If I get pulled over in a Bentley with an expired sticker, I pay the same price as someone in a Kia. The fine should scale with the size of the infraction. If you sticker expires on your car, the infraction is the same severity, no matter the car [0]. ~Hiding a few million vs. hiding a few billion in taxes is a whole different level.~ EDIT: They just hid it for information purposes. Not to avoid tax. Therefore, thi…
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The part about welfare for those not of their faith was just in the news due to the way we do block grants to states to fund welfare services.. the state of Utah largely hands off their program work to the LDS Church which is pretty unfortunate when they make support contingent on joining their church, going so far to tell people they won't be provided with support that's Federally required unless they get baptized i…
Actually, the church's policy is to help everyone regardless of their religious affiliation, and anyone can get food and other help from the storehouses mentioned in the article. The help sometimes includes even cash, but it's far from just a spend-this-however-you-want blank check. That money typically comes from local donations, so the people administering the relief have an obligation to be careful about it. No do…
Watching the Tabernacle choir sing at Trump's inauguration was the act that broke my faith in the church. Since then, I've come to see the church as just another corporation. Too bad the corporation isn't governed by their own scripture, what with the "render unto Caesar that which is Cesar's" thing and whatnot. From the articles of faith (canonized LDS scripture): 12 We believe in being subject to kings, presidents,…
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It's actually a settlement, not a fine, which is probably pinned closer to the "This is the amount we think we'd have to pay lawyers to argue the case" value than the "This is how much we would owe if we were found guilty of breaking the law" value.
Right, either way, I'm looking for an intuition about how much an infraction like this should cost. Presumably, the settlement also includes the LDS church's consent to start filing reliable 13F's. I'm not saying I think 5MM is the right number; I'm just saying I have no intuition for what the number should be, and the rationale I see on the thread seems to be "they're big". If I get pulled over in a Bentley with an…
In the US, sure. The people advocating for a proportional fine in the LDS case presumably would argue for a proportional one in your example, too.
Watching the Tabernacle choir sing at Trump's inauguration was the act that broke my faith in the church. Since then, I've come to see the church as just another corporation. Too bad the corporation isn't governed by their own scripture, what with the "render unto Caesar that which is Cesar's" thing and whatnot. From the articles of faith (canonized LDS scripture): 12 We believe in being subject to kings, presidents,…
Watching the Tabernacle choir sing at Trump's inauguration was the act that broke my faith in the church. Since then, I've come to see the church as just another corporation. Too bad the corporation isn't governed by their own scripture, what with the "render unto Caesar that which is Cesar's" thing and whatnot. From the articles of faith (canonized LDS scripture): 12 We believe in being subject to kings, presidents,…
Another perspective: https://www.thetabernaclechoir.org/about/choir/history/histo...
Nearly every Baptist church/preacher I have seen explicitly endorsed Donald Trump in 2020, and calls Joe Biden an election thief (or one of a dozen other conspiracies). My understanding is that this is in direct violation of their tax-free status [1]. Maybe we should actually start enforcing this. [1] https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/charities-churches-and-politics EDIT: I couldn't remember the name of the thing that sta…
I live in a deep blue area much of the local churches, synagogues, and mosques, support Joe Biden. I've got no problem with that, or the reverse - some of these views just reflect their interpretation of their holy faith through their own perception. I'd rather we not go after religious organizations unless they are actually doing something criminal, sex crimes, financial crimes, etc.
It is explicitly against the rules to have the tax-free 5013c and endorse a political candidate.
If the churches explicitly endorse or oppose specific candidates, whether it's Joe Biden, Donald Trump, or Ross Perot, they are in violation of their tax-free status.
Now, you are of course free to disagree with the rules, but that's what the rules are as of right now.
Personally, I think it's a reasonable place to draw a line.