Tax The Churches

We who want the best for Americans are quite happy over the election of Barack Obama for the next president. Many of the senatorial and house election results give rise to expectations for a better political atmosphere in Congress as well. Help with jobs, bridges, health, and a more respected place in the world community.
Let’s look at states where results of initiatives rendered lives of targeted citizens very bleak. Loss of abortion rights. Increased intolerance for personal life styles. How does it happen that ordinary civil rights are denied? The source of money is a clue. Millions of dollars from church headquarters were spent in those states. The sources were blatant about their efforts to force their ideological choices on citizens.
And some folks say: Isn’t that their right? Is it really the right of church leaders to take money from parishioners and go all out against citizens’ civil rights? Churches are immune from taxes. They do not have to report their income. And we thought that was fair when their income was spent on ways to enrich the poor and tend to the sick. Now being their brother’s (and sister’s) keeper is not enough. They choose to make civil laws.
Did the woman who took her raped daughter for an abortion know what her church donation now denied her? Did the man who wanted to visit his partner’s sick bed know what his church donation now denied him? The people who occupy the pews for sermons do not ask where their donations are used.
It is time to hold church leaders accountable. It is time for all the multi-million dollar incomes to be taxed. The IRS and our country’s treasury should welcome a grass roots movement to demand the taxing of churches. Millions worked together to change our political environment. Let’s work together on another great idea. Tax the churches.
Naomi Sherer