A Brief History
On August 24, 1215, Pope Innocent III declared the Magna Carta that King John of England signed with a group of dissatisfied barons on June 15, 1215, a famous document that is often treated with similar respect as the American Declaration of Independence, null and void. Pope Innocent III was not just meddling with the affairs of far away Britain, he also claimed supremacy over all the various Kings and Queens of Europe! Innocent was not so innocent when he instigated the Fourth Crusade, which was a disaster that resulted in the sack of Constantinople and ultimately the loss of the Holy Land for Christians since only about 10% of the Crusaders that left for the Holy Lands ever made it that far, many of the rest being diverted to sacking and pillaging along the way, including fellow Christian cities. “There was never a greater crime against humanity than the Fourth Crusade.,” said the historian Steven Runciman in 1954. Innocent had actually ordered the Crusaders specifically NOT to attack the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, but he did not hesitate to accept the gold and jewels brought back to Rome! The result of the Fourth Crusade was to create a much larger schism between Catholic and Orthodox Christians and foment future armed conflict. The failure to reinforce Jerusalem and the Holy Land later resulted in the loss of that territory for Christendom in 1244.
Digging Deeper
Major churches and religious leaders have instigated all sorts of wars and other political activity over the years, and they continue to do so! In the United States we do not have a “state” religion as such an establishment is specifically forbidden by the Bill of Rights in the form of the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (Often erroneously referred to as “separation of church and state.”) Like many nations, the United States does not tax those religions that meet the legal definition of a religion, although there really is no legal definition! What constitutes a religion has been debated for centuries and continues to be debated. For tax exempt purposes, the IRS considers the following criteria for a soi disant religion to be given the coveted tax free status:
a distinct legal existence,
a recognized creed and form of worship,
a definite and distinct ecclesiastical government,
a formal code of doctrine and discipline
a distinct religious history,
a membership not associated with any other church or denomination,
an organization of ordained ministers,
ordained ministers selected after completing prescribed studies,
a literature of its own,
established places of worship,
regular congregations,
regular religious services,
Sunday schools for religious instruction of the young,
school for the preparation of its ministers.
The US Government says that a church/religion to be tax exempt is one “which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.” (Taken from the IRS website.) And yet we see churches and ministers blatantly engaging in political activity such as exhorting their adherents to vote a certain way or even participating in protests to the point of being arrested. And they still do not lose their tax exempt status! Just look at all the bill boards and signs along the highway that try to sway the public to a certain way of thinking that certainly is meant to result in political effect.
Television ministries are especially visible in their quest for more, and more and more dollars. President Trump’s own spiritual advisor recently exhorted her followers to immediately donate a month’s salary to her “ministry.” (She has no religious training or certification.) Since the act of not taxing a religion is a roundabout way of everyone of us taxpaying Americans to support each tax exempt religion, the resulting effect is that we subsidize the activities of that religion whether we agree with it or not. Not only are Catholics that donate to the Church paying for the legal defense of child molesters, since those donations are a write off on the income taxes of the people donating it means we all are paying for this expense whether we like it or not. If a mosque channels money to support terrorists or to those who in turn support terrorists, we are all paying for it.
While there are no public records of exactly how much property in the United States is owned by the Catholic Church or the Church of Latter Day Saints, the amount is enormous. Much, if not most, of this land owned by these and other churches is not owned specifically for religious purposes, and yet that land may as well not exist when collecting property tax, you know, the tax that pays for the education of our kids. If the voters cannot see the way to elimination of church owned land being exempt from property tax, then perhaps the tax exemption could be limited to only that land used for a specific religious purpose, like something other than land speculation. In fact, would you agree to the idea that any tax exempt entity, whether a religious or charitable institution, would have to make all of its property and income public information? Small price to pay for the incredible value of that precious tax status. Any sort of limitation on tax free property would result in a huge dump of real estate on the market and a proportionate increase in the property tax revenue that would be collected.
Are you financially strapped by medical bills, including eye and dental? By eliminating tax exempt status for religions (and so called charitable entities) the US could afford to have free health care for everyone. Maybe buy an extra aircraft carrier, too! (To put a number on it, in 2013 the Washington Post reported Americans lose over $82.5 billion per year on religious tax exemptions, and another $39 billion or so from other charities. Obviously, that number would be higher now.
We certainly take no positions of favor or disfavor with any particular religion or charity but are merely suggesting that we might consider this whole tax exempt thing obsolete, especially when we hear of case after case of abuse and fraud concerning both types of institutions. Republicans often target the Clinton Foundation as a way for the Clintons to accept money in return for favors (“pay to play”), while Democrats bemoan the use of the Trump Foundation as a personal slush fund for Donald Trump. While we do not know if any actual improprieties exist with either charitable foundation, we do know that lots of Americans have no desire to support those organizations through tax exempt status. The list of controversial or questionable “charities” can go on and on. Scandals we read of concerning charitable organization CEO’s using charity funds for luxury items and flights on the Concorde (supersonic jet transport now retired) are legion.
Question for students (and subscribers): Of course, there is a contrary argument that such tax exemption results in all sorts of “good” for the general public, and if you agree with that line of reasoning, feel free to expand on the idea and try to convince the doubters. We welcome all opinions equally. Let us know if you think the time is now to repeal tax exemptions for religions and charities, or if we should continue the practice, in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Johnson-Ramsey, JE. 501(c)(3) Basics–The Manual: How to incorporate & obtain tax-exempt status, with ten critical steps involved in establishing a non-profit public charity. The NonProfit Training Institute, 2014.
Murphy Farley, John. Why Church Property Should Be Taxed (Classic Reprint). Forgotten Books , 2018.
Robertson, DB. Should churches be taxed? Westminster Press, 1968.
Wallace, Curtis. How to Get and Protect Your Ministry’s Tax-Exempt Status: A practical, easy to follow legal guide for churches and ministries (Wallace Church Law Series Book 2). Law Office of Curtis W. Wallace, 2015.
The featured image in this article, The Magna Carta (originally known as the Charter of Liberties) of 1215, written in iron gall ink on parchment in medieval Latin, using standard abbreviations of the period, authenticated with the Great Seal of King John, is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1924. This file has been provided by the British Library from its digital collections. It is also made available on a British Library website. Catalogue entry: Cotton MS Augustus II 106
