There are limits to what people can contribute. Previously, you could deduct these contributions from your income, thereby reducing your tax outlay; once this passes, if you continue to contribute at the same level, you will be paying taxes on that amount, just as if you hadn’t contributed it but still owned it, and it’s simply a fact of economic life that there’s only so much money to go around: you can’t afford to give it away and pay taxes on it at the same time. And this will affect not only religious charities, but charitable institutions and funds of all kinds.
It is definitely an attack planned to get everything out of the hands of individuals and non-government players, and cede every single aspect of our lives to the government.
Barry is doing a frontal assault on one hand (removal of conscience clause so that religiously connected hospitals or health care professionals will be forced to carry out government population and end of life policies) and trying to starve the churches out, on the other.
It’s interesting that he sees the church as the only real enemy.
None of this reflects the nature of my post. If Christians give so that they can get a tax deduction, then they are being generous for the wrong reasons. Real generosity will exist regardless of the taxation landscape.