[tahiti]

You missed my second point.

If a tax deduction is unconstitutional because of the "establishment clause" of the First Amendment, then any tax at all assessed against a religion is unconstitutional because it violates the "free exercise thereof" clause of the First Amendment.

Thus, the small congregations you refer to that can barely afford to pay a livable wage, would not have tax issues to deal with and could devote more of their tithe to paying a livable wage.

[kritikos]

Oh, I did miss that point. In point of fact, all congregations (large and small) already do not pay taxes. That is unless they have failed to file for their 501c3.