Churches Could Lose Tax-Exempt Status For Refusing To Accommodate Gay Marriage, Warn...

HNGN.com ^ | June 27, 2015 | Taylor Tyler

[Clay Moore]

All the doors to our church open out. Sure would be a shame if there were a parking lot full of cars, trucks, tractors etc some of which were parked an inch from all the doors when they showed up. Just sayin....

[E. Pluribus Unum]

There should be no tax-exempt institutions, period.

Exemptions are always abused.

And if churches have skin in the game, they may not be for every tax that comes down the pike.

[dhs12345]

Yeah but will the separation of church and state people be okay with it? I’m betting that the reason why there was the separation of church and state cluas was because of the influence of church on the government in Europe and religious persecution.

[17th Miss Regt]

On the other hand, this is a one time thing. If the IRS pulls the tax exemption, the churches take the financial damage, but some will survive. And then those churches are free to talk about issues and candidates without limits.

(Like some churches we know right now...)

[Campion]

BTW, what is the Catholic Churches opinion on gay marriage?

In 2003, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the Vatican department responsible for, well, doctrine) wrote this:

There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family. Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law. Homosexual acts “close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved”.

In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty. One must refrain from any kind of formal cooperation in the enactment or application of such gravely unjust laws and, as far as possible, from material cooperation on the level of their application. In this area, everyone can exercise the right to conscientious objection.

(Read the whole document here.)

A lot of voting Latinos and a large percentage of the world population are Catholic. A huge voting block and A LOT of power.

Now if we could only figure out a way to get them to vote according to their faith ...

[JimSEA]

From the article:

Some churches fear that by refusing to allow same-sex couples to marry in their sanctuaries, the IRS could take away their tax-exempt status by citing a violation of a “fundamental national public policy,” explains The New York Times.
The 1983 Supreme Court decision in Bob Jones University v. the United States allowed the IRS to revoke tax-exempt status of schools that barred interracial relationships.
Religiously affiliated universities could be denied tax-exempt status for providing married heterosexual students housing but refusing to accommodate married gay and lesbian students.

[unixfox]

Churches are going to lose tax-exempt status because they’re Christian.

Christian Churches will cease to exist if we do nothing.

Tyrants will stop at NOTHING.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Yeah but will the separation of church and state people be okay with it?

The only club the freedom-from-religion crowd have is tax-exempt status.

Once that's gone, the will be cordially invited to STFU.

[jimbug]

I am in leadership at my local church. We are already working on this.

[Missouri gal]

Archbishop Kurtz, the current president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, strongly condemned the court's decision. He said, in short, they had tried to overrule God and nature, and would not succeed. That said, it remains to be seen whether the Bishops will stand strong or not. See www.usccb.org

[dhs12345]

Thanks. :)

[dhs12345]

Thanks.