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Taxes. Why are we subsidizing religions that just lie to us?

All religions have their own Gods and be you a believer or not, you pay taxes to support them, ---- and all they return, except for a bit of social babysitting, ---- is lies.

Are you fed up with the Noble Lie of your governance and should these lying churches stop feeding from your wallet while your government use them against you?

I can appreciate some of the ancient logic for propagating churches and religions and the Noble Lie. I think that that logic no longer applies as our communication systems have become global and instant and churches are no longer required to supplement our social safety nets and that they have become superfluous and redundant.

Should your tax support for these lying churches and competing Gods be ended?

Are we bright enough to rid ourselves of the Noble Lie that we feed ourselves?

Why are you subsidizing religions that just lie to us?

Would you like to end churches and other tax exempt entities from taking your hard earned dollars and returning nothing or are churches still required in our modern societies?

Regards
DL

Well, I don't think Religious institutions should be tax exempt.

I would not be okay with ending the tax exemption status of churches. I would take a different direction.


2 Phases:

1. Everyone pays a flat tax. Everyone. No exceptions. No credits. Nothing. Everyone pays the same amount in taxes.
2. No such thing as income taxes for anyone: corporate, personal, etc. The only taxes would be excise taxes. There would be a rule that would prevent taxing more than 3 times (goes from materials manufacturer to materials wholesaler to parts manufacturer to parts wholesaler to assembler to wholesaler to end-consumer distributor and that's just a simplified model of ever link that is potentially taxed in the chain.)


So if a church had to purchase products, the taxes would be built into the price of the product forcing them to pay taxes just like everyone else. However, that would not stop SELLERS and DISTRIBUTORS from giving churches breaks, directly. That's how it should be done. Leave the financial breaks up to the people, not the government.

Churches find all kinds of ways to use public funding to further their agendas. OP doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the problem.

Originally posted by Greatest I am
churches are no longer required to supplement our social safety nets and that they have become superfluous and redundant.

lol, wut?

churches still do more for the poor and handicapped than the state is willing to...

ON's reply makes me want to add the caveat that I only skimmed the OP. I just don't like the many ways some religious institutions weasel their way into public funding. It's not necessarily a full endorsement of the OP.

Originally posted by dadudemon
I would not be okay with ending the tax exemption status of churches. I would take a different direction.


2 Phases:

1. Everyone pays a flat tax. Everyone. No exceptions. No credits. Nothing. Everyone pays the same amount in taxes.
2. No such thing as income taxes for anyone: corporate, personal, etc. The only taxes would be excise taxes. There would be a rule that would prevent taxing more than 3 times (goes from materials manufacturer to materials wholesaler to parts manufacturer to parts wholesaler to assembler to wholesaler to end-consumer distributor and that's just a simplified model of ever link that is potentially taxed in the chain.)


So if a church had to purchase products, the taxes would be built into the price of the product forcing them to pay taxes just like everyone else. However, that would not stop SELLERS and DISTRIBUTORS from giving churches breaks, directly. That's how it should be done. Leave the financial breaks up to the people, not the government.
I really respect you as a poster, but I have never seen a proposal that I disagree with more. This isn't the place to get into it, but I think that this is a terrible idea.

@OP

I think this is a little unfair. I mean, under a certain paradigm, the statement "I know Nebraska is going to win tomorrow's football game" is strictly false. But that doesn't mean that I am lying to you if I tell you that. I might be mistaken about what I know, among other alternatives.

Originally posted by dadudemon
1. Everyone pays a flat tax. Everyone. No exceptions. No credits. Nothing. Everyone pays the same amount in taxes.
I love you and your tax plans. Mostly the tax plans.

Originally posted by dadudemon
And you're one of the sexistsexiest posters on KMC but we can still respectfully disagree and discuss our points without getting nasty. ftfy
(and for what it's worth, i would get nasty with you anytime, hun)
Originally posted by dadudemon
Since no permanent income taxes existed in the US until 1909, I think a "no income taxes" idea would work.
There are significant differences in our economy between then and now. I admit that I didn't know the rate was zero percent, and I'll be happy to read about this further. But,
The Gold StandardThe national populationThe debt (regardless of the deficit)Shifts from a production to an information economy
andExpansion in the sorts of duties shown to require government responsibility (e.g. FDA oversight)
suggest to me that new development aimed towards a recreation of century-old fiscal policy might be less than ideal.

Originally posted by dadudemon
There are several countries that have no income taxes: I was recruited (but not successfully) but the government of the Cayman Islands and one of the most attractive features was the lack of income taxes.
The thing that I've learned from arguing economics online is that cross-country comparisons have to be done very carefully. The problems faced by a country with a population smaller than the football stadium down the block are different from those faced by the USA. If you'd like to make a case for the effect on a leading global economy, feel free.

Originally posted by dadudemon <snip>links</snip>

And this is the heart of the reason that I dislike your tax plan. Excise taxes are inherently regressive, since low-income households spend a higher percentage of their income on consumable goods than do high-income earners. So right off the bat, this is burdensome to the class of people already facing the biggest challenges. Additionally, the "problem" that you claim to be solving (inhibition of economic growth due to high taxes on job-creators) isn't actually a thing. Looking at the data from the epi (linked above) we see that taxes are not a significant burden to economic growth.

I won't insult you by linking to basic economic terms, but I've always considered ability-to-pay to be much more important than who benefits, in terms of tax fairness.

Originally posted by Digi
Churches find all kinds of ways to use public funding to further their agendas. OP doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the problem.

What can I say. I bite my nails and cannot scratch too hard.





Regards
DL

Originally posted by Oliver North
lol, wut?

churches still do more for the poor and handicapped than the state is willing to...

You have nothing to show this speculation and do you think that that would be a good enough reason to let them lie to our children and those adults who cannot recognize lies when they hear them?

Further, how much help should or would those in need expect or even want if they knew where and how the funding was had and what kind of evil those funds also contributed to?

It is my view that all literalists and fundamentals hurt all of us who are moral religionists as well as those who do not believe. They all hurt their parent religions and everyone else who has a belief or not. They make us all into laughing stocks and should rethink their position. There is a Godhead but not the God of talking animals, genocidal floods and retribution. Beliefs in fantasy, miracles and magic are evil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HKHaClUCw4&feature=PlayList&p=5123864A5243470E&index=0&playnext=1

They also do much harm to their own.

African witches and Jesus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlRG9gXriVI&feature=related

Jesus Camp 1of 9
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=48b_1185215493

Death to Gays.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMw2Zg_BVzw&feature=related

For evil to grow my friends, all good people need do is nothing.
Fight them when you can. It is your duty to our fellow man.

Regards
DL