Should Churches Be Taxed?
Joseph Thompson
[Reprinted from an undated pamphlet, Simple Talks
on Taxation, published by the author]
... Here's a feller says the
churches ought to pay taxes.
… I
think he's right. In fact, you'd think they'd want to, out of
good citizenship.
… But the church is the house
of God!
… For
all we know, God might feel that he'd like to carry his corner
of the public expense. I'm inclined to think he would.
… The churches ought to keep
all the money they can get, they do a lot of good all the time.
… So
do you and I.
… Yeah. And we can deduct
what we give.
… We
can't deduct our whole income, the way they do, just because we
give some of it away, can we?
… Oh! It isn't the same. They
don't do anything else but just good.
… Yes,
but they do two kinds of good.
… How do you mean?
… Well,
like the Rotary and the Lions, most of those clubs, they help
the needy, they give free meals to down-and-outers, do things
fox the blind ... That's one kind of good they do.
… What's the other?
… The
other's different. They give religious consolation, they battle
with sin. Some of them even forgive it.
… Well, that's all good,
isn't it?
…
Well, yes, you could claim that, but it's only good for the
people of the particular church.
… Still, it's good, isn't it?
… It's
only the game kind of good that an athletic club offers for
athletes, or a bridge club offers to bridge players, and they
pay their share of the public expense.
… It isn't the same thing, at
all!
… Why
not?
… Well, those clubs are just
for pleasure, for one thing.
… So
are the churches.
… You're crazy! They're for
hearing God's word! They're for worship! They're for ...
… Well,
doesn't that give pleasure to a religious person? Going to
church?
… No. He goes to church
because it's his duty. He has to.
… Has
to? Do you ever have to go to a Moslem temple?
… Me? To a Moslem temple! I
sure don't! I'm a Baptist.
… And
you go to the church where all the Baptists go?
… I told you. I'm a Baptist.
… Ever
have any Moslem or Jews or Catholics at your church?
… Certainly not. They have
their own churches.
… So
it's Catholics to their churches; Jews to their synagogues, and
Moslems to their temples, huh?
… Now you're talking sense.
… Since
they all cater to their own inside group, you might say that
they're exclusive worship clubs, huh?
… I don't see that that would
mean anything. Besides, they're much more than clubs. They're
guardians of the people's morals.
… What
about the law being the guardian of the people's morals?
… The law takes care of
crime. The churches battle against sin.
… So,
if you're against sin ... no taxes! Is that it?
… Sa-ay! I'm against sin! No
more taxes for me!
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