-Laelth

There is no reason why all non-profit organizations should be tax exempt.

Last edited Sat Nov 30, 2013, 03:23 PM - Edit history (1)

Edited to correct typo explain sounds like Rick Ricardo.

Many churches have acquired land, constructed buildings, etc. In order to have accumulated these assets they must have run a gross profit in many years by taking in more than they spent.

By not paying property taxes on their real estate assets they are actually being subsidized by the government.

A political organization my be a non-profit and disburse all the funds that it collects each year, but it may not be tax-exempt due to supporting candidates.

The exemption from property, school and sales taxes which are levied at state/local levels is one thing and the exemption from Federal Income tax for non-profits is another.

As noted in bold, the organization must pay taxes on commercial interest, so the Archdiocese of New Orleans pays taxes on income generated by some commercial real estate, this would include paying local taxes on the property as well.

Now another diocese owns a parking garage in the state capital that is used mostly by state employees during business hours in some sort of agreement- should the church pay property tax considering the massive donation of space during business hours?

I think the tax exempt vs non-profit difference is pretty moot- perhaps a tax lawyer on the board could explain it to me better.

whom Francis says clearly are not equal, in the case of gay people he says we are an attack on God's plan, that we come from the author of all evil.
Dignity? Equality? But just for some? Does not sound new at all, in fact most of Francis's economic words are similar to those spoken by Benedict and by JP2, Pope Paul, you name a Pope, that Pope has spoken against wealth and power while of course having huge wealth and power. Francis and Dolan are the largest holders of real estate in Manhattan. So when he says he's with the poor, he does not mean 'with' and he does not mean 'those gays' nor does he mean ' a woman could have my job'. So it is not equality at all. And I guess this dignity is only for those in the majority.
I'm just amazed that people are unaware that Benedict said all the same things about poverty, globaliztion, financial inequality and also the same things about gay people being from hell and women being less than equal to men.

I hadn't realized Benedict had said the same things. It's so refreshing to hear someone take on authority that I also didn't think to look. With you on the civil rights issues - it's not enough to have economic equality if women and other minorities are not included.

Raped and tortured and mutilated by this ghoul's organization.

3. Bask in the praise of the ignorant

Praising this ghoul is like praising Limbaugh, it has no place on a Democratic website.

but then I would also note that women's health issues and GLBT rights relate to just economic treatment - they are tied together.

by labeling GLBT as "apart" from the majority heterosexual population, they are marginalized. Tacit agreement to discriminate is part of this, in the work world, as well as other parts of life. The church has high-ranking homosexuals within its infrastructure. Surely their peers within the secular world deserve the same sort of compassion those bishops, etc. receive.

Women who are not free to make reproductive choice face economic consequence that have nothing to do with materialism, but are, rather, about women's very autonomy as humans within a culture. Males are not constrained in the same way by reproductive issues. Women should not bear the brunt of ideas that were developed long before the modern world that no longer have scientific evidence to back particular positions.

The church's position on birth control, in addition, hurts this planet by encouraging more people than this earth can support. That's bad stewardship of the earth's resources, imo, and the church can be more loving toward the earth that provides us with a home by recognizing the traditional teachings are out of synch with what's best for humans within the ecosystem.

Addressing the unwillingness to allow women to be equally represented within the church would go toward addressing the deepest dignity of women.

Even if these issues are not easily changed within the church, backing off of attacks on these issues would be a worthy first step toward reconciliation of the church with females and toward correcting the second-class status within the religion to which women are consigned.

But I welcome the Pope's emphasis on economic social justice and hope he can influence the terms of debate among his followers within the political realm.

Because he's making a perfect wedge between the christian right and the one percenters. If we could get the former to stop carrying water for the latter, the right will be busted right open. Seems to me that economic issues are the biggest knife to the throat of the working class.

he's not speaking to me, per se, but he is speaking to Catholics who vote for Republicans (or who support right wing economic policies in other nations.)

So, in terms of political strategy, I'm not going to trash him for calling out the hypocrisy of the religious right within the church that supports regressive economic positions.

He won't have much of an impression on the Protestants who align with Republicans, however, because a basic belief in most of those sects is the idea that the Catholic church and the Pope are no longer representative of god.

That would include Palin, Cruz's father, Dobson, Hucklebee, etc.

But, if his position causes them to comment upon him - they'll alienate Catholics who, previously, could support those candidates.

If it weren't for the "wedge issues" like abortion, millions of Catholic voters who turned to the Republicans would be reliable Democratic voters today. However backward the Catholic Church remains on anything remotely related to sexuality, this renewed focus on treating the already-born with dignity is a crucial first step in reminding Catholic voters that their religion wasn't always defined as fetus-worship, that other values are important, and that there are ways to exercise what's valuable about their faith in the political arena.

leadership roles in the church, and allowing easy access to birth control. None of that matters. All that matters is that he's anti - capitalism.



Tell that to the people who are negatively affected by the pope's views.

Just sitting here, picturing him safe and sound, surrounded by love.

I was raised Catholic but stopped practicing that religion or any other religion decades ago. The American Religious Right certainly doesn't inspire respect for contemporary faith traditions.

However...you don't need to be a historian to see a pattern. Ground breakers, peacemakers and advocates for social justice often share a sad, similar fate.

Hoping for much better. We don't need more martyrs - we need living examples of spiritual values.

It is true that much of what he is saying has been fairly basic Catholic doctrine for sometime - but there was always the impression that promoting a conservative social agenda took precedence over a progressive economic agenda - With Pope Francis there has been a distinct change in priorities. It is almost hard to overstate the significance of this priority shift.

Posts about religion really need to get thrown into the religion forum. This is getting ridiculous, and it's on the same level as spam.

And the pope's agenda is about hating gays, women, and limiting access to birth control. How is that agenda about bringing equality?