08 Oct 2006
In God’s Name: As Exemptions Grow, Religion Outweighs Regulation

You know, the Times is right about one thing: it is patently unfair that religious organizations get exemptions and other benefits that secular organizations with similar missions do not. But ...

How could it be otherwise? The only real solution is to expand the exemptions and benefits to cover all non profits. Because to quote John Marshall, "The power to tax is the power to destroy." And it would be far too easy for the government to effectively "establish" a religion or a set of "approved" religions if it were given tax and regulatory authority over religious institutions. How likely do you think it would be for the current Administration and it's Internal Revenue Service to grant exemptions to Heathen organizations (and several do have 501(c)(3) status) if it were not required by law to treat all religious organization equally?

Now this is not to say that I'm a fan of "faith based" initiatives. Exemption from regulations and taxes is not the same as passing out cash to churches. My complaint with this is that providing positive benefits to religions can have the same effect as taxing them: the government can end up endorsing or approving certain sects, effectively establishing a a given faith. Which is exactly the direction the current Administration has taken. If we want reform in this area, here's where we can do it: kill the whole Office of Faith-based Initiatives.

Conversely, if approached logically, expanding the benefits of religious organizations to secular ones would also require the cut off of any government funding of those organizations. As a libertarian, I wouldn't see anything particularly bad in that, but I daresay I don't think most of them would appreciate it, since they are the recipients of a large proportion of government grants.

So because of the political realities of the situation, it's probably going to be left alone. Any cure we apply here is quite likely to be worse than the disease.

Religious organizations enjoy an abundance of exemptions from regulations and taxes. And the number is multiplying rapidly.

(link) [New York Times]

06:35 /Asatru | 1 comment | permanent link