Should churches be taxed and if they were, how does that affect small churches? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the tax exempt status of churches since they are considered charities providing public benefits. But in the wake of Proposition 8's passage, some argue churches, which supported the ballot measure, violated their tax-exempt status. So what are the laws? What's the history behind tax exemption for churches? And should churches be treated as non-profits? It's Your Call, with Sandip Roy and you.
Guests: Sarah Posner, author of God's Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters
Steven Waldman, editor-in-chief of Beliefnet
David Belden, managing editor of Tikkun magazine
Click to Listen: Why shouldn't we tax churches?
There is a culture of religious tyranny in the US. I believe that religious establishments should be denied tax-exempt status, period. I challenge the premise that Government has taken a hands-off attitude: They demolished the largest Muslim charity, the United Holy Land Fund, without a shred of evidence of wrongdoing. They have turned a blind eye to Jewish organizational support of Israel. They force a conformity that turns millions into lemmings instead of intelligent human beings who can think for themselves.
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