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Thread: Palin Says "Pray Away The Gay"
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09-11-2008 #41
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Originally Posted by trish
Food for thought: A persons religiosity is negatively correlated with education (more educated people are less likely to be religious). Religiosity is also negatively correlated with interest in science and political liberalism.
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09-11-2008 #42
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Bottom line. The GOP has sold it's political soul to the Religious Wrong. They forbade McSame from giving Ridge or Lieberman the nod due to their pro-choice views.
"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity." - Poe
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09-11-2008 #43
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Originally Posted by chefmike
drafted and signed by Washington and Adams:
"As the government of the united states of america is not, in any sense, founded on the christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said states never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."
The opening words of this quote would cause uproar in today's washington.
The paradox is how the United states, foudned in secularism, is now the mos religious country in Christendom while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. There are theories as to why this is. One is that we are a country of immigrants who could have embraced a church as a kind of kin-substitute on alien soil. The other major theory is since America is legally secular, religion has become free enterprise. Rival churches compete for congregations with all the aggressive hard-sell techniques of the marketplace. What works for anything else in our free market works for religion.
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09-11-2008 #44
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Rival churches compete for congregations with all the aggressive hard-sell techniques of the marketplace. What works for anything else in our free market works for religion.
"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity." - Poe
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09-11-2008 #45
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By exempting religious institutions from paying taxes, the State, in effect, establishes what counts as a religion and what does not. The State establishes a religion whenever it grants tax exemption status to a church. This, to my mind, is against the establishment clause. Tax churches.
"...I no longer believe that people's secrets are defined and communicable, or their feelings full-blown and easy to recognize."_Alice Munro, Chaddeleys and Flemings.
"...the order in creation which you see is that which you have put there, like a string in a maze, so that you shall not lose your way". _Judge Holden, Cormac McCarthy's, BLOOD MERIDIAN.
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09-12-2008 #46Originally Posted by trish
"You can pick your friends & you can pick your nose, but you can't wipe your friends off on your saddle."
~ Kinky Friedman ~
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09-12-2008 #47
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Good to know. I take it you're claiming that being a religious institution is absolutely irrelevant to the IRS's considerations of a church's tax status?
"...I no longer believe that people's secrets are defined and communicable, or their feelings full-blown and easy to recognize."_Alice Munro, Chaddeleys and Flemings.
"...the order in creation which you see is that which you have put there, like a string in a maze, so that you shall not lose your way". _Judge Holden, Cormac McCarthy's, BLOOD MERIDIAN.
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09-12-2008 #48Originally Posted by trish
So... No! That's not my claim at all. Being a religious institution gives you a leg up because the finances of the entire religious community are geared to working the exemption. If you call the IRS & say "Hi, we're starting up a new church...", they'll automatically make an assumption & send you everything you need to file for tax exempt status. Why else would you call? They don't care who you are or what you worship. They only care that the forms are filled out properly & all the rules are followed, & the forms showing that you're following the rules are filed on time. There's lots of rules. Volumes of rules. Tomes of rules. The assumption of you're desire is automatic. The exemption is not. It's always nice to have some lawyers & accountants among the parishioners.
"You can pick your friends & you can pick your nose, but you can't wipe your friends off on your saddle."
~ Kinky Friedman ~