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What to make of this?
By Jeremy | December 12, 2006
From day care centers to nursing homes, rules don’t apply to faith groups.+ Part 2 -- "Limiting Workers' Rights: Where Faith Abides, Employees Have Few Rights" -- alleges:
For years, U.S. judges have used the separation of church and state to shield religious employers of all faiths from labor laws and most employee lawsuits.+ Part 3 -- "Giving Exemptions: As Religious Programs Expand, Disputes Rise Over Tax Breaks" -- alleges:
As religious organizations extend their scope beyond traditional worship, government at all levels is increasingly extending their tax exemptions.+ Part 4 -- "The Personal Exemptions: Religion-Based Tax Breaks, Housing to Paychecks to Books" -- alleges:
Churches and odained clergy of all faiths get a series of tax exemptions that secular organizations and workers do not.+ Part 5 -- "Ministry for Medicine: Sharing the Health Bills" -- alleges:
Religious exemptions are being tested as more medical bill-sharing ministries compete with businesses that are not eligible for the same breaks.+ Part 6 -- "Christ's Mission, Caesar's Money: Religion for Captive Audience, With Taxpayers Footing the Bill" -- alleges:
Government agencies have been repeatedly cited by judges and government auditors for not doing enough to guard against taxpayer-financed evangelism.
Topics: church-state, faith, media, new york times, politics, public policy | 1 Comment »
December 13th, 2006 at 2:45 pm
Thought: These (good) laws stem from a time when America (and therefore those in governmental authority) had something of a soul, or at least cared for the souls of its people, or at least worked from the assumption that we had souls. When someone like Ricky DelRio gave his life in service to serving the citizens of his community, it made sense to encourage that work with tax deductions, etc. It was a given that church/ministry was a good thing for people, and therefore the country.
All those givens are gone now. There is a new religion in town. And since the highly religious New York times operates under the framework of that new religious system, it denies that there even is a ghost in the machine (read: soul), so they don’t get why we would encourage ministry work as a society. Their refusal to seperate their church/religion of secular humanism from their opinions on matters of state means that they must attack other religions at all costs. Hence the 6 articles. (On a side note, 6 articles on this topic? Aren’t there more important thing to write about than a relative handful of men and women who are working hard at serving people receiving tax encouragements to do it? Where is the 6 part article on the left-wing “non-profits” raking in millions and avoiding taxes???)
Imagine a world without Christians and their world view. That’s what the NY Times wants. So be prepared, if Judah does work in “ministry” the tax breaks will all be gone by then. And yet I find that cool in a way… the kingdom of God is not dependent on subsidies from the government th make its advance.